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Layout
Jan 2, 2014 15:06:48 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 2, 2014 15:06:48 GMT -5
Hello, I just made this layout with anyrail 5 and was hoping someone can tell me if this will work? I am worried about the turn-outs polarity. All turnouts are non power routing to go from one rail line to another except center of the layout for my train yard. I will be using analog and dcc locos. on this layout. The analog train I just got from ebay is a Marklin 8883 BR052 580-8 Steam Loco 2-10-0 with Tender. I plan on parking that on the longest leg from left to right with that turnout being power routing. And the second leg a Light Mikado Locomotive from AZL again analog so power routing switch.on the next 2 leg will be non power routing, thats were I plan on parking my 2 AZL Gp38 -2 DCC locos. Please bare in mind that this is my VERY first layout. Thank you for your time guys/gals
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Layout
Jan 2, 2014 19:23:40 GMT -5
Post by mzbringh on Jan 2, 2014 19:23:40 GMT -5
It looks electrically ok atleast from a Marklin track point of view. Two or three comments. I have a hard time with Marklin crossings or crossswitches and none Marklin rolling stock. They may turn even if they are not supposed to. Marklin wheels have heavily oversized flanges so they will usually work. Also since you intend to use steam engines you may want to use as large radius as you can. And you may have to skip the inner loop, atleast if you stick to Marklin track. Then 145 mm radius is to tight for steam engines. Rokuhan has larger radius that you can use instead.
I don't have any experience with Marklin 8883 or similar engines. But my experience with Marklin Mikados and Pacifics is bad. They stall or run at supersonic speed because they have poor power pickup unless you attempt to modify the tender. That's why the whole experience of running Z-scale changed when I moved to AZL and other diesel engines. And that's why I'm looking forward to my first AZL Milwaukee Road Mikado. Maybe I will have a steamengine that actually runs for the first time.
Ok I didn't read all of it. If you intend to run the 8883 analog on the outer loop, the AZL Mikado analog on the middle loop and AZL GP38-2 DCC on the inner loop and sidings. All at the same time then you need to electrically isolate the loops, both rails. Marklin has plastic joiners. I haven't tried to use them. They looks so small. I don't know if Rokuhan has an equivalent.
Cheers
Mikael
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Layout
Jan 3, 2014 3:57:17 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 3, 2014 3:57:17 GMT -5
Hello, thank you for your input,,, The track is Rokuhan by the way not marklin, if you click on the picture it should go larger there you would see the track numbers used and the type of track ,, just incase you missed that. I will consider what you said about the radius of the turns though, I think the inside loop maybe to small for the steamers....
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Jan 3, 2014 7:01:37 GMT -5
Post by mzbringh on Jan 3, 2014 7:01:37 GMT -5
Yesterday I got an error trying to open the drawing, today I got "you need to login". That did the trick, I logged in. Now I see that you are not using crossings, instead two pair of switches. Maybe I should use that in my yard. Putting two pair of switches like that can cause derailments. It put stress on the couplers but it looks cool when the train goes through it. You may need to put a straight piece of track between the two pairs. For the same reason you may need a straight section between the curve of the inner loop and the first switch at the top.
Cheers Mikael
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Jan 3, 2014 13:13:07 GMT -5
Post by markm on Jan 3, 2014 13:13:07 GMT -5
The layout looks very reasonable. I don't like running back-to-back turnouts. I find alignments like running from your outer loop to the innermost take a lot of fiddling to keep them running well (these were Marklin turnouts). I like to use at least a 55mm straight between the turnouts.
My big concern is with your description of DCC vs. DC on the tracks. Running a DC engine into a DCC block will fry a Z loco and maybe even the throttle. I would encourage you to run either DC or DCC on the layout at one time. I use a DPDT-center-off switch to isolate the different throttles. Remember that some DCC decoders will allow you to operate in a limited fashion.
In fact, that's probably a good question for this forum: Does the DCC decoder for the GPs work well on DC?
Mark
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Jan 3, 2014 14:05:45 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 3, 2014 14:05:45 GMT -5
Yesterday I got an error trying to open the drawing, today I got "you need to login". That did the trick, I logged in. Now I see that you are not using crossings, instead two pair of switches. Maybe I should use that in my yard. Putting two pair of switches like that can cause derailments. It put stress on the couplers but it looks cool when the train goes through it. You may need to put a straight piece of track between the two pairs. For the same reason you may need a straight section between the curve of the inner loop and the first switch at the top. Cheers Mikael Yeah I see what your saying,,, makes sense to me I will have to change that,,, hmmm back to the drawing board ,, make a few changes. Great feedback thanks.
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Layout
Jan 3, 2014 14:57:50 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 3, 2014 14:57:50 GMT -5
The layout looks very reasonable. I don't like running back-to-back turnouts. I find alignments like running from your outer loop to the innermost take a lot of fiddling to keep them running well (these were Marklin turnouts). I like to use at least a 55mm straight between the turnouts. My big concern is with your description of DCC vs. DC on the tracks. Running a DC engine into a DCC block will fry a Z loco and maybe even the throttle. I would encourage you to run either DC or DCC on the layout at one time. I use a DPDT-center-off switch to isolate the different throttles. Remember that some DCC decoders will allow you to operate in a limited fashion. In fact, that's probably a good question for this forum: Does the DCC decoder for the GPs work well on DC? Mark The turnouts do seem to close to tight, I will be redoing this. Ok as for the power, this is how I thought it worked. I will be using the digitrax dcc Zephyr Xtra with an 8 volt charge to the hole track except where I have my power routing switching turned to creat a dead srtip section of track in the yard. The Zephyr Xtra does both DC and DCC control, (constant voltage to track set at 8 volts in dcc mode or analog mode, voltage to the track is dependent on the amount of throttle you but in.) By power routing the switches as I said earlier it would allow me to go between both types of loco DCC or analog. when I use the DCC the analog loco is parked on a dead strip of track, when I want to use the analog I simply shut down the constant power of 8 volts to the track and switch over to the DC system then use the switch that will charge that section of track where the analog loco is parked , after I have made the change on my controler from DCC to DC use. lol I know I probably making this way more complicated than it is lol. I plan on using 2 steam locos analog and 2 DCC gps. to summarize: DCC=2 of gp38-2 only used when track system is in dcc mode (constant voltage to track) otherwise parked on dead strip in yard. Analog= 2 of steam locos used only when track system is switched over to DC variable voltage to track from controler.otherwise parked on dead strip in yard. " Does the DCC decoder for the GPs work well on DC? " If I understand your question properly, According to others in other forums and elsewhere it all comes down to the brand of decoder you have. example on the bachmann system a DCC loco will not run on a DC track ,but on a hornby it will, so I guess I need to find out if digitrax decoders allow the loco to run on a DC track. no matter though Its still a good idea to do it the way I plan than it don't matter if the locos with DCC run on a DC track, and if they do bonus!. lol anyway thanks for your info ,,,, I got to get on changing the track. lol cheers
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Jan 3, 2014 18:07:55 GMT -5
Post by tjdreams on Jan 3, 2014 18:07:55 GMT -5
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Jan 3, 2014 20:03:59 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 3, 2014 20:03:59 GMT -5
OK your my new best train friend! I had no idea you could stick a decoder in the AZL Mikado's... When I get mine you can bet I will do this for sure. As for the marklin I am not so sure I want to mess with it. As far as I know I cant get parts for it and If I snap something in it its done. so I figure Clean it it oil it and leave it as is and just run it on DC.
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Jan 3, 2014 20:26:48 GMT -5
Post by markm on Jan 3, 2014 20:26:48 GMT -5
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Jan 5, 2014 14:11:40 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 5, 2014 14:11:40 GMT -5
Thank you this is stuff is gold ....
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Jan 5, 2014 14:39:25 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 5, 2014 14:39:25 GMT -5
OK this is my revised version with all the suggestions that was given to me. I think its going to be a great layout It seems a lot more functional to. But it grew in size as well. Now its 7 feet by 27 inches. Hmmmm sorry guys it wont let me post it, board is telling me its to large. I am making a website for my hobbies and crafts, I will set something up there so the only thing I need to do is post the link.
This way I don't use up board space for nothing and I can use high res pictures.
So it will be a bit longer.
Oh I have started anther layout, I bought a Pro-z train set that come with pro-z track , So I decided what better to practice on than this simple oval layout. Track is spiked got some hills and a tunnel , I think its a good start, I will link that as well when I am finished my website
cheers
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Jan 5, 2014 17:26:57 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 5, 2014 17:26:57 GMT -5
OK this is my revised version with all the suggestions that was given to me. I think its going to be a great layout It seems a lot more functional to. But it grew in size as well. Now its 7 feet by 27 inches. Hmmmm sorry guys it wont let me post it, board is telling me its to large. I am making a website for my hobbies and crafts, I will set something up there so the only thing I need to do is post the link. This way I don't use up board space for nothing and I can use high res pictures. So it will be a bit longer. Oh I have started anther layout, I bought a Pro-z train set that come with pro-z track , So I decided what better to practice on than this simple oval layout. Track is spiked got some hills and a tunnel , I think its a good start, I will link that as well when I am finished my website cheers OK this is my new website, here is the new revised layout,,, www.wolfpit.net/Layout-Pics.html
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Jan 5, 2014 18:32:03 GMT -5
Post by mzbringh on Jan 5, 2014 18:32:03 GMT -5
Hello, I see that you have kind of turned things around on the layout. You still need a straight between the innerloop and the first switch both at the top and at the bottom since the train will go from turning in one direction and over to turning in the other direction. That will make the end of the cars moving away from each other and the couplers may not be able to handle that. Also I was thinking why do you put the yard ladder in the bottom of the yard instead of to the right which is more common. But then I thought what is the big difference. It is all about maximizing the space available for freightcars and make it workable. In a yard they usually want the tracks to run parallell to the main line because thats where they have the space. A business could have their availabel space in another direction. I did a quick search on Google about John Armstrong and yard design. The C-version a bit down on the page is close to my yard but I have switched places between cabooses and engines. I like the idea that there is a yardoffice at the runabout track where the engines stop and pick up orders and a cup of coffee while another switcher is working the ladder. model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/4458All I can say is build a mockup with just the track on a piece of plywood and testrun it, one train at the time DC or DCC, for a while and see if you are happy before you start building. On the subject of yards, I have a Pentrex DVD about Green Bay Western and their ALCOs. Their yard in Green Bay was so small that the switcher couldn't assemble a train and put on the ready track for pickup. The engines had to assemble the train before departing. Nice website with interesting topics besides Z-scale. I'm looking forward to see what you will put under Kites and Photography apart from Z-scale. :-) Cheers Mikael
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Jan 5, 2014 23:55:08 GMT -5
Post by ModelMaster on Jan 5, 2014 23:55:08 GMT -5
Hello, I see that you have kind of turned things around on the layout. You still need a straight between the innerloop and the first switch both at the top and at the bottom since the train will go from turning in one direction and over to turning in the other direction. That will make the end of the cars moving away from each other and the couplers may not be able to handle that. Also I was thinking why do you put the yard ladder in the bottom of the yard instead of to the right which is more common. But then I thought what is the big difference. It is all about maximizing the space available for freightcars and make it workable. In a yard they usually want the tracks to run parallell to the main line because thats where they have the space. A business could have their availabel space in another direction. I did a quick search on Google about John Armstrong and yard design. The C-version a bit down on the page is close to my yard but I have switched places between cabooses and engines. I like the idea that there is a yardoffice at the runabout track where the engines stop and pick up orders and a cup of coffee while another switcher is working the ladder. model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/4458All I can say is build a mockup with just the track on a piece of plywood and testrun it, one train at the time DC or DCC, for a while and see if you are happy before you start building. On the subject of yards, I have a Pentrex DVD about Green Bay Western and their ALCOs. Their yard in Green Bay was so small that the switcher couldn't assemble a train and put on the ready track for pickup. The engines had to assemble the train before departing. Nice website with interesting topics besides Z-scale. I'm looking forward to see what you will put under Kites and Photography apart from Z-scale. :-) Cheers Mikael hey OK is this what you mean? www.wolfpit.net/Layout-Pics.html
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