Large Scale Central

Today I Learned - USA Trains Track

I am getting near the stage of putting track outside. I had been using track planning software and simulating USA Trains track with Aristo as it was close. The #6 turnouts are drastically different.

Two right USA Trains #6 turn outs paired up to provide transition between parallel tracks line up quite nicely. If you add 3 feet of track on each end you end up with 2 evenly paired sets of parallel tracks 6 feet long.

The 10’ diameter track appears to be from the outside of the ties (not even the outside of the rail) and even that is a bit fuzzy.

I placed said track on the Splitjaw Railbed that is 10’ radius and they don’t quite line up. Over the course of a circle there is some tolerance lost.

I have attached a photo showing the various configurations you can do. The tracks line up within a tolerance. I have tried these configurations in real life.

pics?

Updated post with picture showing the configuration.

More importantly, what does the mainline track to track spacing come to?

Nicolas, NONE of the sectional track is ever exactly what they advertise, almost all the stuff is really metric, the Aristo is definitely metric, even when it says 10’ diameter.

Just clamp the rails together and bend to fit… if you want it to be exact without securing it down in a few places, get a dual rail bender (yes I am aware they are expensive).

Don’t worry about the little stuff…

Greg

More importantly, what does the mainline track to track spacing come to?

From center line to center line its ~9"

That’s good, have never checked that with the USAT ones, the Aristo comes out about 9.5" from memory.

Doesn’t that crossover look a lot nicer with the #6 as opposed to tighter turnouts?

Greg

One thing is for sure, if you expect your track on the ground to closely resemble what was drawn in a computer, you will be seriously disappointed. Use the drawing as a guide, a starting point, and don’t be afraid to change to shut circumstances.

I mostly just want the roadbed I am about to order to reasonably fit the track that I am putting down. I do have about 4 places in my plans which are going to need to be cut due to not being able to have existing pieces fit the spots. I wanted to get that to a minimum though. I also hope reality is within a few inches of the plans.

Here is the updated plans compensating for the changes to USA Trains track geometry.

Nicolas, the curves you can tweak to fit, you might have to cut a bit here or there, and maybe square up some ends.

The bigger variation is the turnouts, but where you have them gives you room to move things.

Looks like you start building from the upper left corner outwards… then build the lower right corner up to the upper right…

It won’t be horrible… get a good dremel cutoff blade.

Greg

I will be sure to get some blades. I am not expecting and hoping to cut much track other then the pieces in red. Based on the preliminary laying of track on the roadbed, it seems I may have to cut the road bed more then the track to get the fit I want. The track seems slightly smaller then the roadbed.

My plan for installation

  1. Layout all the SplitJaw road bed.
  2. Layout all the track on top to get an idea of fit.
  3. Remove the track and begin putting the PVC in the ground per the SplitJaw instructions.
  4. Once the rail bed is in place begin installing the track.

I have attached a photo. The order of installation would be blue first, then green/yellow. It seems reasonable to start from the top left as I have room to grow on the far right but that section doesn’t have much play area being within a foot of my fence on both sides.

This works great for cutting track !

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/cut-off-saws/2-in-mini-bench-top-cut-off-saw-62136.html

Sean , is it portable enough to move out and around the layout , so you can cut track on the layout?

I have one too, yes, it’s pretty small and definitely portable. Get a carbide cutoff wheel for it, I think it comes with a metal saw blade, which will not cut rail.

Greg

Pete Lassen said:

Sean , is it portable enough to move out and around the layout , so you can cut track on the layout?

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/cut-off-saws/2-in-mini-bench-top-cut-off-saw-62136.html

I have used the blade that comes with my saw on brass and have not changed it in the 6 years of use for myself and my club. over 100 cuts!!

Stainless would be another matter for sure.

On another note, most track is metric but the USA trains big switch was 36 inches in length, not 900 mm which is approx 1/2 inch shorter than 36 inches.

Steve Featherkile said:

One thing is for sure, if you expect your track on the ground to closely resemble what was drawn in a computer, you will be seriously disappointed. Use the drawing as a guide, a starting point, and don’t be afraid to change to shut circumstances.

I agree with Steve. I could never understand using track design software for an outdoor RR where real life things tend to get in the way and natural grades become obstacles. Indoors yes but outside in the real world I have always thought it was better to get outdoors with a rough sketch and start laying track.

Sometimes you simply cannot get from here to there without alterations and there are always improvements to be made that appear after running trains.

What type of roadbed are you planning to order? Will your RR be raised?

There are just so many variables when you move outdoors.

When planning and laying my outdoor railroad, some tweleve years ago, I decided to keep the track as near as possible to the back yard perimeter, thus gaining the maximum area possible, yet still allowing a fair margin for hedges, bushes and plants around the perimeter.

Accordingly the track was routed to follow these spaces through the bushes etc. and levelling the grade grade was done where needed. It was much like the 1:1 railroad surveyors and constructors did albeit on a much smaller scale. It did provide a great deal of interest, ingenuity and physical excercise which was just the beginning of the fun that the railroad would be giving me once it was up and running.

I made a simple outline plan of the track, with dimensions, and sent it to my garden railway supplier who had good stocks of all Aristo track at the time. It was bought and despatched to me promptly. There was a small surplus of track which was utilized later when a loop and sidings were introduced.

I prefer free-form track-work as opposed to sectional track. It looks more like the 1:1 railroads to me. Sectional track is just too uniform, and restricting. I cant remember how many times I was frustrated in my HO days, with sectional track that just would not let me lay out the plan I had in mind.

Todd Haskins said:

Steve Featherkile said:

One thing is for sure, if you expect your track on the ground to closely resemble what was drawn in a computer, you will be seriously disappointed. Use the drawing as a guide, a starting point, and don’t be afraid to change to shut circumstances.

I agree with Steve. I could never understand using track design software for an outdoor RR where real life things tend to get in the way and natural grades become obstacles. Indoors yes but outside in the real world I have always thought it was better to get outdoors with a rough sketch and start laying track.

Sometimes you simply cannot get from here to there without alterations and there are always improvements to be made that appear after running trains.

What type of roadbed are you planning to order? Will your RR be raised?

There are just so many variables when you move outdoors.

Since I was starting from scratch, I wanted to have a very solid plan before ordering to minimize ordering things I don’t need. I have managed to order some things that I don’t want/need regardless of this but I am hoping to keep it to a minimum. I took detail measurements of my yard before figuring out what would fit in the space. I expect the real world implementation to be within 6 inches of what I designed. I would expect to have to compensate for a few things here and there but hoping nothing significant.

The train will be about 2 feet off the ground at a minimum. Due to the ground sloping a bit on the far right side, its going to be higher there. The roadbed is going to be SplitJaw’s PVC road bed. Already had purchased some of this, and tried installing it to test it out. I like the easy of installation, and removal/adjustments. I also like that it will be less subject to rot. Seattle his a very wet place.

Because my layout is going to be raised, it should be level throughout. Eventually landscape will be put in place, but that is part of the ongoing fun.