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.