SharkNose's 4' x 5' Table Top Layout

[SharkNose]

Hi, Bryan. You're right, this solution would not allow a direct cross over from the inner to outer loop (or the reverse). I was thinking of having the outer loop a major freight company who would drop off cars on the common siding. Then a smaller switching company from the inner loop would come and pick them up to deliver to the inner loop siding. I would maintain my 2 independent loops with small switching jobs thrown in here and there. 

[GaryHinshaw]

I like the addition of the spurs.  You could have both a crossover and a spur on the bottom if you changed the configuration to something like this: (pardon the primitive art)

-------------------------------------------
                          /
                         /
                        /-----------------------
                       /
                      /
-------------------------------------------

instead of this:

-------------------------------------------
                      \
                       \
                        |-----------------------
                       /
                      /
-------------------------------------------

but it would present a different kind of switching puzzle.

[SharkNose]

Gary, not only a switching puzzle, but an electrical puzzle as well. In crossing from the inner/outer loop to the outer/inner loop, I'd be going from one power pack to another. The thought of different voltages or, god forbid, different polarities pouring into my Kato GG-1 at the same time gives me the heebeejeebies. 

Plus, I'd have to foul my outer loop mainline to move whatever is in the spur to back it into the inner loop.

[GaryHinshaw]

I think the two schemes are identical electrically, aren't they?  They both connect the inner and outer loops, and there is no reversing segment.

[SharkNose]

My thoughts were to insulate the inside spur from both the inner and outer loops similar to where the red lines are below. The inside spur would then be able to be connected to the outer loop power when needed or the inner loop when needed. With this design I'd have to stop my train on the spur to change direction and be able to switch power sources at that point. There would be no direct continuous run from the outer loop to inner loop without a stop.

[davefoxx]

Since you want to use DC, why not rewire this layout for common rail?  That is one rail, say the outer rail of each track, is common.  The inner rail is broken into blocks.  Use single-pole double throw (center off) switches to flip each block to one power pack, the other, or off.  You won't have to worry about sending too much current to a locomotive.

DFF

[SharkNose]

Dave, that's a little more complicated than I wanted to get into at this point in the layout.     Noted for future reference though, thanks. 

[SharkNose]

Let me regress a little in time and show you the structures I have planned for my layout. I've been building these for years and have as much fun making them as I do running trains! 

The first N-Scale structure I built was "Villa Vampire" from Vollmer. I figured if I screwed it up, what better house to practice on than a dilapidated old mansion? It seems a little over-sized for N-Scale, but I couldn't have a layout without a haunted house:





I plan to place it on the green box in the upper right of my layout diagram shown in a previous post above. Of course, it'll look better with spooky scenery around it and a graveyard nearby. 

[S Class]

Mighty Cthulhu will punish the those who dare run foobies 

[SharkNose]

OK... Thanks for making me think before breakfast on a Sunday morning.   It took me 15 minutes to search and figure out what a "foobie" is.

From Dave Vollmer:

Somewhere I'd heard the term "foobie" to describe a stand-in on a model railroad that doesn't match the prototype but fills a role until a prototypical piece can be built.

I assume you're referring to the 0-6-0. I do have plans to get rid of the hideous lettering on that loco, but have not gotten around to it yet. And now that I know what a "foobie" is, I may be guilty of a lot of "foobishness". Hey, if I like it, I buy it. I don't care what it looks like. 

[SharkNose]

In an effort to remove the from my record...



 

[SharkNose]

And now for my magical 25th post...

Here's the second N-Scale structure I built:



It is somewhat similar to the West Trenton SEPTA station on the CSX Trenton Line: