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Most people and groups seem to go for 'roundy roundy' track plans. For exhibitions this makes sense as trains can be kept moving without too much effort. However most people who have put trackplans or pics of their home layouts on Brickshelf also (...) (20 years ago, 27-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) This is a common question in the general model railroading hobby. Conventional wisdom is that unless you really like switching (or shunting if you speak UK english) a continuous track plan is the way to go except for the very largest layouts (...) (20 years ago, 27-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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"Larry Pieniazek" <larry.(mylastname)@...areDOTcom> wrote in message (...) trains (...) view as (...) Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who likes to put his face right down next to the track. I like to get as close as possible so I can feel the (...) (20 years ago, 27-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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I too am of the kind that likes to get a minifig's-eye-view of the action. As to continuous loops, my layout is currently not large enough to have worthwhile line that doesn't loop. So, in order to keep the trains running for a worthwhile amount of (...) (20 years ago, 27-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) Ya, me too. I have been doing it for 30+ years (started with HO) and see no reason to stop now. Just make sure your hair is clear from getting caught! I first learned about folded dogbones from writings of the great John Armstrong (of Atlas (...) (20 years ago, 27-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) The first time my family visited San Diego, my brother got my parents to take us to a local model train museum (first place I ever found peanut butter M&Ms), and they used this to great effect. They had a large table, about 20'x20', that was (...) (20 years ago, 27-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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A dogbone is good for giving an impression of a double track main line, especially if you hide the loops at each end to a certain extent. However what I was really wondering was whether the characteristic of Lego train components effectivly (...) (20 years ago, 28-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) PWM systems can overcome part of the problem of slow speeds, using 2 motors does the rest. However the price of points, the fact that they can only be automated at high costs/effort and the fact that LEGO couplers aren't easy to automate (...) (20 years ago, 28-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) Not having a good uncoupler out of the box is, I think, more of a deterrent than the electric contact part but that's certainly a factor too. But people DO create switching layouts... Rick Clark exhibited a timesaver (famous switching problem (...) (20 years ago, 28-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) Hello All, for my part, when I was in appartment, I had a small loop and a hump (slopped) yard with a remote decoupler. I had fun switching car and then going in a loop, then more switching. Now after I finaly renovated my basement in my (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) There's been an argument going on about this on our own club site. My side of it was that if you want to model a specific length of line to your own satisfaction, then do it and forget about detailing the end loops. But, when it comes to a (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) Yes, at minifig eye level. That's the perspective I'm personally most interested in. No, at normal viewing level. But that's OK. We usually have at least one endloop visible anyway. and both ends if the mountain isn't there. (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) One of the things I am looking forward to at BrickFest is being able to run some trains. No room in my basement - it's full of nasty machinery like milling machines with a terrible hunger for bright shiny ABS bricks ;) The thing is, my new (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) Ooohh. Any chance of something like that being up here (Edmonton, Alberta) in late September? Lets just say that our group (NALUG) is going to have some bridges for this year's GETS (Great Edmonton Train Show) display. (See (URL) for some (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) I built a B&W CMOS camera into the back of a TV OB-Van a few years ago. The kids had fun trying to work out from the image where the camera was on the layout. It never occurred to them it was right where a minifig is sat in a crane chair (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) IIRC, COLTC has done this, using swallowable gastrointestinal cameras about the size of a large pill, which can be embedded in a locomotove where the headlight would normally go. The result is broadcast, received, and displayed on the laptop (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) For exhibition layouts I would say I have to agree with everything youy say above. Lego IS a toy and if you want trains to go through a moon-base so what? Loops allow for continuous movement with less operator effort. My comment about the (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) Here's the track plan: (URL) I don't have any pictures of the finished module, but I think there might be some from the club events pictures. The siding in the very bottom-left started on a pier at the front of the table. That went under a (...) (20 years ago, 29-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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(...) <snip> (...) On the other hand, trains disappearing and reappearing is a huge facination for children and adults alike (myself included). That's one of the reasons why traditional model railroaders have always added tunnels and hidden loops to (...) (20 years ago, 30-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) Is it? Don't the tunnels and such need to be detailed as well? Larry's mountain may cover a large chunk of track, but I'd bet it could be cheaper to just lay down a few empty baseplates, pepper them with trees and shrubs, and stick a few (...) (20 years ago, 31-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) I think the point Rick was trying to make was if you bring a mountain to a show it's likely to be mostly assembled and takes far less time to make show ready. I do have to disagree with the cost factor however. Building BIG items like my (...) (20 years ago, 31-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) Or at least you hope so... ;P (...) The rarity of the pieces used, the level of detail, and the size of the MOC come into play there. Jason Spears likes to build small tudor houses in rare colors, and Chris Leach likes to build tall structures (...) (20 years ago, 31-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) Well, that's not exactly my argument. I'm saying when you block a large area from view just because you don't think a turning loop is 'prototypical', then your audience are more likely to see it as an inconvenience, rather than appreciate your (...) (20 years ago, 31-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) Now that sounds like an interesting setup. If you build a mountain large enough, you should theoretically be able to set it up with parallel tracks and an automated switching system so that one train can go into the mountain and another train (...) (20 years ago, 31-Jul-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) It's been done, certanly by VLC and probably by others. (The magic long trainshed by Larry P. as well, I think). As regards why a circular layout- at home, I have enough room that I could run end to end. I don't, instead, I chose to make 2 (...) (20 years ago, 1-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) That one's not done by me. Not sure who did it, sorry. (20 years ago, 1-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) I wasn't thinking of a passing loop. Just a point that can switch a train out the back of the display at 90° to the running line, and another that can come back in just down the line. You have two parallel tracks for extracting and inserting (...) (20 years ago, 2-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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In Europe a lot of EMUs, DMUs or push-pull (loco on one side, steering car on the other) trains are used, so without having to get the loco to the other side of the train the train can run in opposite direction (only the driver has to walk to the (...) (20 years ago, 5-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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| | Re: Roundy Roundy
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(...) I thought it was you who did one with a doodle bug of one colour entering, and a different one leaving? Anyway, someone did one like that, which gives the same effect as hiding a train in a mountain. James Powell (20 years ago, 7-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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(...) I think the write up of the VLC train operating session is somewhere...anyway, the area we had was not really big enough, at something like 40x40 ft for a true end to end layout. I don't know how big you would have to go to have room for 6-10 (...) (20 years ago, 7-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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Rick Clark wrote in message ... (...) loops (...) One of our previous Vancouver Lego Club layouts had hidden sidings under a mountain controlled by Mindstorms (courtesy of the automation genius of Dean Husby) so that one train entered at one end and (...) (20 years ago, 8-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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James Powell wrote in message ... (...) somewhere...anyway, Here's the reference page for the Train Operating presentation I did at Brickfest PDX back in Feb, which included a case study of the VLC operating weekend: (URL) includes links to the (...) (20 years ago, 8-Aug-04, to lugnet.trains)
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