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 Posted - March 06 2025 : 5:09:26 PM
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I am considering replaing the CUmberland Terminal with a new layout. It is simply too small as it now stands. I have a 4 track yard with a capacity of about 12 cars. Any time a train comes in, it is hopelessly plugged. The curves are 18" radius, and though I can run larger diesels they do not play well with shorter freight cars on those curves.
I've looked into several possibilities as far as expansion, but keep coming back to the same problem. I need at least 22" radius curves to utilize those big 6 axle locomotives. And with limited space available, the CUmberland Terminal is in the way of achieving that.
I decided to go back to the drawing board, and start over to see what I could do in the available space. I have about 6x10 to work with, and that will leave me able to access the layout on 3 sides including both of the long ones. This would also allow me to build a layout that can be moved if and when the time comes.
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 Posted - March 06 2025 : 10:25:06 PM
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Go for it. Main purpose is to have fun and run your engines and trains the way you want to.
Helps to make the new layout easy to dismantle if it has to be moved.
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Posted - March 07 2025 : 12:50:28 AM
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The current one was designed with moving in mind. It comes apart in two sections, and will go to the storage unit until I decide what to do with it. The new one will come apart in 5 foot sections.
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Posted - March 09 2025 : 12:19:43 AM
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This might not be your thing, but I am having excellent success with Bachmann EZ track.
Recently, it was necessary to shrink my 8 x 16 foot British layout down by a 4x8 so I can
park my vintage car inside the garage and take advantage of ultra low insurance rates
doing so.
The whole refit took barely 90 minutes and I had it up and running again. The nice thing
about track with a preformed roadbed is that it decreases derailments dramatically, and
unlike ballasted track it is no big deal to rearrange the track and it holds up to being moved
much better than sectional track, which will soak in any sagging or bending and play
Hell on your trains.
To kill the shine, I merely painted on a wash of India Ink, and it also highlights the grain of
the molded ballast.
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Posted - March 09 2025 : 6:36:51 PM
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I have a circle of EZ track set up on my kitchen table as a test track for DC locomotives. But it has a couple of distinct disadvantages for me for building a layout. The first one is that it simply takes up too much space, expecially in the switches. Atlas switches contain alot of unnecessary track, and they are much more compact than the equivalent EZ track ones. But I can build a #6 switch in the space an Atlas #4 takes up, and in the space of an EZ track #6 crossover I can almost have two of them. On a complex layout like I build, this results in unnecessarily wide track spacings, and much shorter and fewer yard tracks. Plus, I will need several curved switches in sizes that neither Atlas nor Bachmann make. The second thing I don't like is the buried switch motors. Those are a high maintenance item prone to burnout and failure. Burying them under the roadbed means that to repair them you have to rip up your track. Atlas True Track, their EZ track equivalent, keeps the switch motors in their traditional position beside the points where they can be easily changed out. They sell replacement motors, but Bachmann does not. But since I am laying my own track, I can use Tortoise motors and mount them either above or below the baseboard. That flexibility is something I've gotten used to.
Don't get me wrong. I'm glad EZ track works for you. It does simplify track laying for those simpler layouts. But I wish they'd have put a little more thought into the switches. I am, as you make be aware, a huge fan of Bachmann's newer locomotives and cars.
BTW, I am working on a plan for the new layout and will post it in a new thread. I suspect it will feel like an old friend to many of you, but with a new and unexpected twist.
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Posted - March 16 2025 : 12:38:06 AM
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| Sounds good. Godspeed!
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