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My Over-Under Figure 8 with a Tunnel

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CamdenLine
Little Six

Status: offline

Posted - July 06 2010 : 8:33:17 PM

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the welcomes to the group. I thought I should post about my new layout.

I last tried to do a layout when I was a kid. It was pretty horrible. As I recall it was a 4x8 sheet of plywood with an oval on it. I remember having some switches so it was probably some sort of double oval. I was starting with parts from a Tyco Over and Under trestle set but I doubt I ever got that to work correctly. Those little plastic trestles were so tippy. I had some of those foam mountain tunnels from Toys R Us as well.

So, as an adult it has been really interesting to come back at this as I can think about possibilities in a different way and the internet of course puts many options at your finger tips.

I'm still limited to a 4x8 as far as space and I'd like to put as much action on there as possible. I'm partly doing this as a project with my young son and he likes to watch the trains go round and round.

I had a 4x8 sheet of drywall sitting around so that seemed like a natural choice as a board to build on. So far it has worked pretty well though the edges were a little banged up so I'll probably put some kind of wood around the edges to protect it.

My first thought was to re-create a simple over under figure eight like I'd had as a kid since it seems much more interesting than an oval. I also wanted a spur that headed to an engine maintenance facility so that was added into the design. Knowing I could fit more on the layout I started to experiment with other ideas and it has evolved into the mock-up in the photos. The figure eight is the core of the design but it has a loop worked into the route so the train will do the loop and the figure eight before repeating itself. Instead of using a crossing piece where the loop crosses the eight I opted for raising the back side of the oval instead so it becomes a raised crossing with a bridge. I also opted for a viaduct type set-up on part of the high track so I can run track underneath. One fun thing is that on the far end the track is completely hidden by the raised section so I opted to make that a tunnel section.

Here are the photos. First off, the shot of the whole layout thus far.

In this first photo you can see where the engine (a SAnta Fe GP-20) leaves the maintenance facility on the far right and heads down toward the main line. It goes under the track with the Burlington Northern Alco 430 on it. For now all of the building are just some quick things I threw together out of scrap from the boxes the foam risers came in.

Below is another shot that shows most of the layout. You can see where this starting track connects to the main oval on the far left.

Where the Alco engine is will be the viaduct made of three or four plate girder bridge pieces.

This forth photo below shows the left hand side of the layout where the trains curve around to the back side and go up the grade to the higher level. This is a 4% grade which is very steep in real world standards but necessary to get high enough for the bridges on a 4x8 board. This shot also shows the 4% grade back down on the inner loop. There is some misc. tyco rolling stock hanging out in the loop as well. The lonely siding coming into this loop is just some track I set there. I want to eventually have some industry in this area but it is open right now for future expansion.

The next photo (below) shows the back corner of the layout. The track stays at for inches off the ground as makes the corner. The pink foam arch shows where the track goes into the eventual tunnel I will build. This is the entrance to the tunnel. The trains go in here after coming down from the inner loop in the above photo and and going under the center of the figure eight. I'll make a nicer tunnel entrance of course. This will be a tricky bit as the track curves here but I need a bridge. I'll need a wide straight bridge that will accommodate the curving track. I may have to kitbash something together.

This shot below shows the exit of the tunnel on the right and you an see this is close to where we started.

The last shot is the view down the main area that crosses in the middle of the eight. This area looks pretty rough. I put the gandy dancer on there for fun. The track on the right is not hooked up right now. It is going to be a siding for the industries on the right. The track on the left is the main line. You can see a tiny bit of the track (far left) that will eventually spur off to the industrial area in the left hand loop. This main bridge in the center will eventually have three tracks going under it.

Well that's it! Nothing is glued down yet, just held down with pins. I think I may start gluing the foam risers tonight. They were so nice to work with. Everything went together very quickly.

Curious to hear your thoughts. I'd actually like to have another loop in here somewhere to get an even longer circuit run but I can't wrap my head around how to make the curves work. I think this will be enough as is. It is fun to watch. Maybe I can pt up a video some time soon.

~CamdenLine

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