type of track

[henrydes]

Hi all
I'm trying to design a model railway and am wondering if a point to point or a round track design is better. also I've got a 8ft x 4ft board and am building using OO gauge.:confused:

[TWICK9]

Hi and welcome. It really depends if you want to do a lot of shunting movements or just watch the trains go round. end to end layouts tend to be long and narrow though not always, so I would think the round and round might fit in better. Working in N Gauge for a very long time I'm not sure what the minimum radius is for OO, but it might be possible to have an end to end track incorporated with the addition of a second level.

[hairyhandedfool]

8ft by 4ft is quite small for OO gauge 'loop' layout, but its far from impossible, you'd get a maximum of about 4ft of straight track along the layout. An 'end to end' layout in a U shape would have a fair scope of operation, effectively a 16ft by 2ft layout, but that would likely include the 'fiddle yard'.

Which is better? That's something only you can answer. In that space, I'd probably go with an 'end to end' type layout, but there is nothing wrong with short trains on a loop layout.

[truckersteve]

I have an 8' x 4' OO gauge layout in the form of a loop. It is a single track GWR branch line opening up to 2 tracks along the front 8' through the station. It has to be single track as double track would make the radius of the inner track much too tight. 3-way, slips and curved points are essential to get it all in. Also locomotives have to be chosen with care. Although I designed it using HVR2 the track is Strealine Code 100.

"Dead Cats" are buffer stops. I once e-mailed a photo of a layout to a friend and his wife said "What are those things that look like dead cats?" and the name has stuck.

It may not be prototypically correct, having a relatively "massive" goods yard for the size of station, but it works for me.

[craftsmaster]

Hi all
I'm trying to design a model railway and am wondering if a point to point or a round track design is better. also I've got a 8ft x 4ft board and am building using OO gauge.:confused:

Hi Heny,

The model trains must be synchronize, you cannot just design a rail road without considering the lay out the the model. A round track is definitely design for ho scale. Instead of providing you with just a circular route, some sets give you some straight track as well. This gives you the opportunity to make an oval.

If you use two pieces of straight track, putting one on either side of the layout, it creates an oval route for your locomotive, approximately 40 by 50 inches in size.

Carmel