Help please - 6x4ft.. 6 year old involved lol

[JickettyCan]

Hi Guys!

So we have a 6x4 baseboard. It folds in the middle which is a bit of a pain for points but i can rig it so it no longer folds and will just be a solid piece again. We do have a bit of a layout on it at the moment but frankly i didn't do the best job, there's gaps in fishplates etc and we're also short on sidings.

Anyway, i've got a 6 year old son who like most lads, loves trains and he's opted to lift the current design and start again. The board is in his room - we have nowhere else to put it lol and he wants as much stuff as possible on it. I don't have any software to do any designing / experimenting and was hoping someone here might be able to help?

This is his list of "daddy i want this on the railway" lol - admittedly this is a really tall order..:

• 2 road crossings (we have a dual and single strack straight - he's adamant we must have both..
• diamond crossover
• Stations (currently curved and straight
• sidings (we have 10 locos (including 2 eurostars), 3 coaches, quite a lot of trucky things... i accept some will have to be kept pff the track but if we could get up to 6 or 7 sidings it would be awesome
• car park
• Beach (corner of theboard is ideal)
• 2 retail units - ASDA and B&Q lol - or just designated space on the plan to put them there
• Roads
• Petrol station
• Turntable
• operators well
• Quarry

It's a bloomin tall order right? - all on a 6x4 board with no negotiation on size by order of his mum - who is also adamant i "get it done" so he can play with "his railway" even though she bought me the track as a birthday pressie lol. Anyway i've acquired quite a lot of track from other places so curves, straight and points aren't so much of an issue but i'm just stumped as to the design of it and how to cram it all on.

Can anyone help? - Is there any good free design software that i can use?

Thanks for reading,

JC

[End2end]

Here's 2 software design programs.
Both are free versions so limited in some way.
https://www.scarm.info/index.php
https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Wind ... yRail.html
Just a word of caution regarding the crossover. Check the manufacturer underneath as Peco and Hornby crossovers are not the same beast.
The single level crossing could perhaps be placed in a siding?
Thanks
End2end

[Bufferstop]

Sorry mate, I don't like being negative but it's not a bloomin tall order, it's bloomin impossible! Cover the boards in lining paper or old wallpaper face down, and use the track pieces as templates to mark out what you can fit, then let's see if what will fit, will work.

[Ironduke]

Here's 2 software design programs.
.
https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Wind ... yRail.html
.
End2end

I don't know why you keep referring to this dodgy "freedownloadmanager" website. After it eventually loads, it tells you the latest version is 6.38, then when you click "download" you end up with version 6.24.1.

Anyrail has its own website: https://www.anyrail.com/en
Get it from a trusted source.

Also available is XtrkCad http://xtrkcad-fork.sourceforge.net/Wikka/HomePage

[SRman]

If you can stretch to multiple track levels you might gat a few more things in, but I would question whether you could fit a turntable and sidings and the retail premises - turntables take up quite a lot of usable space.

Besides the planning software, there are many books available with layout plans. many starting with the "classic" 6' x 4' designs. Peco had books for layout plans, and one in particular dedicated to small layouts. There are also several American plan books, but be prepared to mirror-image those to cater for British left-hand running as opposed to American right-hand running - this affects the directions of crossovers and the like.

Some of the currently available magazines also feature plan themes in their pages.

Online searches will also reveal plans - do the search then choose to limit it to images for some inspirations.

[End2end]

I don't know why you keep referring to this dodgy "freedownloadmanager" website. After it eventually loads, it tells you the latest version is 6.38, then when you click "download" you end up with version 6.24.1.

Because it was the first link I came across. That's all.

As for "After it eventually loads", It loads immediately for me. I think you need to change or clean your browser. It seems your browser is being bogged down. Maybe by an amount of cookies? Try clearing them and your cache.
Thanks
End2end

[Mountain]

Asda and B&Q can be modelled in low relief with just their fronts showing as part of the backscenes and one layout corner can be a car park. The other corner can be a quarry with a tunnel. Quarries tended to use narrow gauge waggons usually pushed by hand, so a length of 009/H0e track with two or three H0e V-skip type waggons should be fine and not take up much space. I think Roco make nice little H0e waggons.

The beach can go on the approach side of the layout where trains pass with a sea wall and beach below inbetween trains and the edge of the layout.

One station can be on a curve of the layout near the front, and another station can be at the back with the back platform modelled into the backscene in low relief form.

There should be just about enough room to add the rest if one is clever! Admittedly it is all going to be a tight squeeze. I would keep it to double track and not a triple as it will look nicer with one of the level crossings over a siding.

[pete12345]

Your 6x4 board actually needs a total floor area of around 10x8, accounting for aisles round both long sides and an end. Turn this space 'inside out' and have a hole in the middle of a larger board, making a 2 foot thick donut shape. Without taking up any more space, you'll have a longer track run, more space for scenery and some hope of fitting it all in. Only two of the four sides need to be permanently fixed (to two walls) and the remaining sides can be collapsed and stored on a shelf underneath the fixed sections if necessary. Operating from the middle lessens the effect of the curvature as you are looking along the radius, and the layout seems larger still as you always have your back to part of it.

Contrast this to the 6x4 table which dominates the room and is impractical to move if you envisage it being portable. They date from the days of Tri-ang train sets set up on the kitchen table and packed away in time for tea, but they're not a good choice for a layout.

Many people build a 6x4 or 8x4 as a first layout; normally following Hornby's guides as they want to sell you track packs. But they are a poor design overall and very few people build a second one.

[glencairn]

I dislike a 6x4 board. It is a solid lump (imo). Awkward to move about. Worse than a 6x4 mattress. (At least a mattress will bend a little. Long trains are virtually chasing themselves

Narrow boards around the walls give far longer running. Easy access to any derailments etc. More scenery can be added. Easy access to anything in the room.

Whatever you do . Keep it as simple as possible. Easy to operate. Be able to operate it by one person. (Most times only one person will be there.) Keep it fun. Children come back when it is fun. (Been there. Still am. ) If anything gets broken, because something will, don't sweat the small stuff.

I have had my five grandchildren operating Crown Point & Sovereign Street since they were three years of age and they come back to operate it regularly.

Keep it fun. Enjoy the journey.

Glencairn

[Mountain]

Many people build a 6x4 or 8x4 as a first layout; normally following Hornby's guides as they want to sell you track packs. But they are a poor design overall and very few people build a second one.

Hornby's reccomendations are just too flimsy for the boards and woodwork. Increase the width of the board and frame if I was going down that route.
My Dad was a carpenter and whatever we built, he would insist that it had to be strong enough to take both of out weights is we stood or sat on the surface before we put the track and scenery down. The only layout I have made which has been an exception is the small portable layout that I have now. It is not finished yet. Being small and portable, it does not need to be strong.

The danger of building boards too flimsy is that they eventually warp or someone leans on them or stands on them... A little thicker material with that extra bracing in the frame makes a world of difference in the long run.
Portable layouts are different in that one takes them down when one is not using them to protect them so them being lightweight is important, but they still need to be strong enough so they don't flex too much.

[Someone]

Hi Guys!

So we have a 6x4 baseboard. It folds in the middle which is a bit of a pain for points but I can rig it so it no longer folds and will just be a solid piece again. We do have a bit of a layout on it at the moment but frankly, i didn't do the best job, there's gaps in fishplates etc and we're also short on sidings.

Anyway, i've got a 6 year old son who like most lads, loves trains and he's opted to lift the current design and start again. The board is in his room - we have nowhere else to put it lol and he wants as much stuff as possible on it. I don't have any software to do any designing / experimenting and was hoping someone here might be able to help?

This is his list of "daddy i want this on the railway" lol - admittedly this is a really tall order..:

• 2 road crossings (we have a dual and single strack straight - he's adamant we must have both..
• diamond crossover
• Stations (currently curved and straight
• sidings (we have 10 locos (including 2 eurostars), 3 coaches, quite a lot of trucky things... i accept some will have to be kept pff the track but if we could get up to 6 or 7 sidings it would be awesome
• car park
• Beach (corner of theboard is ideal)
• 2 retail units - ASDA and B&Q lol - or just designated space on the plan to put them there
• Roads
• Petrol station
• Turntable
• operators well
• Quarry

It's a bloomin tall order right? - all on a 6x4 board with no negotiation on size by order of his mum - who is also adamant i "get it done" so he can play with "his railway" even though she bought me the track as a birthday pressie lol. Anyway i've acquired quite a lot of track from other places so curves, straight and points aren't so much of an issue but i'm just stumped as to the design of it and how to cram it all on.

Can anyone help? - Is there any good free design software that i can use?

Thanks for reading,

JC

You might be able to fit a turntable and a small quarry, but I don't think you will be able to fit everything in the list for a layout that size.

Also, there's a layout design software that is 100% free with no limits, and you don't even have to download it.
It's called trax editor.

https://www.traxeditor.com/index.php/


Also when it comes to 6x4 layouts I don't think you could get much advice on forums as on them the advice is to do a bigger board, and based on the fact you have no choice of board sizes that advice (Though good) Won't help in your case.

And although 6x4s get bashed sometimes, I feel like with a bit of creativity and imagination they can look really good.

An example of a good 6x4.

https://youtu.be/1KgbBxOyRFw

Another example of a good 6x4 was made by a user called Hammy, which is now dismantled, it was a bit more then a trakmat, but the scenery made it look like a fun little layout.

[Byegad]

I doubt it would fit in N gauge.