13 x 4 layout. Pulling hair out !!!

[wuggythewug]

Hi all new to the forum. I've just built my layout but going daft trying to design it !!! Its 13 ft in length with 2 4ft ends and a 7 foot middle section 2 and half feet wide. It's mainly Express passenger trains j will be running so was wanting 3 loops but don't want to get board watching trains go round in circles all day.....any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.

Will

[Bufferstop]

Welcome aboard. What scale are you going for? The loops you want will be a bit tight in 00, especially for express lines but it would be a great space for N gauge.

[End2end]

Hi wuggythewug and welcome to the forum. (great name by the way )
You could add sidings serving industry or a depot of some sort giving you activity away from the main lines, loco / coach cleaning facilities, an engine shed or engine maintanance shed.
How about a tunnel? Trains popping in and out of view so you cannot see them 100% of the time.
How about another track unconnected to the main line tracks for small industry. Pottery, mine, brewery etc where goods / freight is exchanged from local to main line?
Or on the same lines, a small end to end tourist line that just goes back and forth like on the seafront at Hastings (amongst other places). This could be automated to actually run back and forth on its own without you having to control it.

Just throwing ideas around.
Thanks
End2end

[heda]

As E2E suggested a tunnel, Heathcote electronics (and probably other people) do a simple stop, you can use it to pause trains in the tunnel. or at a station.

[End2end]

Sorry for the confusion. For the tunnel I meant on the main loops so you can't see (all) the train, all of the time.
Thanks
End2end

[pete12345]

Personally, I think 3 concentric loops is one of those things which jumps out immediately and says "train set". Particularly as they are almost never laid with the correctly widened spacing between the second and third lines.

As an alternative, consider a double-track main line (simpler and looks better) and have a goods terminal or something similar along one side, parallel to the main lines. Express trains can then go round the main lines for however long you like, meanwhile a smaller locomotive can be working the goods yard. The yard can be connected via crossovers to the main lines so freight can come and go.

To improve realism, put a scenic divide down the middle and have a fiddle yard behind it- a non-scenic staging area where alternative trains can be held offstage and give somewhere for your goods trains to go.

[Bufferstop]

Particularly as they are almost never laid with the correctly widened spacing between the second and third lines.

If you are using settrack it's already too wide.

[BobDM]

Like you I have found real difficulty working out what to do. I have found the Peco Plan Book a help in working out ideas. I know there are probably people out there who will disagree but when you know nothing [like me] it is a starting point.

[Chops]

Diamonds, not just a girl's best friend. Incorporating diamonds upon the main line demands the operator(s) to monitor
their trains closely to keep them going. Which one's have priority? Goods versus mixed, versus passenger local versus
passenger express. The issue of keeping the trains on schedule can be exponentially increased by the use of DCC.
Myself, two trains on two lines with analog keeps me plenty awake.

Yes, and every now and then I blow it, and a collision results, but unless one is dealing with trains made of crystal or
otherwise very delicate, the couplers absorb the energy without any ill effect.

https://youtu.be/hHv8_gSpbyA

Crash 001.JPG (126.54 KiB) Viewed 2164 times

With any layout, beware of jamming too many turnouts into too small a space- the S curves will lead to derailments.

[Chops]

If I may be so bold, this is a link to a Forum Member here, and I hope it is not minded that I refer to it here. If diamonds aren't your thing,
take a look at what this chap has done in a fairly modest space. Not only does it allow for continuous running, but allows for interchange
and switching, and does so without over complicating the issue. I rather like this:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=53246