UP SD40-2's NEW Layout

[doctorwayne]

I built my layout without a trackplan, in an oddly-shaped room which needed lots of curves. I decided on a minimum mainline radius of 30", and cut-up a sheet of plywood, starting across one end, with two 30" curves, followed by a pair each at 32", 34", and 36". I then spliced the pairs together to gain a more useful length, and simply went around the room with each, laying them in-turn on the benchwork to see which ones fit best and where the ends of the curve would fall. Placing one end nearer the wall and rotating the other suggested options on where the straight sections would lie.
Since you're working on a solid table top, you could cut out cardboard from some large boxes (ask at a place selling appliances - they should have lots of large boxes free for the asking) and see what looks best and which sizes place the straight sections where you want them.
It's usually visually more appealing if the straight track doesn't parallel the edge of the layout, so if the straight track enters a curve near the wall, you'll get the broadest curves but the shortest sections of straight track. The cut-out cardboard curves will help you choose which compromise looks best.
In most places, I angled the track towards the wall as it approached a corner and then brought it closer to the front as it went around the curve.



As soon as the curve ended, I curved it in the opposite direction, back towards the wall.



In this manner, I had the 30" minimum in only one place, and not on the main, either. Most curves ended up at 34", with a few larger.
While tight inside curves can make long cars look awkward, tight outside curves, like this one, can really make long cars look bad:



Wayne