Ryan Herbst

My interest in model trains started when I was a kid. I don’t recall exactly which Christmas it was, or how old I was but I remember getting a basic model train set from my parents. My father who was always one for many hobbies quickly got us started on a permanent model train set build on an 8′ x 4′ piece of plywood. This train set was fairly complex with two track levels, a large mountain, a complex switch yard and a track crossover point. The electronics for this train set was fairly simple with a dual channel engine controller along with switches that allowed any section to be mapped to either controller. The set had 14 or so turnout controllers and a large reversing loop. One of these days I may dig out the old train set and take some pictures for this page.

Although our train set was fun it did have some disadvantages. It took up a great deal of space. We would either set it up in the center of my dad’s office or in the garage. At times it would have to be taken down to make space for other projects. The trains would all be packed up, the buildings put away and the train set stored in the attic or along the garage wall. At one time we even had a pulley system that would allow the train set to lifted up out of the way in the garage.

When I decided to start a train set of my own I wanted a setup that I could use whenever I wanted and would not take up a lot of space in my house. At the time I started on the project I was renting a two bedroom duplex and did not have a garage area that could accommodate a large 8×4 layout. I got the idea to setup the train on a shelf in my office which ran around the room. I had two choices for this setup. The first would be a shelf at a height of about 4 feet. In order for the shelf to run all the way around the room it would have to pass in front my my windows and would block the main door to the room. I figured I could put a removable section at the door which could be put in place when I wanted to use the train set. The other choice was to run the shelf at door-jam height which would allow it to run un-interrupted around the room. The second arrangement would also keep the shelf from blocking the windows.

In the end I decided to run the shelf at door-jam height. This resulted in the shelf being about 15 inches from the ceiling. I figured that a ten inch shelf would work best for an N-gauge layout. I chose N-gauge because I already had some locomotives and cars as well as some buildings. I also figured N-gauge would allow for much more scenery in the space I had available.

The following pictures show the resulting shelf with the track on it.

Although using the shelf works out very well for me there are some disadvantages which should be noted. The main problem is the height of the shelf itself and the ability to easily see the scenery and the running train. I normally stand on my desk or on a foot stool when I want to see the train or work on the scenery. Both the desk and the footstool are still too short for kids to see so they have to be held up by an adult to see the train set. Another disadvantages have to do with the limitations its puts on the train set itself. Due to the narrow 10-inch shelf I do not have the room for a reversing loop which would allow the trains to change direction. Instead the locomotives are always stuck going in the direction on which they are placed on the track.

Once I decided to use a shelf for the train set I had to figure out how to make to make it actually work. I had to have a mechanism to run wires to various points on the track. The wires are needed to power each section, provide control to the track switches, detect the location of the locomotives and to provide power to building lights are other fun things. Also since the shelf is so high I really did not want to perform scenery work and track building while standing on my desk. I decided to divide the train set into small sections that I could remove from the overall train set and work on at my desk.

Each section is built using a 1/4 inch piece of plywood. The plywood is cut to the width of the shelf (10 inches). The length of each section varies and was chosen arbitrarily during the building of the sections. Each plywood section is set on a 1/2 inch square strip of wood which runs the length of the section along the front and the back. This 1/2 inch space below each section is used as an area to run the wires required by the train set.

The following pictures show a couple of sections under construction:

Each section has connectors that allow the wires that run to and from it to be disconnected before it is removed. Details about the electronics connections can be found in the Electronics & Control Software section of this web site. The main challenge that exists when removing these sections is how to connect the track between the two sections while maintaining the smooth running surface and electrical connection on the rails. This proved to be a real challenge at first. Eventually I figured out a way to join the track sections together by creating a custom track section made from store bought 2″ track sections from Atlas. (By the way all of my track consists of Atlas products).

Normally the end of a track section has a small area of track that is not bonded to the plastic support structure. This exposed section is just long enough to allow half of a rail joiner to be slid along its length. The other half of the rail joiner would then be slide along the second track in order to join the two together. What I ended up doing is cut the plastic support structure on one of the rails back far enough to allow the entire length of a rail joiner to slide onto the track. Once this is done the two track can be placed end to end. The rail joiner can then be slid back along the exposed track onto the adjoining track until the two sections are connected by the rail joiner. Diagrams and/or pictures of this mechanism will be added soon.

The following is a map of the train. The individual sections are shown:

The diagram is meant to show how the track is laid out on the various removable sections. The various block dots shown on the diagram are the locations of the optical sensors. These sensors are used to detect when the train passes over a certain section of track. The white circles shown on the diagram are locations where two sections of track cross over one another. These crossing occur with both tracks at the same grade. It is important that two trains not enter this section of track at the same time.

The siding shown in the upper left hand corner of the diagram are short sections of track that are used for locomotive storage. The scenery around these sections of track is designed to look like a locomotive storage and maintainance yard. The sidings shown in the upper right hand side are longer sections of track that are used for rail car storage. The scenery in these sections are designed to look like a switch yard.

The sections of track in the upper part of the diagram (shown in green & red) are at the lowest grade and pass through the town section of the layout. The tracks at the lower part of the diagram are the mountain section of the track with each section at a different grade. The magenta track stays at the lowest grade and passes under the mountain which is present in the lower left hand section of the diagram. While the track is in this mountain it passes under the blue and yellow sections of track. Upon exiting the mountain it starts a 2 degree ascent reaching its highest point midway along the bottom of the diagram. At this point it crosses over a river and begins its descent reaching ground level before it starts the turn towards the switch yard.

The yellow track starts at the left hand side of the diagram and starts a 4 degree climb till it reaches it highest point just at the white track crossing. The grade which it reaches is high enough for the train on the blue track to pass under it. Once the yellow track passes the crossing it starts a 4 degree descent and reaches ground level just as it begins the turn back towards the switch yard.

The blue line follows a similar path. It starts a 4 degree climb on the left hand side of the diagram reaching its highest point at the track crossing. Once it passes this point the blue track starts a 2 degree descent reaching ground level after it completes its turn back towards the switch yard. The scenery section of this web site shows pictures of the various points described in the preceding text.

The primary path for locomotive 1 starts on the red track section, moving counter clockwise, continuing along the blue section of track until it returns to the red line after the switch yard. The primary path for locomotive 2 starts on the green track section, moving clockwise, and continues on the magenta section of track all the way around until it reaches the green section of track. The yellow section is an alternative route that can be used by either locomotive when passing through the mountain section. The yellow section also allows the two locomotives to switch their routes.