4 x 10 Three Lane Layout with Reverse Loop

This is a simple layout that is a lot of fun. With three lanes there is a lot of space for multiple trains running at the same time. The reverse loop permits the inside train to reverse direction. With two WX310 crossovers, any train can be moved toward the inside lane.

This layout is ten feet by four feet. The largest table I have is a 40×40 inch square card table. For this layout, I used two square tables and one 24×48 inch table. To create a smooth surface, I covered all the tables with pieces of peg board.

The tables are all slightly different heights. I use large pieces of cardboard to bring all the surfaces to roughly the same height. Over top of the peg board I spread a couple layers of green felt. It’s not perfect, but it creates a fairly smooth bed for the track. All together, I invested less than $50 in pegboard and green felt. It was worth it.

This layout has three main tracks. The two outside tracks have turnouts.

On the inside is a reverse loop. The blue and red sections of the train are electrically isolated from each other.

Two insolated Unijoiners are located close to the switches for the storage lanes.

This layout took about an hour to set up. It utilizes Kato Unitrack and is all DC. The complete SCARM file can be downloaded here.

4 x 10 Four Track Layout

I wanted to create a layout that was as long as possible, but not have any overpasses. On the 4 x 10 table, I started with a loop of two lanes going all the way around. I added a turnout along the top. Note that the second lane in this layout is the only lane with no turnout.

Inside of this, I added two more lanes, and bent the ends back onto themselves. Each of these lanes has a turnout.

You can see the inside and outside are connected at the bottom right of each section with a pair of EP481-15R (20-221) turnouts. Below is the whole thing with the turnouts highlighted. If the third lane turnout is used as a lane for traffic, the layout is basically a three lane loop with a giant looping turnout.

All together it is 203 feet of track, all on a 4 x 10 foot table. It’s a fun layout to watch. Be sure to watch the bonus clip at the end. Samuel stopped by and we did a quick FasTrack loop under the N Scale layout. I think he likes the big trains mostly because of all the sounds that he controls from the remote.

There is a lot of track in the layout. It took 75 minutes to put it all together and get all the electronics working. Download the SCARM file for this layout here.

Watch the Trolley

I added a trolley to the inventory. This is the first layout with the trolley. It is on an inside lane using 20-174 curves. These 150mm radius curves are too sharp for most of my trains, but the trolley handles them perfectly.

I started with a basic 4 x 10 loop with four lanes. Around that I added an extra loop with R418-15 curves. All five lanes are connected so trains can travel from lane to lane. Two turnouts are in the inside for storage. For the trolley, there is an inside figure eight with R150 curves. SCARM file is available here.

One extra note: I recorded all the video with an iPad and edited the video with iMovie on the same iPad. The software is not as feature rich as what I have on my PC, but it did the job.

Pennsylvania Railroad Broadway Limited by Kato

Here is a simple Kato Unitrack DC layout with three separate lanes. Two double crossover tracks enable switching between all lanes. Two PRR engines split the passenger cars of the Broadway Limited. At one time the Broadway Limited used electric GG1 engines for part of the trip and then switched to diesel engines for the remainder of the New York-Chicago run. This layout uses a GG1 for half of the cars and an EMD E8A diesel for the rest. The SCARM layout file is linked at the bottom.

Download SCARM layout here.

Ten Lanes for Three Tracks

I think this is the limit for a 4 x 8 layout. I have more than 169 feet of track in this layout. It’s all Kato Unitrack DC with three separate tracks. On each edge there are nine lanes with a working turnout. That’s a total of ten lanes on each side of the layout. A graphic and link to the layout are below.

Download the SCARM layout file here.

Double Decker

I change my layout often. Nothing is permanent. I purchased three pieces of pegboard and use those as a base. They offer a good flexibility in how large I can arrange my layout and are very inexpensive. My last layout was 4’x 10′ but this week we need a little extra room so I chopped two feet off the layout and used the extra piece of pegboard as a second layer on top of the 4′ x 8′ layout.

I picked up a piece of green felt at Hobby Lobby. That lays on top of the pegboard to give it a slightly more realistic look. It was hot when I recorded this and the ceiling fan was running. You will notice it blowing the felt on the upper deck. If this were a permanent layout, I would glue all that down, but next week, it will be used in a different layout.

I picked up some Lego knockoff base plates and used those for the long ramps. Those work great and were inexpensive. I also found a bag of 1/160 scale cars to add to the layout for more realism. I tried making a few Lego buildings to match. Those will get better.

The SCARM plans for the layout are here.