Impact of 9.75" radius curves

I think that's one of the track plans out of the Atlas book.......... The biggest problem I see is the reach-over. You normally don't want to have to reach more than 24 inches (less is better) so you need to keep your layout away from the wall on 3 sides, preferably putting one of the 4' sides against the wall. I don't see much of any place you can sub 11' curves without  major impact on yards or other areas. If you leave it as is, I'd suggest going for an older time period....possibly even steam era. That will keep you in 40' boxcars and other short cars. If you can find them , Bachmann made some 65' heavyweight passenger cars, and roundhouse/Athearn makes some overton passenger cars (50') that wouldn't look too bad on the 9.75 curves. You didn't mention if this is a "beginners" layout for you. If so, I'd leave it as is...with shorter cars the difference between 9.75 and 11 isn't worth the effort....and use the layout to practice your techniques for scenery , ballasting, ect.   Also to get a feel for what you really want for operations. RailOhio is correct that this layout doesn't have a lot of potential for operations, but that isn't neccesarily a bad thing. Some people just like to watch trains go around and could care less about switching. If this is your first layout, go with it, use it for practice, then move on to something bigger/better down the road.

I will be replacing as much of the track as possible,   but the turnouts will have to stay just due to the cost  in trying to replace them.  As it is, I have a few remote switch machines I'll need to replace, or convert the turnouts to manual throw; if I do revise the layout, it will be to eliminate some of the turnouts as well. 

The layout also has a double-slip that I don't see being available anymore from Atlas, so replacing it would be very difficult.

 Sadly, there is no more room available... there was quite a struggle to even get something this size to work.  Whatever I do, it's going to have to fit on that existing table.  (Heck, if I had more room than 4x6 I'd be in HO scale... cheaper, easier DCC and much more kid friendly.)

I'm looking over other track plan books, magazines, etc to see if there is some other way to go... unfortunately most of them seem based having an entire basement or extra bedroom available to dedicate to a layout. 

I am not so sure that is true! Maybe you have just been looking in the wrong places! Check these two links for starters:

• MICRO / SMALL LAYOUTS for Model Railroads
• The Mad Trackplanner's Page (This has become quite a classic).

Most, if not all, could be adjusted to your available space fairly easily! Hope they help!

I believe both of these links are in our Links section (we have one of the, if not THE largest 'N' scale related links databases on the web).

Between the links and our resoursefull and knowledgeable membership, we should have you covered

Tom C.:

I absolutely agree with all the points you make, and the last thing I want is the "long protracted rebuild" you mention.  Kevin (my son... you did get the gender right ) has been quite anxious about when the "little train table" is going to ready.  The problem is that the wiring has to be redone (it's very bad), the table surface is so dirty all of the track needs to come up anyway, and some of the switches will need to be fixed (either converted to manual or new remotes put on them).

Given all of that, if I can make some improvements that will make the layout run better and give less problems (chances of derails and such) the time will be well spent.   Plus I know that Kevin wants to see passenger as well as freight cars, which prompted the whole 9.75" vs 11" radius question to begin with!

I'll keep playing with it using RTS 8.0 and even if I can't get rid of all of the tight curves, perhaps I can solve some of the other problem areas (like the S curves mentioned above).  I'm also thinking of simplifying the yard quite a bit and trying to lengthen the run for the up-and-over to reduce the grade somewhat.  Those little changes may make a big difference in the ease of operation.

That's not a bad idea... actually, the pure inventory of the track isn't that critical since I won't mind picking up whatever sectional or flex track I need to fill in, and I'm wanting to get rid of the brass stuff anyway.  The only limitation will be on the turnouts just due to the cost factor... getting a few 5" straight at around $0.45 (at my LHS) is a bit different than dropping $10-$20 on a turnout (depending on manual vs remote, etc).

I'm trying to come up with a good description of what my "Givens" and "Druthers" are (as I've seen it described elsewhere).   When I feel I have that nailed down (so to speak) I'll start a new thread and call upon the wisdom and experience of the collective.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective)