Advice on L shaped loop railways for Z

I'm having a day where my brain is full of wet cement. No comments please.

If a kind soul reads this, I'm seeking ideas for an L shaped space in my den/studio/guest bedroom.

It can be about 12' x 8' and about 20" deep.

I'd like to create a double loop so I can sit and watch trains run in opposite directions to each other. Very few if any turnouts or swtiches.

Any ideas?

Thanks. No where did I put that jackhammer?

Murray
Medicine Hat, AB

A few more details will be helpful in coming up with track plan recommendations. Your space is a good size and there are many possible directions to take.

Locale: US, Euro, other? If US: East, West, South, other?
Urban, rural, mixed? Bridges and/or tunnels?
Era: transition or modern?
Prototype-specific or freelance?

Grades: yes, no, maybe?
Choice of track: Sectional or flex?
You say few or no switches... which is your preference?
What type of benchwork are you comfortable building?
What's your budget?

This will all help immensely.
Take your time, let the jackhammer do its thing.

Murray,
Dave has given you some good thinking points, so mull over the options he mentioned and give careful consideration to the theme and track plans. Don't be like me and draw your layout on the garage floor using colored electrician's tape. My plan did work out, but probably only because I was lucky?

The size of your layout sure will offer you some fine possibilities for great scenery and structures, so empty that wet cement and eat some brain food, then grab your pencil, (any maybe some electrical tape too) and start doodling some ideas on paper.

BTW, I've found venetian blind cord works great for me when track planning......boy, talk about crude prehistoric building planning :o)

Looking forward to your progress.

Loren

Having been a desktop publisher for many moons, I began using computers for planning at a pretty early time--in fact, my first computer-based track plan was begun on 15 December 1987. I used the computer (it was a Mac, although I'm platform-agnostic) to help me design some tricky benchwork, which looked like this:



The finished plan was the White River and Northern II, admittedly a real bowl of spaghetti:



I enjoy developing plans, both for myself and for others; here are a few examples:

whiteriverandnorthern.net/plans.htm

In particular, the White River and Northern IV was about the same size as your space, a 7 X 11 foot L averaging about 24 inches deep. It was N scale, though, so you can count on being able to do a lot more in your space in Z; here's a web page detailing the plan's features:

whiteriverandnorthern.net/detail_38.htm

Here's an enlargement of the plan:

whiteriverandnorthern.net/images/wrn4_large.gif

So, once you've posted some more nouns and verbs, I'll be happy to push the pixels around for you.

Murray,

Here is an image of one arm of my layout. You are seeing about 4' to the corner. The upper main is a double line that actually curves back on it's self. It is great for operations. But off screen, I have many yards and such.



Here is an image showing the one side of the layout the the arm shown in the upper left:



The layout is 24" deep in most places. The back section of the layout in 10' long. You are going to have a lot of great space to work with. One thing, make sure you put in at least a siding, if not a small yard. This way, you can stage trains and keep other trains running. It also adds a greater dimension to the layout.

I hope these photos give you some idea of what you can do in the space.

Rob