Guide

Track planning basics

A good track plan is the difference between a railway you keep playing with and one that gathers dust. Here are the principles that matter.

Sectional or flexible track?

Sectional track (Hornby track, Peco Setrack) comes in fixed straights and curves that clip together. It’s quick, reusable and ideal for train sets and first layouts.

Flexible track (such as Peco Streamline) comes in long lengths you bend to any curve and cut to fit. It gives smoother, more realistic curves and fewer joints, but needs cutting and careful laying. Many layouts mix both: flexible track for the main lines, sectional pieces where convenient.

Rail “code” is the rail height in thousandths of an inch. Code 100 is robust and runs nearly everything in OO; code 75 looks finer. In N gauge, code 80 is the traditional standard and code 55 looks finer.

Curves and radii

Sharper curves save space but look toy-like and can trouble long locos and coaches. As a guide for OO sectional track, Hornby’s standard radii are first radius 371mm, second 438mm, third 505mm and fourth 572mm. Train sets usually use first or second radius. If you can, use second radius or larger on the main line and keep first radius for sidings and tight corners.

Many modern ready-to-run models state a minimum radius on the box or product page; check it before you design curves around it.

Points (turnouts)

Left and right hand refer to which way the diverging road goes as you look from the toe (the single-track end).
Insulfrog and Electrofrog (Peco terms): insulated frogs are simplest to wire; electrically live frogs give better running for short-wheelbase locos but need extra wiring.
Point motors let you switch points from a control panel. Solenoid motors such as the Peco PL-10 are traditional; slow-action stall motors and servos look more realistic.

Layout shapes

Oval (roundy-roundy) – continuous running; great for watching trains and testing. Add a passing loop and sidings inside.
End-to-end / branch line terminus – trains go from A to B. Fits on a shelf and is great for operation.
Terminus to fiddle yard – a scenic station at one end and hidden storage sidings (a “fiddle yard”) at the other.
Around the walls – the most railway for the floor area, with access in the middle.

Plan for operation

Ask what you want to do. Watching a long train go round? Shunting wagons into a goods yard? Running a timetable? A simple run-round loop at a terminus lets a loco uncouple and move to the other end of its train, and a couple of sidings give you somewhere to shunt.

Practical tips

Draw your plan to scale on squared paper or use free planning software before buying track.
Lay the track loose and run trains for a few days before fixing anything down.
Feed power at several points on larger layouts, especially for DCC.
Avoid points on curves and gradients steeper than about 1 in 40 if you can.
Leave room for scenery – a little open space between tracks looks more realistic than a sea of rails.