Tehachapi Loop in Z

Planning for building a large layout can be quite intimidating. In addition to physical preparation of the space, I will also be adding significant complexity by automating much or all of the operations of the layout. I work in a fairly technical job, and while I'm not intimidated by the electronics and computer control, I definitely have some homework to do. One of the best ways I have found to truly understand what is going on/how things work is to run some experiments. These experiments will be 'lower cost' than the final product (however you define 'cost'...money, time, effort, etc.), and will be used as learning tools to build my skills, knowledge, and abilities in deploying a fully-automated DCC controlled layout. With this approach in mind, I am planning a 'test layout' of sorts. After scouring the interwebz, I came across what I think is a very suitable trackplan. I remember seeing this particular plan years ago when I first became interested in the ...

Hello and welcome to my blog! I hope to chronicle my adventures in building a "large" Z scale layout here, focused on the Tehachapi Loop . I've always been fascinated by trains, especially freight trains, and there are several awesome resources to 'railfan' the Loop, especially this channel on YouTube. I've also been inspired by Platelayer's blog post on his design of a Tehachapi layout in Z, found here . One of the great things about Z scale is the great 'train to scenery' ratio, where one can model landscapes much closer to actual proportion than in just about any other model railroad scale. This is one of the big reasons I chose to try the Tehachapi Loop in Z; it has a diameter of about 1210 ft, which Z scale would be ~ 5.5 ft. If one were to try this in N, it would be 7.5 ft (still reasonable, but how many of us have a spare 8 ft of room for a single loop of a helix?). In HO it would be a whopping 14 FEET in diameter! If we look at the elevati...