I've been noodling sporadically in XTrkCad to start designing a new trackplan for the designated layout room. The space is a long, narrow, high-ceilinged basement room that shares digs with a furnace, water heater and heat pump.
The much-cursed heat pump (a late addition to the new place in order to provide HVAC to living space we added) wasn't factored into my original scheme. The @!#$%^& pump eats several feet of floor space about where I'd envisioned a helix or turnback loop.
Long story short, this situation has caused me to draw a blank on how to wind track past it and on to a helix that would connect two levels of benchwork. Here's the conundrum:
A) If I moved benchwork off of the slab wall and out in front of the HVAC footprint, I then create a dead-end aisle at the corner, which precludes following a train around the turnback without using a duck-under, which I'm trying to avoid.
B) I could, I think, snake a single track on a shelf not much wider than the ties behind the HVAC area, but it would lead to a pretty tight helix of about 30" radius, 32" max, with the track hard by the walls, in order to maintain a minimally workable aisle width of 30", maybe a tad less.
So, I'm seeking thoughts from the aggregated track planners of the world, or the Layout Design SIG, whichever comes first. Suggestions, solutions cheerfully welcomed and appreciated.
Thanks,
AJ
Below is a large .BMP file of the space. (Click on the mini-map below to open a larger view.) The rectangles and circle at upper right is the HVAC/hot water heater farm.
I've also included further below a photo of part of that corner before the head pump was added to the right of the water heater. The heat pump leaves me about 66 inches of space between it and the far wall in the photo.
Have at it, folks!
Basement Lair 1.0 (click to enlarge)
Basement upper right corner (view before heat pump added to far right)
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ajack1522@gmail.com