First oval with a siding

Every layout starts with a closed run — the loop the train circles on. In this first part you build an oval, place your first turnout and hang a short siding off it. That’s the foundation for everything that follows.

Build along in the app ↗ — the same chapter exists as an interactive learning scenario right in the editor (“My learning layout”). The plan check recognises every milestone from the real plan state: you build freely, we tick it off.

Navigation & animations: Move the view by dragging with the right mouse button, zoom with the mouse wheel. In the animations the cursor shows what the mouse does: blue = left button (click, drag, build), amber = right button (move the view). One ring pulse is a click, two pulses a double-click.

Step 1 — Close the loop

Here’s how the first track gets onto the board: double-click a curve tile in the palette and the piece lands in the middle. For every next piece you have two ways — the animation shows both:

• Drag: pull the tile onto the board with the mouse button held. Near an open end the new track snaps into place, angle and position handled automatically.
• Double-click: while a track is selected, every double-click on the tile attaches the next piece straight to its open end (series building).

After the last curve the loop closes by itself — the ends snap together. (How many curves a circle takes depends on the track system: twelve with 30° curves like Märklin C or Piko A, eight with 45° curves.) You get an oval instead of a perfect circle as soon as you insert one or two straights at the top and bottom.

Step 2 — The first turnout

You get a turnout into the loop by replacing a straight with a turnout: select one of the top straights — a double-click picks a single piece instead of the whole assembly — and delete it with the Delete button in the context bar. That leaves a gap in the ring. Now place a turnout into the gap; it snaps in at both ends, the loop is closed again, and the diverging leg points toward the future siding.

Step 3 — The siding

The siding grows off the turnout’s diverging leg: a short counter-curve leads it out of the turnout angle back into line, then you extend it as needed (double-click the straight tile while it’s selected) and finish with a buffer stop on the open end — quickest via the search box at the top of the palette, which filters to your system’s buffer stops. Make sure it’s long enough for a small loco (guideline ≥ 30 cm); the status bar shows the actual usable length when you select the track.

What’s next?

• Part 2: Grow the oval into a station — a runaround and a second platform track.
• More on this: Minimum radius · Usable siding length.