One of Tony Koester’s books talks about using Layout Design Elements as building blocks for a layout design. You can certainly draw a lot of LDEs from those old track plans even if you don’t build the entire layout as drawn.
A very small quibble: Although many folks use the term LDE exactly as you have, Koester himself defines the concept of Layout Design Elements to be segments of real railroads, not chunks of model track plans.
The potential shortcoming of combining sections of published track plans is ending up with pieces that don’t work well together (or even alone). Many published plans (especially those never built) have significant flaws.
This is unfortunately the case with many plans in 101 Track Plans.
Byron
I really wish they’d do they’d do a third edition full of 1980s - current layout plans.
I take it you mean a new book? There are several:
101 Track Plans
101 More Track Plans
102 Realistic Track Plans
45 Original Track Plans
and Mid Size Track Plans for Realistic Layouts.
That’s a lot of track plans [:D]
–Randy
… and
103 Realistic Track Plans
(only digital versions available now, I think. Nearly all of these plans were previously published in Kalmbach magazines.)
43 Track Plans from the Experts
(previously published in Model Railroad Planning)
Personally, I think a few pages of explanation should be added to 101 Track Plans indicating that these are plans from the 1950s (and earlier) and suggesting references to more recent resources.
Byron
I haven’t seen the latest editions of 101 Track Plans - the one I have is somewhere around 40 years old. Maybe they do? I know I’ve seen reference to it where it is mentioned that they are older style plans - and I don’t mean just here in the forum.
I also wonder why all the books don’t show up under the Moodel Railroad section in the bookstore - 2 of the ones I listed didn’t show up when I browsed but they exist because I physically own copies of them. Must be out of print - but 101TP soldiers on. I think just about every plan in those various books has appeared in the magazine at some point, if not MR proper than MRP and maybe GMR.
There are also a couple of Information Station downloads of the collected track plans of John Armstrong - also compiled from the magazines in which the plan, and John’s explanatory article, appeared. That’s something for anyone who either has the old 75 year DVD or has the All Access Pass to check out - back in the 50’s there was another Armstrong plan is seemed like every few issues. COmplete with explanations of how he was doing things. You can see the developmenbt of many of his ideas, like the reverted loop. And the style of the plans were evolving greatly - already they were moving away from the centralize cab design and more towards walkaround control despite there not being much available on the market yet. An interesting time, for sure.
–Randy
There is a listing of additional track planning books on the inside of the back cover…thats pretty much it.
I suspect that it remains very popular because it has many small plans - 4x8 or less. It also has several plans just a little bit larger. Thus it is good idea book for those people starting out or with limited space. The other books have only a few small plans.
Paul
Unfortunately, many (most) of those small plans are unbuildable as drawn without excessive grades and handlaid-to-fit turnouts. And the (typically) very tight radii don’t work well with many models of real-life equipment built since 1956. It also doesn’t at all address the fact that today’s beginners often begin with sectional or click-track.
The book is certainly a cash cow, but I personally think it’s misleading to beginners.
Byron
You used to see those Atlas track plan books EVERYWHERE - those were perfect for beginners using sectional track as they also included complete wiring information. Depending on the book, many were 4x8 or smaller. Great for the first ‘chainsaw’ layout to get some experience beyond the basic trains set loop. Over the years, they merged the books into fewer volumes and dropped various plans. They’re still listed, but i can’t tell you the last time I saw one available for sale. They had both N scale and HO scale books, and in HO there were even some using Custom Line components with actual numbered turnouts instead of just the Snap Track.
Reminds me of another one I had way back when, an N scale one from Kalmbach that was entirely made up of plans for using sectional track. I’m sure that one was discontinued because half the brands of track mentioned were no longer available, and many of them weren’t compatible with one another, both in geometry AND i fitting pieces together.
I suppose 101 Track Plans is one of the few, maybe only, link to Linn Westcott still in publication (the wiring and benchwork books have been revised and updated by different authors). But really, the newer ones include more plans that have actually been built as well as incorporate more modern design standards. But then again, there ARE some in the original 101 that do lend themselves to modern walkaround control and aren’t vast 10 foot expanses of plywood you can’t possibly reach over - especially some fo the larger ones. The MP&N in there, the V&T, the Carizzo Gorge one, are a couple I recall off the top of my heaed that are more linear shelf type layouts which are not really build for central cabs and also aren’t just vast bowls of spaghetti. Of course those are up there among the larger layouts, and too many of them in the 4x8 to 6x10 categories are little more than large tables with track piled on.
Hello,
I used this plan as an inspiration for my layout. I even included a streetcar line with a crossing of the main. It is N scale built with nearly 100% Kato unitrack.
I live in suburban Philadelphia, so the tone of the plan really hit home with me. I altered it based on my space availability and shape of my table. It is still under construction, as most are.
It requires a large anmount of grade changes and I am in the process of tweaking all of them so all of my motive power runs acceptably. Sometimes I feel like ripping it all up and doing something simpler, but there is a lot of work that has gone in already. I’ll post photos if anyone is interested.
Please do. I’d like to see your interpretation of the plan.