2008 2 x 8 Design Contest--Results are in: Bottom p4

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

It’s that time. Vote for your favorite 2 x 8 desgn. It might be tough. There are some pretty good designs here.

Please read the rules before voting. Remember that this 2 x 8 layout is to be part of a larger layout, but must be able to be worked entirely within the 2 x 8 borders.

2008 2 x 8 Design Contest Voting Page

Welcome Judges to the 2008 2x8 Design Contest.

Please choose your top 3 favorites and rank them from 1 to 3. List them by layout name. Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture and description.

Based upon your rankings, they will receive points as follows: (You don’t need to do this. We will do this at the end of the contest.)

First Place 5 points
Second Place 3 point
Third Place 1 Points

After 1 week the scores will be added and the winner announced with appropriate fanfare. Voting ends midnight March 10, 2008 PST.

Contest Rules:

Size: 24" x 96"

somewhere in or about a small agricultural town

no era limitations or location limits (in other words, it can be any time or place a railroad existed)

HO scale is specified, but N-scale can used if it is scaled down to 13" x 52"

Grade and curve radius must be appropriate to your equipment

Although it should stand on it’s own merit, your plan should be considered part of a larger layout. However, yard leads, yard tracks, interchange tracks, ends of wyes, etc. cannot extend off the 2 x 8 area.

The mainline, either double or single can connect to either side of the layout. Likewise, an interchange track can extend off any side of the layout, but any “interchange operations” must take place within the 2 x 8 boundaries. Likewise, any runaround needed for operation should be represented on the layout.

It should be ass

2

  1. Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County Minnesota

  2. Port Barber

  3. Town Of Unknown

3

  1. Fergus Falls

  2. Arkansas valley

  3. Komatsu

4

OK so there I go…

  1. Fergus Falls;

2)Thawville;

3)Port Barber.

5

1-Komatsu Line

2-Fergus Falls

3-Port Barber Terminal

6

1: port barber

2: komatsu

3: thawville

7

I like Fergus Falls.

How many of these layouts could actually be operated stand-alone? Most of them have turnouts located so close to the ends there isn’t room for a locomotive, let alone a locomotive and car, to navigate from one track to the other.

8

That should be a consideration in your voting. They should operate on their own.

9

#1: Landenburg, Pennsylvania
#2: Komatsu Line
#3: Fergus Falls

Comments:

#1 Landenburg - I like the mainline here better than the mainline in Hockessin, which is also an interesting design. Having the mainline not take the deviating path through a turnout tips is why I pick Landenburg over Hockessin.

I also like the end of the mainline (at left) serves two functions - interchange and part of runaround at station. It is also a good call to not model the junction with the PRR (diagonal track), but just implying a junction outside the edge of the layout. Branching off the sput to Industry D (the mushroom farm) from the end of the siding is a well known trick to save space, but it is well executed.

I also like that the spur to the Woolen mill crosses the creek on a bridge, and that there are two buildings between the viewer and the track - the barn and the Woolen mill.

#2 Komatsu Line - as always, the layout based on a Japanese prototype is thought provoking and no doubt will create very interesting operations. Planning the layout around interurban electric motor units is a very interesting twist.

Only place that potensial would be hard to work “be worked entirely within the 2 x 8 borders” is the Tractor factory siding at upper right hand end, with the interurban pushing a boxcar here.

But the rest of the layout should create a lot of very interesting operations. I particularily enjoyed the description of prototype opearations.

#3 Fergus Falls - it might be cheesy to vote for one of my own layouts, but I actually think this one came out reasonably well. Basic idea is very similar to the one in Arkansas Valley - multiple straight parallell tracks through town.

Reason why I vote for Fergus rather than Arkansas is that I think Fergus would allows for more operations.

Then again - others may feel that Arka

10

  1. Fergus Falls

  2. Random

  3. Greenbank

11
  1. Fergus Falls
  2. Landenburg, PA
  3. Port Barber
12

1-Fergus
2-unknown
3-Kamatsu

13

  1. Thawville…

  2. Fergus Falls

  3. Komatsu Line

14

Tough call but:

  1. Port Butler. This one is the best in terms of also being capable of being a standalone operating layout while still capable to be part of a larger setup.

  2. Fergus Falls. Very well done from a prototypical standpoint, my only reservation is how wound it operate as a standalone layout? It seems to need some track extensions off the allowed grid in order to move cars around. Maybe not one of the contest rules but its a consideration to me. Still its a nice job.

  3. Tie: Random & Unknown, these are nifty pair of bookends, you cant vote for the tail and ignore the head, so I consider this a package deal. Now you just have to fill in all the “in-between” of this layout.

I liked alot of the others also, maybe I should have entered mine anyways, oh well.

15
  1. Fergus Falls

2.Louisville,New Albany & Corydon

3.Hockessin

Terry

16

It would not be possible to switch the south siding (lowermost one) from the east from within the 2x8 footprint. But I wouldn’t need to - I could just switch the south siding from the west, using the north siding for a runaround when needed.

But it takes a small engine - what I have used here is a GE 70-tonner and 40’ cars to stay within the rules. Which is on the small side for the prototype.

Could always shift the entire layout a little to the left, allowing room only for engine and one car left of leftmost turnout and just engine right of rightmost siding, to allow room for a bigger engine.

Grin,
Stein

17

  1. Landenburg, PA

  2. Komatsu

  3. Hockessin, PA

I really like the Fergus Falls layout but there was no room to actually work the runaround so I disqualified it!

David

18

  1. Fergus Falls, Otter Tail …

  2. Landenburg, Pa

  3. Town of Random

These seemed to have a good combination of scenic possibilities and stand alone operation.

Enjoy

Paul

19

My votes would be:

1 - Fergus Falls (I’d modify it if I were building it, maybe shorten the passing track slightly for better switching, but I like the arrangement well enough that it doesn’t bother me too much)

2 - Town of Unknown (again, if building it for me, I’d move the turntable closer and switch the roundhouse to the left side, but that’s just my tastes)

3 - (I’m tied between) Hockessing, PA and Landenburg, PA. They are both similar in setup (just rotated and slightly different curves, to my eyes) Hockessing might have a slight edge as drawn, since I like more industries to switch.

Jim in Cape Girardeau

20

For my tastes:

1- Port Barber (love the double slips and the turntable)

2- Town of Unkown (no double slips, but the TT is there, and the rest is nice switching)

3- Fergus Falls (nice balance & utility, no double slips or TT)

Nice work, all who contributed…I appreciate the time and effort each of you took to draw up a plan.

-Crandell