well… its final… we put down the deposit on our apartment, so the layout has to move/be built in an apartment now… basically we have room for 11’wide and 2’deep of actual layout space? what can we do??? we were thinking about building a 11’ x 2’ deck, a 11’ x 1’ deck and possibly a 11’ x 1.5’ deck stacked between… obviously with these constraints operations are limited in ho, so we want to do some awesome scenes that can be incorporated into a layout when we get the basement back…
the 11’ x 2’ deck is actually something currently in progress and built structurally… yeah its not exciting operationally, but it allows the modeling of both the river bank, forrested hills and a western pennsylvania town…
the 11’ x 1’ deck hasn’t been built, and can be modified accordingly… but we’d like to focus on a scrap yard with also a storage track
Build a time saver layout. They are just about the size you have and they offer a lot of switching. If you Google “time saver layouts” you’ll get a ton of track plan ideas.
Going through that myself. For me things are much easier for I model traction. an interurban and trolley freight operation in that space is quite do-able. and can render an immense amount of operation with lcl deliveries, car load such as coal to businesses, paper to printing operations, trippers for schools, extras for sporting events, as well as an “electric park” amusement park at the end of the line with shelters and a balloon loop on a tight radius.
It doesnt have to be an expensive proposition either, for Bachmann trollies can do the trick nicely.
You obviously have a plan, so I’m not sure how to help without knowing the plan. If you wanted a cool operational layout you could do a lot with 11 feet. I can think of a coal switching layout in which you picked up coal from two different facilities, brought it to a third facility where it was processed, sorted into grades or processed to coke and set out for interchange. Plenty of real world switching and right up the P & LE alley.
Just a thought, if you hope to move into a larger space at a later date, set each layer up like a module with the track the same distance from the front. When you get a larger space they could be placed end to end. Fill in the backs of the narrower ones with more scenery and different scenes.
thanks for all the comments and suggestions… after some serious thinking, and looking at Jon Grant’s Sweethome Chicago layout and the Argentine Terminal switiching layout that was in the february MRR, we’ve decided to tackle a Pittsburgh industrial scene with the P&LE… the layout below will hopefully allow some serious switching action of boxcars, gondolas, a chemical tanker or two, and the occasional coal hopper for use at the steel finishing facility… if all goes well with this, we might just build a second deck which can be connected to this one when we get more space… let us know what you think! thanks so much
