Best Layout Book(For N Scale)

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Yesterday I visited my local train shop, but was greeted with some eye opening questions. I don’t know enough yet to build my own layout. I want to know if anyone can reccomend a good layout book? I was looking at this one:

https://secure.atlasrr.com/mod1/itemdesc.asp?CartId={C546B1C6-0F72EVEREST-435F-A60A-537C579403C2}&ic=0006&eq=&Tp=

I don’t know if this is good or not. Which other ones do you reccomend?

Thanks everyone

2

The link you provided doesn’t work because it was part of a secure “shopping cart.”

Are you looking for a book with track plans or a book that steps you through how to build a layout?

The number of questions for someone preparing to build a layout is fairly extensive. I’m sure others will add to my list. This is your “givens and druthers.” Don’t be overwhelmed because sometimes you start down a path and the unanswered questions wind up working themselves out. But having an idea of these things is a start.

  1. Available space and obstacles you can use for your layout;
  2. Geographic region (specific place or general description such as mountains, desert, river basin, rolling hills, flat as a pancake, etc)?
  3. Which railroad, or if you are freelancing, which ones are you using as a basis for your own?
  4. Main industries?
  5. Era (approximate or exact year(s))?
  6. Goals (operations, continuous running, specific scenes, long freights, passenger operations, road switching, industrial switching, etc)?
  7. Who and how many are involved (you, a young son, a son and a young grandson, friends, etc)?
  8. Investment you can make, in time and money?

I know, a lot of questions. But give us some details and I’m sure we can help you out. Don’t rule out looking at HO plans and modifying them to suit your needs. Depending on your space, you can even take an HO plan using 18" curves and simply change the track centers and vertical clearances to be a good N-scale plan. 18" curves in HO are tight, but in N-scale are friendly to pretty much anything.

3

If it’s Atlas’ Nine N Scale Layouts book, it’s pretty decent. I built the Scenicked and Relaxed from that book and it was a decent plan. It served me well for a few years until I got into large mainline equipment (six-axle diesels, 85’ passenger cars, long-wheelbased steam, etc.). At that point the curves were too sharp and grades too steep for what I was after. But, based on your own requirements, you may find it very useful.