Hi everyone, finally “back on track” with my HO layout after taking a 16 month hiatus for house hunting, buying and fixing. I reserved a large basement area (over 300 sq. ft.) after moving some walls. The layout space is 30 ft long with a width that varies from 9+ ft. to 15+ ft. (see illustration). 
Well, since you are not going to be using it for operations, it looks good so far.
You’ve got some aisle areas there down to only 24". Have you tried mockign things up with perhaps cardboard boxes (since you just moved you may have a lot of them around!) to see if you cna comfortably move in that space? 24" is a tight squeeze for most adults, and even if built low your arms may overhang the layout and knock into structures and scenery.
–Randy
If you are going to have a duck under entry anyway, it seems like it would be a great space saver to put the two return loop blobs over each other. That would leave more room for the scenes you are trying to create.
Then it also seems like the knock out on the bottom right is a huge wasted space. What is on the other side of that wall? Could you put the time saver in there and operate it from “the other room”? Maybe a window or a “closet” like door that would be opened only during operating sessions.
Not that it matters or makes any difference … Just FYI, what is drawn in the pictures is not what is normally considered a folded-dog bone. A dog bone would have two tracks between the loops making one big loop with no reversing loops in it. Between the loops it would look like a double track mainline. This is more of what I have always heard called folded water-wings plan.
Just thinking aloud here: I wonder if you could eliminate the loops, utilize a duck under, and use the half walls to your advantage. Create a view block a foot or so in from the half walls and where you come down the stairs. Then, additional running on the other side of the block, if that makes sense. Then you dont really need the upper deck and its easier to build? Otherwise, personally, I like to make my long wall where the main yard and engine facilities are. I wish I had the space you have! LOL.
Looks like you’ve got a couple of unused peninsulas in the upper left and middle right that could be eliminated to give you more room to move. Personally, I’d want a few more sidings and industries (lots of brick mills for textiles, furniture, and armaments in the CT River Valley.
I like the overall design though. Let me know if you need help building and I’ll be glad to drive up and lend a hand.
Some opinions on the plan:
The timesaver area under the train museum will be hard to reach, I would mock up this area including benchwork height to make sure it would work for you.
Overall the timesaver is a little gimmicky, tracks are too close together and sidings are really short. It was designed as a switching puzzle, not for representing an industrial area. From your website you stated you wanted to use this area for staging, just a normal or compound ladder will do a much better job of staging than the timesaver.
It looks like there will be a reach problem around the 4’ walls, the second deck that cuts through the middle will be hard to reach.
The green area for the movable downtown section with the current benchwork design seams a little locked in. I would remove the benchwork that does not have any track to the right to have a place to move the downtown scene
I would also remove the benchwork blob with no track yet on the left and make the benchwork going to the loop on that side wider so you could have two scenes, one on the inside and another on the outside.
There are a few S curves around the loops that will cause problems for the Zepher and 20th Centery Limited.
There is also seams to be a lack of storage tracks. Going from what you said and that you are not interested in operations, I would recommend adding a few tracks to store trains whole trains with tracks long enough for your passenger trains. I would think you would want a few tracks for you to store and be able to pull the train out and run it without having to take them on and off the layout. Or building a train from multiple small tracks. If you remove the timesaver you could put 4 or 5 tracks along that side for storing whole trains.
Just a few thoughts,
Chris
Hi Doc,
some idea’s; found your main rather short.
Paul
Hi Guys
Went back and incorporated some of the helpfull suggestions made by everyone. Moved the return loop over the other one (so now three levels there) and widened the aisles a bit (now 28 in wide). Branch line trackage is non-functional, btw. Still have to work in access for the large benchwork on the right.
!(http://www.stationhousevideos.com/CTRiverValleyRR/images/WinRail_11_ral_files/stacked_return loops.jpg)