Folks who know me also know, that I like to design layouts, if I can be of help. I have done that a number of times - for good friends in here and other forums. Quite a few of those designs were (or are being) built, which I deem as an honor.
There are others in here - Paul, Byron, the late Stein, just to name a few, who have spend hours of their time to help forum members to come up with a layout design (more than just a track plan) which will give their builders hours of joy and entertainment.
But simply stating “this is the room I have, this is the track I have - now do the work I should do, or …” is not really inviting the help and support the OP may be looking for.
Good luck to the OP in his endeavor to find someone foolish enough to hitch a ride on his train.
I could design a layout for the available space, but the $500 budget is a layout-killer (sorry.) The buildings and scenery on the layout will come close to $300, and the track will be another $100, even using all the track you have. Roadbed will be about $100, depending on how much track there is and what material is used. Benchwork and plywood subroadbed will be another $100, Next you have electronics and train control. A DCC system will cost about $150-200, plus $20 per locomotive for motor-only decoders. $100 per locomotive for sound decoders. A DC block system would be time-consuming and difficult to wire, and the price of the power packs, rheostats/cabs, and all the block control switches would easily be $150. Plus wire. Plus figures. Plus details. Plus rock molds. Plus more plaster when you run out in the middle of a hill. Plus trees when you realize that the “forests” are too open. Plus…
The good news is that this price will be spread out over 2-5 years depending on how much time you spend working on the layout. I would plan to spend $300-500 per year on the layout and have it done in 2 years. Rolling stock and DCC system sold separately.
OK, since everyone is up for a challenge, in two weeks my better half will be away for about 5 days. My challenge to you is to come down to Hooterville, build some of my scenery, paint some of my undecorated rolling stock, and then clean up the layout room before she returns…while I drink beer, watch the Stanley Cup playoffs, and offer constructive criticism from time to time.
No doubt, I’ll have to come up with some system to deal with the onrush of takers to that challenge.
On the bright side, there is a TV in the layout room.
Mark, if I accept the challenge, would you be willing to share your beer? Can you make sure that you have plenty of Fritos on hand? And, if the Blackhawks are still in the playoffs, can i watch TV instead of working?
Hey, the wife is going to be gone. This work project could take a lot of different directions! The only limitation is the TV downstairs won’t get the game unless it is on NBC. For their various subsidiaries we have to sit in the family room, in front of the flat screen, and think through how we are going to attack the projects (aka planning).
Oh, and the flat screen is visible from the deck and grill.
I have a challenge for the original poster. Dig out the money to hire a designer to do the work for you. There are several of them here on a regular basis and their postings regarding a problem area of someone’s layout are always very good. Your initial statements regarding what you want vs what you have do not sound very compatible. Your initial premise for your railroad and it’s theoretical reason for existence is also suspect. Some points to consider, you wish a harbor and industries, a logging and mining operation but have no plan for interchange or a market for the products. In your scenario most of the commerce would be via the port and most of your industry would likely locate there with access to the water, your time period suggests that other forms of transport would be available and possibly much more economical and versatile. To me a model of two streaks of rust that would be abandoned faster than penn central has no appeal, I would suggest you rethink your initial reasons for your railroads existence so as to not be disappointed with what is built.
Free-lancing a railroad and building a model of it takes a great deal of work to come up with a plausible scheme so that at the end of the day your railroad looks like it could have been instead of a glorified train set. If on the other hand you just want to sit in the pit and watch your models run by put in some loops and a siding or two and enjoy a glorified Christmas tree layout that you can build some scenery on. The idea is to have fun. You may find that with the small space and the large narrow gauge trains that is what suits you best and what you enjoy the most.
One easy way for you to see what you could do would be to build your bench work around the room and then begin “laying your track” in a temporary manner to see what fits and gives you the best looking layout. In this way you could try some things and if they are unappealing to you change them quite easily and still reuse your components with out destroying a
Who cares? This is a good layout challenge. Let’s toss the budget requirements and make this what would you do with the space and the given druthers. [8D] Let’s do it just for fun. When (and IF) the OP checks this forum, he will find some really good track plans.[:D]
Seriously, he may be on vacation or off hiking, etc. where he doesn’t have access to a computer.[^o)]
I’m mostly done with a continuous climb double-deck design that fits pretty much all of the druthers, with a roundhouse, 50 foot turntable, and yard to boot![swg] Train length looks to be about 5 feet (or and engine and 5 cars in Sn3.5.) The “logs floated from California” idea seemed implausible to me, so I decided to make the sawmill served by and off-layout narrow-gauge logging railroad.[:-^] Can’t ever have too many trains![8D]
The out-swinging closet doors were a bit of an issue, but I managed to work around them. Some of you talked about replacing the closet doors with sliding doors and making the entrance door out-swinging. Go ahead and do it on your plan![:-,]
Let’s show the OP what can be done with the space he has available.[tup][tup]
Due to the under whelming response to his design challenge, he is probably trying to sell off his train stuff on ebay, for a 50% profit of course.[(-D] [(-D] [(-D]
