Attached is a plan I have been developing, based - in general! - on concepts published by Iain Rice. The following are various constraints and criteria I am attempting to satisfy with the plan (in no particular order):
• N scale is not an option for my aging eyes!
• The layout room is small, but more constraining than the floor area is the vertical constraint of a sloping ceiling with a low outside knee wall at the eave (see cross-sections of room). I will work and operate the layout from a typical secretarial chair on casters.
• Although conventional wisdom for a small layout indicates small equipment and tight curves, I am bound and determined to be able to intermittently run passenger trains with long cars (I am a fan of the Erie/Erie-Lackawanna and will run 5-car versions of The Erie Limited and the Phoebe Snow, led by an E8A and/or PA-1). This, combined with the desirability of using Walthers-Shinohara curved turnouts of given radii, suggests passenger main radii of 32" (preferably). Other than those passenger diesels, the longest engine I have is a BLI USRA heavy Mikado.
• The plans have limited room for scenery - I wanted (at least for preliminary design) to see how much operational interest I can fit in the space; also, I am more interested in operation than scenery at this time. Assume that the only area with scenery (no mountains, mind you!) will be the “lower” or south half of the layout: the “town” with station and industry/interchange sidings (the small yard here is based on a former Erie yard in lower Manhattan).
• Make the staging yard double-ended and include a turntable to minimize handling of the trains - especially the locos - and provide more switching.
• Provide for a possible future extension into adjacent bedroom (not very likely because bedroom has built-in cabinetry, much like a dormitory room).
• The solid blue lines outline modules based on the Sievers benchwork system (
Thanks for looking and thanks for the kind remarks! In answer to your comments:
• Room size is 6’-7" x 11’-4"
• I have generated 2 more copies of the plan: 1 with a 12" grid; 1 without a grid.
• Yes, the layout is low (26.5" to be exact, to fit at the top of the knee wall and maximize length). But - I will be sitting on a regular secretarial chair on casters to work and operate - that might well be easier than standing all day! If I ever have a guest operator, I’ll get another such chair! And lying on my back, under the layout, reaching up to work on the underside might be easier than working on a taller table. Hope so, anyhow! As for the step-over (or lift-out), I can make a small platform to fit under that element to make the step-over easier.
dante, you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this design. Given your space and your druthers, ops & switching vs scenery, you’ve done an excellent job. Two points:
Given that you’ve indicated the rare event of a guest operator, this is for your enjoyment, as it should be, you might pick up some tips on solo operations @ http://home.earthlink.net/~mrsvc/id33.html. This is an excellent web site with little nuggets of really good information.
You’ve also indicated that it will be unlikely that you will be able to extend off the lower right into the adjacent room. A modification you might consider here is as shown. This would allow you to have one train running and give that switcher a place to pull the cut of cars out of staging/classification onto a longer yard lead that will not interfere with the mainline. This would not preclude you from still having a small spur off of that line. Food for thought [;)] and forgive my crude drawing but hopefully it explains.
thanks for posting the modified plans , they’re much easier to read .
looks good and Tom covered the only thing i could see that would improve it .
having the layout low enough to operate in a chair is an interesting solution to a problem i have … the ceiling in the room i have for a layout is pretty low , i was thinking of calling my furnace/ac guy and having him move all the ducts , but sitting down to operate would be a lot less expensive !
