Hi, I have been planning my new layout for a while. Does this shelf layout look good? Do any of you see any problems that could be fixed? What kind of industries would be realistic on this? The dementions are 11ft 6in x 4ft 10in by 1ft deep.
Any help or thoughts would be appreciated. I can provide anyone with the .atps or the .layout of this file upon request.
[EDIT] I should let everyone know that I want to model somewhere in Ontario, Canada and its Canadian Pacific. As noted below I forgot to add the era which is going to be around present time. And yes, its HO scale.
Did something get cut off on the left side of the plan? If not, that blue spur at the top is completely inaccessable and useless; you need at least enough track to the left of the bottom turnout to fit a locomotive and the longest car you plan on using.
Sorry I mised that, but as was pointed out, without a finished track plan it’s hard to give advice on that aspect of things. What era are you planning on modeling?
I happen to think furniture is always a good layout industry because it offers the opportunity for loads in AND loads out (at least in older eras loads out) and empties out, as well as interesting buildings that also get truck traffic and create scrap material that has to be dealt with. And the loading and unloading ideally needs to be protected from the elements which offers more model structure opportunities.
Although you didn’t mention scale, by your tag line I will assume it is HO.
What is the radius of your main line around the corner. From the diagram it looks pretty tight. Anything less than 18" is pretty tough for HO scale unless you are running really short wheel base equipment. And if you are running six axle diesels your minimum should probably be at least 22", preferably more if at all possible. Consider adding a gusset in the corner to bring the curves out from the walls a bit more.
Is there any chance you could extend the short side a foot or two? It would provide space for several more cars and/or locomotives.
As drawn, by curving the white track to the left it could be extended to allow more locomotives.
I know nothing about industries in your chosen area so I will leave that to someone else. Good luck!
Thanks for the input! I just edited the photo in the first post. The inner curve is 21.8 and the outer one (Main Line) is 19.3. I will try to rework the curve but I am not sure how successfull I will be.
Is either of the ends accessible or are they up against walls? I was thinking a removable cassette on an end could be used for an interchange track that would start and end an operating session. I guess you could even angle something like that out into the area from anywhere. 1 foot is just narrow.
In west Onterio you have the Canadian Shield that would yield all sorts of hard rock mining, but I assume this would be more like an industrial area in a city or town. In that case, depending on the era, there are the usual suspects, grain elevator/mill, hatchery/seeds, dairy distributors, brewery, warehouse, auto part supply, freight house, ice house, cold storage, furnature supply, millworks, , milinary, news paper printers, mail distribution center. All of these were often all bunched up together in a tight down-town or a just out of town along-the-tracks industrial area: grain elevator (again), brewery (again), cement plant, junk yard, fuel supply, automobile unloading, stock yard, canning facility, lumber yard, pickeling plant.
You can fit larger curves than what you currently have in this space. 1ft wide is just fine for a shelf layout.
Have you taken a look at the track plans here on MR for shelf layouts? Are you planning on operating this layout yourself or with one or more other people? Do you want the design to be set up for future expansion or will this be stand alone?
Can you fill in the corner piece to take away the 90 degree part?
What length of car are you planning as your maximum? What will be the shortest acceptable maximum single car length? What type of locomotive do you own, are you planning on buying?
Is it possible to add on to either leg if say the addition was only used while operations where in progress, and stored while not in use? If the 4/11 ends are at a door, would it be possible to make another leg that forms a U when in use and folded down into the L shape when not?
