Looking for a Basic Track Plan

[cowman]

Too many years ago when our new house was being constructed, I was walkiing up the stairs with my better half and she pointed to a 13x23 area and said “that’s the train room.” No argument from here. Since other parts of the house needed finishing and my work took up most of my time, the room sat with a slightly altered Atlas track plan, using brass track on a 4x8 sheet of plywood,which saw little operation.

About the time I gave up the most time (and energy) using job, our son moved home into the space and when his children visited (most weekends) they were in the matcing space the other side of the stairs. Grandson and girlfriend still in the rooms.

This created two problems. First, the only available space was a 7x14 unfinished room in the basement. (Basement would have been a perfect place, before it was used for other things, for a large layout as the stairs went down in the center, grou

nd level accesss and a bathroom.)

Second problem was I had been going to shows, stores and ebay, purchasing for the larger space. I probably had enough to have done a good job filling a basement size layout. I have now gone to shows and sold, but still have enough to set up my own store.

With my little partially finished 4x6 sitting in the middle of the room, not much progress over the years on finishing the room. I have now started to finish it, wonders may never cease.

To the point, my original plannning was based on the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern plan, nice. However the new space needs a new base plan. I have looked at many plans in the data base, as well as other places. The closest I have come is Lime Ridge & Hercules and Portland & Western.

Plan is to have a 2’ wide shelf around the room. Entry gate 4’ down from the top laft corner There is a possibility of a staging yard in the future running out the lower left corn

[hornblower]

Might I suggest using Google Maps and Historicaerials.com to take a look at the Ventura County Railroad in Oxnard, California. This short line serves the Port of Hueneme, a Navy SeaBee base, several other industries, has an interchange connection to a Class 1 railroad (Union Pacific – formerly Southern Pacific), and all on a prototypical loop of track. The loop is sort of a squared off oval with the very compact deep water Port of Hueneme in the southwest corner. The SeaBee base is north of the harbor along the length of the west side of the loop. The VCR shops and interchange are in the northeast corner of the loop with scattered industries and storage yards along the east and southeast portions of the loop. Although Google Maps shows the loop to have been cut back in the Harbor, Historicaerials.com shows that the loop used to be continuous.

Another plus to this railroad would be the ability to model different eras. The modern era focusses on the shipment of imported automobiles with auto carrier ships in the harbor, some military traffic on the base, and lots and lots of automobiles in the storage lots (lots of auto carrier train cars, too).

A WWII era layout could be even more fun with Liberty ships in the harbor, tons of activity on the Navy base, and more active service of the scattered industries. The smaller equipment of the 1940’s would also look better on the tighter radius curves we often have to deal with.

The best part about modelling an actual prototype is that all the planning is done for you. You don’t have to invent industries or industry locations, you don’t have to invent the track plan (other than to fit your space), and the finished layout shows a railroad with a real purpose.

[cowman]

Thank you for your response, it does show that there is a prototype for everything, a small loop layout. I will have to get one of my more IT types in the family to get a better look at the actual track diagram.

An interesting note is that my step-grandson is currently stationed at the Port.

Thanks again,

Richard

[xdford]

Hi Richard, if you care to PM me with your email, I can direct you to an old MR article I have adapted for my own 4x8 which might help you!

Cheers from Australia

Trevor

[hornblower]

my step-grandson is currently stationed at the Port.

Wouldn’t it be cool for you if your step-grandson, upon seeing your layout for the first time, exclaimed, “Hey, I work here!”

[snjroy]

First, the only available space was a 7x14 unfinished (…)

Plan is to have a 2’ wide shelf around the room. Entry gate 4’ down from the top laft corner There is a possibility of a staging yard in the future running out the lower left corner to the left, not down as shown in the plan.

Since I lean more toward railfanning, I would like a twice around, though two seperate loops with a couple of crossovers should work. Thinking of a small yard on the right side of the plan, with a station and a couple of customers.

That’s pretty much my layout. My benchwork is done, track is done. I have two loops, a lift out. One yard, a turntable next to it, and two sidings the other side of the room. I like it. Operations are good. Reach is excellent.

Simon