Hi: I have completed my benchwork, it’s L shaped, 4’x8’. and then extended the short side of the L by 2’x4’…I grew up in Chicago, 2 blocks off the Milwaukee Road RR tracks and use to watch the Hiawatha go by every morning on its way from Minneapolis to downtown Chicago. I also spent most summers in northern Wisconin, near Wausau, and would watch the Milwaukee Road trains go by…Wausau also had a very unique station. I want to have an N scale layout, representing a midwestern town like Wasusau, I want to keep it simple, I’m going to use Kato Uni track, and want to build laser cut buildings etc…would like some elevation, bridges, a river etc…
I’ve checked out the N scale layout plans on Model RR mag, but most are for much larger layouts. Where can I find info on a simple track plan that would fit the general description of what I’ve described?? It would be great if this plan had pics of the layout including buildings and landscape etc.
I’ve found these two books highly compliment each other – probably because they are from different publishers – Plus one more…
[1] 102 Realistic Track Plans – $7.95 by Kalmbach.-- Provides not only track plans of all sizes, but articles such as, converting HO Scale plans to N Scale. All of the Realistic Special Book Series are in my personal MRR Library. Order them “pre-publishing” and save $1.00 + shipping.
[2] Track Design – $11.95 by Carstens – This track planning classic has techniques many current writers “overlook/forget to include” written over a 30-year period as part of their Layout Doctor Series – Worth the purchase-price for the extra tips on the inside-front & inside-back covers.
P.S.: When looking at these trackplans, regardless of size, you have the license to include small portions of two or more of the plans, and then combine/connect these sections into your layout. So, review
Have you also placed your L-shaped table into a corner, so you will have poor access to the rearmost part of the four foot deep table, and cannot split the table into two scenes by using a center view block down the spine of the table?
If you want a layout crammed into a corner, it may be smarter to have a narrow waist in the corner, and wider parts at the right and the left. E.g. in this style (ignore the track plan - that is something more urban from an old design):
Or is it oriented with the 4x8 sticking 8 feet into the room from the middle of one wall, with access to 6 feet (and a 4 feet long and 2 feet deep shelf) along one side of the main table, and 8 feet along the opposite side, allowing the use of a center viewblock down the spine of the table?
How about starting with a drawing or verbal description of the room the layout will be in, showing and/or describing how the layout will be located in the room, and what other uses of the room the layout will have to co-exist with?
Then it would be possible to start by seeing if it perhaps would be smarter to cut down that 4x8 feet to 30 inches x 8 feet, or relocating the layout in the room, or relocating the layout to another room, or considering some other footprint before continuing to look for a track plan?
The room is 12’ X22", the 8’ section is against the far wall as you walk into the room…it spans the 12" section, the 6’ L runs along the 22’ wall…I have allowed 2’ of space to walk around the layout, and have easy access to all sections of it. It looks very similar to your drawing if you took the 8’ section and ran it along the closet wall and had the L part on the left side. I also had a 8’ X12’ room built adjacent to the train room, that has 2 work benches, cabinets, tool storage, etc…Both rooms ared dedicated to the model train effort…the main room also has a Vermont Casting gas stove in a corner away from the layout.
Ooops - sorry. Didn’t realize that you had replied to me both by PM (conversation) and in the thread. Guess it is better to keep discussion in a public thread, so others also can chime in with suggestions.
I tried to visualize from your description how the layout table is located in the room, but got a little confused by the combination of the 8 foot end “spanning the 12 foot wall”, having 2 feet of access around the layout and having a six foot run along the 22 foot wall - somehow those numbers doesn’t quite add up for me.
Is this a correct interpretation of what you described?
