New home, new N scale layout

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hi there.

I have just moved into a new (old) home and must dismantle my old N-scale layout. Although I have plenty of ideas as to what to do with the new space, it is very different from spaces I have used before so I’m interested in suggestions from others.

In general, the space is a capital L rotated 180 degrees.

The boundaries of the ‘world’ are as follows:

West to East, there is a 6’ wide, floor to ceiling window.
West to East, there is a 12" wall, 70" high to the ceiling (sloping roof)
turning 90 degrees North
South to North there is a wall 12’ 3" long, 70" high at the South end, 84" high at the North end.
Continuing North there is a door, with trim 36" wide. This leads to a little used storage room but will require some sort of removable ‘bridge’.
Continuing North there is a wall 8’ 3" long, 84" high for 4’ at the South end, 45" high at the North end.
turning 90 degrees West
East to West there is a wall 7’ 11" long, 45" high.
turning 90 degrees South
North to South there is a wall 3’ 11" long, 45" high at the North end, about 84" high at the South end.

This describes the ‘hard’ boundaries.

To the West of the long leg is a 5’ wide landing/passage with stairs open below on its West edge.
To the South of the short leg is a 40" wide landing/passage with stairs open below on its South edge. (the walls form a 4 x 8 alcove with a sloping roof, al mine!)

Subject to negotiations with the ‘Department of State’, the window on the South wall cannot be ‘significantly’ blocked and a passage of about 36" to 40" must be left beside the stairs to allow for the passage of large pieces of furniture.

I model Santa Fe in the late 50’s, early 60’s with diesel power, I like passenger trains, I want no duckunders into the ‘4 x 8’ area, I want some sort of continuous run, I prefer way freight and passenger switching operation to main line running.

I don’t

2

I’d go to the Atlas site & get their Right Track software. It will let you draw lines for your room constraints, then fill in the track that will fit. Have fun with your new layout!

3

I have plenty of CAD software and know how to use it.

What I’m looking for is ideas on schematic and overall design possibilities. Here’s some of the things I’ve been considering.

Put Dearborn Station on the long leg and staging, return loop, coach yard and engine facilities in the 4 x 8 space.
Put a modified Brooke Avenue Yard on the 12’ 3" portion and call it China Basin and model the rest of the layout as the Richmond carfloat terminal, industrial switching and the tunnel through to Richmond proper.
Pick a Plains terminal and model that on the long leg and a bit of branch and staging in the 4 x 8.
Use an idea from 48 Track plans and put a continuous run with through passenger station and small interchange yard in the 4 x 8 and model the rest as a connecting short line industrial switcher.
Put in a whole lot of ‘Barrow’ blocks.

Has anybody used a similar space and what did YOU do?

4

wow, sounds like you have all the room you need. most of us would love to have all that room. what kind of layout did you have at your old house

5

(shared with access to my furnace and washer and drier. The lower deck was a generic Santa Fe branch from Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado or Texas. This was fully operational but not completely sceniced. The upper deck was the banch Y junction, some main line and staging, but was never really started. I had too much fun with the branch and its operation, about 70’ of run with a continuous loop to add mileage and a live interchange with another railroad, variously UP or CB&Q.

A 4’ x 8 ‘space with a 19’ x 1’ 6" panhandle is a lot of area, but it is not arranged for optimal use, especially since there can be no turnback at the far end of the panhandle, and the door messes thing up a bit too.

What I need is ideas on how to arrange trackage and what sort of schematic I should look at.

6

I’m planning a new layout while building a small one to entertain my son (simple loop of track, but scenicked).

I’m interested in the copper mining district of the upper peninsula of Michigan, and there are a lot of interesting things to focus on. However, in trying to keep my plans to a reasonable size, I found myself having to toss out things I knew I wanted, in order to achieve other things…basically, i am too wedded to the actual geography to move things too much.

But in reading through the last few years of Model Railroad Planning books MR puts out, I’m intriguied by some of the UK modular railroads. There was a good US one, of four scenes in Pittsburgh (I think), for a city Trolley system. These got me thinking: Why build one huge layout that has to be a compromise, when I could just build modules for the areas of interest that I have?

I can then join the modules with black-painted connections, in order to preserve the network of the railroads (to get from A to C you must go through B, for example). But I can develop the modules independently.

Consider something like this, unless you want the rolling, continuous scenery. And yes, I’m also into N scale.

7

Hi there.

I have just moved into a new (old) home and must dismantle my old N-scale layout. Although I have plenty of ideas as to what to do with the new space, it is very different from spaces I have used before so I’m interested in suggestions from others.

In general, the space is a capital L rotated 180 degrees.

The boundaries of the ‘world’ are as follows:

West to East, there is a 6’ wide, floor to ceiling window.
West to East, there is a 12" wall, 70" high to the ceiling (sloping roof)
turning 90 degrees North
South to North there is a wall 12’ 3" long, 70" high at the South end, 84" high at the North end.
Continuing North there is a door, with trim 36" wide. This leads to a little used storage room but will require some sort of removable ‘bridge’.
Continuing North there is a wall 8’ 3" long, 84" high for 4’ at the South end, 45" high at the North end.
turning 90 degrees West
East to West there is a wall 7’ 11" long, 45" high.
turning 90 degrees South
North to South there is a wall 3’ 11" long, 45" high at the North end, about 84" high at the South end.

This describes the ‘hard’ boundaries.

To the West of the long leg is a 5’ wide landing/passage with stairs open below on its West edge.
To the South of the short leg is a 40" wide landing/passage with stairs open below on its South edge. (the walls form a 4 x 8 alcove with a sloping roof, al mine!)

Subject to negotiations with the ‘Department of State’, the window on the South wall cannot be ‘significantly’ blocked and a passage of about 36" to 40" must be left beside the stairs to allow for the passage of large pieces of furniture.

I model Santa Fe in the late 50’s, early 60’s with diesel power, I like passenger trains, I want no duckunders into the ‘4 x 8’ area, I want some sort of continuous run, I prefer way freight and passenger switching operation to main line running.

I don’t

8

I’d go to the Atlas site & get their Right Track software. It will let you draw lines for your room constraints, then fill in the track that will fit. Have fun with your new layout!

9

I have plenty of CAD software and know how to use it.

What I’m looking for is ideas on schematic and overall design possibilities. Here’s some of the things I’ve been considering.

Put Dearborn Station on the long leg and staging, return loop, coach yard and engine facilities in the 4 x 8 space.
Put a modified Brooke Avenue Yard on the 12’ 3" portion and call it China Basin and model the rest of the layout as the Richmond carfloat terminal, industrial switching and the tunnel through to Richmond proper.
Pick a Plains terminal and model that on the long leg and a bit of branch and staging in the 4 x 8.
Use an idea from 48 Track plans and put a continuous run with through passenger station and small interchange yard in the 4 x 8 and model the rest as a connecting short line industrial switcher.
Put in a whole lot of ‘Barrow’ blocks.

Has anybody used a similar space and what did YOU do?

10

wow, sounds like you have all the room you need. most of us would love to have all that room. what kind of layout did you have at your old house

11

(shared with access to my furnace and washer and drier. The lower deck was a generic Santa Fe branch from Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado or Texas. This was fully operational but not completely sceniced. The upper deck was the banch Y junction, some main line and staging, but was never really started. I had too much fun with the branch and its operation, about 70’ of run with a continuous loop to add mileage and a live interchange with another railroad, variously UP or CB&Q.

A 4’ x 8 ‘space with a 19’ x 1’ 6" panhandle is a lot of area, but it is not arranged for optimal use, especially since there can be no turnback at the far end of the panhandle, and the door messes thing up a bit too.

What I need is ideas on how to arrange trackage and what sort of schematic I should look at.

12

I’m planning a new layout while building a small one to entertain my son (simple loop of track, but scenicked).

I’m interested in the copper mining district of the upper peninsula of Michigan, and there are a lot of interesting things to focus on. However, in trying to keep my plans to a reasonable size, I found myself having to toss out things I knew I wanted, in order to achieve other things…basically, i am too wedded to the actual geography to move things too much.

But in reading through the last few years of Model Railroad Planning books MR puts out, I’m intriguied by some of the UK modular railroads. There was a good US one, of four scenes in Pittsburgh (I think), for a city Trolley system. These got me thinking: Why build one huge layout that has to be a compromise, when I could just build modules for the areas of interest that I have?

I can then join the modules with black-painted connections, in order to preserve the network of the railroads (to get from A to C you must go through B, for example). But I can develop the modules independently.

Consider something like this, unless you want the rolling, continuous scenery. And yes, I’m also into N scale.