Nonsense! One can operate up a storm on a 4x8 trackplan without covering the surface with track…you don’t need to add a LOT of switching, just a couple sidings and a yard are really all you need.
Heck, I don’t have ROOM for a 4x8, and I can operate…
i’d like to get a yard on my 4x8 but i don’t have the money for switches and don’t know where to start. i have 2 switches. one is just a straight section off the front of the layout. the other is at the end of the front that wraps around to almost another full circle.
i hate continuous run. thats why i hope my friend starts working on his layout so i can help with that and then when he starts laying down track we can do some operating. his room is huge by my standards and its going to be double level. i can’t wait till its finally up and running.
for now i’m stuck with continuous running until i figure out a track plan with a yard in it for a 4x8. when i get my own place, or married, whatever i’m going to have a huge layout for sure where i can operate.
When I was designing my Western Pacific layout one of the considerations was the Dispatcher and enough sidings to make it so we could move lots of trains and still have local switching. I have 4 yards that have industries to work. Then there are the long haul trains that do some work along the way. We also have peddlers that go out and work along the way.
We have 15 guys come by on every other Thursday night and I feel this is when the real fun begins [:D]
When I first built the layout I had a track I could install to run round and round but found I never used it, so it’s gone…
I travel to op sessions through out the country and really enjoy this part of the hobby as a few others have stated…
If your ever in Central California give me a call, we have two operations railroads up he in Sonora !
Hawks05: Even two switches is enough for a little bit of operation, as long as you have a plan to work from.
Here are some track plans for point-to-point 4x8 layouts that only require a couple of switches:
http://www.thortrains.net/poorhob.html
You can start out with the two-turnout version and expand it as shown later on as you get more track and other components.
Here’s another 4x8 point-to-point plan–it requires a couple more switches but could easily be simplified and expanded later:
http://www.thortrains.net/4holay1.html
Or, if you have room for a 4x8 you may have room to cut that 4x8 in half into two 2x8 sheets, and have an 8x10 L-shaped “along the wall” point-to-point layout. Ideally you could get another couple of switches to provide a runaround track, then just stick a switch at each end to serve industries and you’re ready to operate. Eventually you can add more switches to represent a small yard and add more industries. You really don’t need much to have operation on a layout–it just requires some thought.
www.carendt.com has layouts that makes a 4x8 seem huge, some with only one or two switches, that often feature quite a bit of operation.
If you want something REALLY simple, take those two switches, grab a small piece of lumber (1x4 feet should be plenty) and make yourself an Inglenook Switching Puzzle mini layout. It’s small enough to detail the heck out of on a budget, and you can always tack it onto a larger layout later. Plus it’s small enough to sit unobtrusively in a bedroom.
If I can operate in 16 square feet, you certainly should be able to operate in 32!