Hello!
I just wanted to ask, how big is an HO scale mile?
The reason is, because I will need it to build the Moffat Tunnel on my Dream layout. My dream layout will start from Denver, CO, to Helper, UT, from Denver to Longmont or Fort Collins CO, then go from Denver to Creede CO. It will all be DCC, and the grades in the mountains will be like the real ones. I will model all of the Denver yard, Colo. Springs yard, Pueblo yard, and Helper UT. yard. I don’t know how big it will be, but I know it will be really big. But I know it will not happen, but who says you can’t dream? Well bye.
Zach
Zach, to do justice tho that much railroad you will need about 1000 square feet, in N scale, and at least a 10:1 fast clock. Plan on about $5000 for track. Dream on.[swg]
Well I am trying a variation of what you are doing. I am modeling between one and two miles of the PRR main east from North Philadelphia. I am still debating the helix and second level bit but I have decided to build the buildings and the turnouts full scale and operate in real time. You could model the tunnel on a helix or have hidden staging in the tunnel. That way it wouldn’t take up as much space but allow you to hide the trains for awhile before exiting the other end.
dragenrider brings up a good point, about selective compression of miles. Let me imagine a mile long freight train. With 40’ cars, that would be about 125 cars. But I image as long a train as I ever need to have would be about 20-25 freight cars plus maybe 4 locmotives. That LOOKS like a long train. In N scale, that is about 8 feet, which is a good length for a scene of more or less ongoing scenery-
a two-mile long causeway across an arm of a bay to an island seaport…
Prototype http://www.railimages.com/albums/kennethanthony/aca.jpg
A stretch about 8 feet long for a scene of open farmland with rail line and a highway and utility poles running along tracks, would be about right length.
At least that length of scene between “towns”…
A small town about that long… about right.
Similarly, I feel an ordinary looking city block should be a little more than a foot long in N scale, say a foot and a quarter to a foot and a half, which would be 200’ to 240’, where a real city block is often around 300’. And maybe 4 city blocks plus streets to a “mile”. But remember, that is not really a scale mile. It is a compressed “feely” mile.
Just my feel. An actual N scale mile is 33’.
A division 100 miles between two yards with several towns and several major industries along the way. I can imagine getting the feel of that with two or three “towns”, two or three interchanges or junction points, a couple of major industrial plants, and maybe two or three more “out in the open” passing sidings. That’s 10 major points, and 8 to a dozen intervals between the points of interest. Adding the scenes and the intervals and making them approsimately 8’ long each, I get an N scale layout 150 to 200 feet long. Probably will never have my “dream train palace” to build it in, but I would be
I think you will need to start by buying one of those ugly-as-sin $500,000 mansions they build nowadays for up-scale golf course communities. Knock down all the walls between bedrooms on the upper floor. Check what rooms you really need to live in on the main floor, then take out all the other walls down there. Build a triple-track helix with staging crossovers between the first and second floors. This will simulate Moffat Tunnel. Is there anybody in town still willing to extend you credit? If so, you can continue with the division point yards you mentioned.
And yes I am poking fun at you somewhat. But I think this is a bit more than ANYBODY could chew. Even the old old “If I Had A $Million” club plan from 101 Track Plans would cost less than what you are suggesting.