I have been rethinking my original goal of a 5ft length, it’s just too short, and I now realise I can just about fit a 6.5ft plan into my upstairs office, still with room for a small detachable fiddle yard off the end.
Setting-wise, i’m keen to model an urban yard, something like a larger version of the “Brooklyn 3am” or a smaller version of “Sweethome Chicago”. I’m definitely thinking East Coast as a setting and I want to use soem of those outstanding DPM building kits!
I have downloaded the TrkCad program and had a lot of fun fiddling around with various designs, but nothing has yet hit the jackpot in terms of getting good operation. I feel like I’m going round in circles.
Can anyone suggest a good switching trackplan, no longer than 6.5ft and around 2ft deep (78x24) that will give a good variety of operational switching using HO scale 50ft boxcars.
Ideally I’d like to have a mainline that remains free, so eventually (in a larger space, or in an exhibition) a behind the scenes loop would allow mainline trains to be run continuously while switching takes place in the foreground or background.
In the 1990´s, MR ran a series on how to build a switching layout. It was the “Port of Los Angeles” layout by Bob Smaus.
The following track plan is based on this beautifully done layout:
It is 6" inches longer than you have mentioned, but can easily be shortened. It is 28" deep, but you can reduce that by a couple of inches as well. The cassette staging is my addition.
The Port of LA plan is interesting visually and is a favorite of mine from that standpoint, but the convoluted runaround might prove quite frustrating over time. A more straightforward plan such as Linn Westcott’s “Switchman’s Nightmare” might be a better layout for more prototypical (real-life) switching operations.
I guess it really depends on your definition of “good operations”.
You may mean “track heavy” - like that serendip layout with yet another added main. Or some variety of Linn Westcott’s switchman’s neightmare - like Scot Osterweil’s 6 x 1 foot “Highland Terminal” layout: http://carendt.us/articles/highland/
Or you could go to the opposite extreme and go for something like a subset of the Dave Hill’s New Castle Industrial layout: http://oscalewcor.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html - light on tracks, heavy on operations.
By ‘good operation’ I guess I mean I’m really looking for a plan that gets lots of switching opportunities, so it will feature several industries/sidings that need to be fed with cars. But, hopefully not one that is a nightmare to operate (the ‘switchmans nightmare’ sounds like it might be too complex?)
I’m also hoping to have a plan that can have two or more engines on it at any given time, so I will need enough space to get a GP38 or similar in there, not just a short yard switching engine.
Jonathan Jones’ 10 foot long H0 scale Mid-Atlantic and Western. A good plan. An guy I know is building an 8 foot N scale (i.e. a slightly stretched) layout inspired by this layout
Track plan:
Cars shown are 60-footers - about the length of a GP38.
Couple of early construction photos:
6 feet in N scale is the equivalent of a 10 1/2 foot layout in H0 scale. You can do quite a bit in 10 1/2 foot in H0 scale.
as long as your checking out small layout scapbook look at the plan for the gumstump and snowshoe. it was originally designed in the 60’s and uses a space of 1 foot by 6 foot
