It’s that time again, time to vote for you favorite layout design. This one is a little different in that contestants were given a sheet of plywood and told they could chop it up any way they wanted.
So click on the link and come back and post your favs. Don’t worry Grumpy, you’re excused.
Old West
Angry beaver
Brooklyn Terminal
-G-
Can the contestants vote as long as they don’t vote for themselves, or do we just want to forego that?
First Place - #10 - Lots of operating and detailing potential - shows that O scale can work in a smallish space.
Second Place - #2 - Does everything I would want a small layout to do, primarily continuous run, adequate staging, functional yards and switching.
Third Place # 9 - Interesting twist on the basic switching layout.
Lee
Industry Branch
Brooklyn Terminal
Old West (Hey, N scale may not be mine, but like this layout anyway!)
Jim in Cape Girardeau
All entries were very well thought out. I like logging and cities. I also like the ability to just watch trains run when I get tired of switching, so my choices reflect that. Scale is not too much of an issue in the selections I made.
Western Maryland Tidewater Division.
Angry Beaver Logging RR.
Industry Branch.
#1 : Entry 7: “Industry Branch” - I really like the the way the designer has cut the corners and used curved turnouts extensively to buy himself better curve radii. Good placement of industries - this designer has gotten a lot of H0 scale layout out of a single sheet of ply.
#2: Entry 4: “Petaluma lumber company”. Extra credits for the switchbacks down to the logging camp. I am a little confused by the term “high staging” for the logging camp - I assume that the logging camp must be at the bottom part of the drawing. I would have assumbed that the logging camp would be downhill from the mainline, not uphill from the mainline ?
Edit: got it explained to me by the designer. I was viewing the layout inside out. For some reason I though it was supposed to be operated from inside the pit - it is supposed to be operated from the outside - the pit is just used for dealing with staging. So the hillside to the logging camp goes upwards from the south end of the layout towards the staging pit, placing the single track staging for the logging camp about 8" above the staging for the mainline - hence the expression “high staging”.
#3: Entry 2: “Western Maryland Tidewater District”. Nice plan, even though I suspect that grades might be a little on the steep side a few places.
Like in the right hand back corner - where there is one branch from a turnout that goes up to a couple of B&O interchange tracks (which presumably are mostly flat), while the other branch goes down and under the interchange tracks.
Room is 9 feet across, so the elevation change to get under seems to happen in about 2-3 feet. Say 3 feet - 36". A three percent grade allows only about 1" drop in 3 feet. Even with maybe half an inch of elevation change up to the B&O inter
IT has always been my contention that contestants can vote for themselves. However, they “should” be honest and only vote for themselves if they think their design deserves merit.
Logging camps are typically way above the mainline with steep climbs to get to them, but not always. In this case the “high staging” is about 10 inches above the main staging.
I wondered about that as well. I’m thinking even with staging under the layout access will be difficult.
Right you are, Stein. Eliminating the crossover track just to the left of the Beano staging tracks would allow the grade to smooth out a bit. Being a smallish layout, I’m sure the designer was thinking in terms of short trains, also with that area being behind much of the scenery, a slightly steep climb would not be as noticeable to the eye, as long as it isn’t too noticeable to the train!
Lee
1-Angry Beaver
2-Western Maryland
3-Industry Branch
In order my top 3 are:
Angry Beaver - love that name. Good scenic possibilities with the way the mainline partially doubles back on itself. Nice little shortline.
Yorklyn Delaware - good use of varying benchwork widths - nice switching layout
Western Maryland - shows the advantage of N scale in fitting in a class 1 mainline in a small space.
Enjoy
Paul
I dug out Armstrong to check minimum clearances. 1 5/8" is indeed minimum clearance for N scale. Guess it makes sense that the engines are not just 55% of the length of an H0 engine, but also just 55% of the height of an H0 engine … [:)]
I withdraw my “objection”, your honor.
Makes sense. What kind of train lengths are you picturing here ?
Smile,
Stein
I have to say, I am always amazed (I don’t know why after all this time) at the level of talent displayed on this forum! My picks are as follows…
Entry #10, the Angry Beaver Logging Railroad is most impressive! The only thing against it is that it’s really a “One Trick Pony”, but then, what do I expect for a large scale model in a small space. Really well done!
Entry #5, Bath Port Belt Line. This thing could keep you busy switching for hours! What a puzzle!
Entry #2, Western Maryland Tidewater Subdivision. This one shows the most promise I think, but I’m not sure it’s ready to be put to plywood yet. It’s close though. With a bit more work this one may have made my top spot. The issues with the right have already been brought up, but I also see some potential issues in the upper left where you have three tracks ccrossing a bridge OVER the road, and one right next to it that has just branched off of those tracks that is an on grade crossing. A seemingly easy fix would be to put them all on the bridge, but then there isn’t enough room to get down to the hidden staging.
The others are all excellent and quite creative as well. I just wish I could choose more then 3!
I downloaded and saved it. This layout layout would work exceptionally well for my limited space situation.
Hello Space Mouse ! My choices are :
Angry Beaver , I would almost vote for this one to be number one just for the tongue and cheek name .
Western Md ? Old West ? Tough choice . Can there be a tie for second ?
Bath Port Belt.
Chip,Being a fan of ISLs its a tough call…
My choices is:
Yorklyn Delawared
and
Brooklyn Terminal Railroad
It doesn’t take much imagination in seeing a SW1500 working these layouts in modern times much like Progressive Rail…
For a earlier diesel era I would favor a ALCO S2,FM10-44,a Baldwin switcher,SW1 or SW7.
For steam era a 0-6-0 or 0-6-0T would surely look nice.
Chip,Keep these contest up as they are a great service to the forum members.
Kudos sir.
[:-^]
Congratulations to all entries. There was much thought and work involved with this group.
My choices are as follows.
1st: Western Maryland Tidewater Div.
2nd: Industry Branch
3rd: Brooklyn Terminal RR.
Thanks as well to you Chip, for all your time and effort.
Johnboy out…
Angry Beaver
Old West (I dont do N Scale, but this one makes me want to)
Petaluma