Where do I start?

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

It’s time for me to STOP buying Rolling Stock and locomotives and build a proper layout.

Here is what I would “LIKE” to do.

Assuming modules that I could build and add on too as I got them finalized.

Assuming L-Girder construction with 1/4 plywood and 1 or 2 inch insulation board.

Assuming Passenger Service via the 20th Century Limited using 2 E8’s and passenger cars.

Assuming at other times I will be using Freight either based in the same 1950-1960 era or with a blink of the eye Intermodal Service using Trailer on Flat Cars and Well cars with containers.

A large layout loosely based on the NY Central from just north of NYC to Buffalo. From left to right looking at the layout you would have the Staging yard based on the Main Yard in Buffalo NY. This leg of the layout would be a north/south leg.

Moving East you would have a Passenger Station to mimic Rochester or Syracuse.

Just outside of Rochester you would have the Despatch Shops that were in East Rochester and this would include an Industrial Building Engine House and maybe my Diesel Servicing yard.

Further east you would come to the River Crossing in Albany and cross the Hudson River.

After crossing the Hudson, the Mainline would make a southerly turn and head South and follow the river to the Croton-Harmon station where I would have a small switching yard and a run-around track to bring the engines back to the front.

As stated, right now this is all in my head. I have nothing on paper, but I do have pictures of the actual stations, and satelite pics via Google Earth. These will NOT be tie for tie, turnout to turnout recreations of these locations, but will be the highlights from trips I’ve made as a boy to NYC and as an Adult in the past 5 years.

Are my ideas good enough to start at least sketching things out?

Chris

2

well first what u want to do is layout your track and see what you like or download a layout builder there is one at http://www.atlasrr.com in the download section try and make a layout track plan using that.

3

Spend about 15-20 hours scouring the internet for archival photos of the railroad you like. Look for the Will Smith, “I gotta get me one of deeze!!” type of heart grabs in terms of locomotives, rolling stock, yard or right of way looks, structures, and so on. Also, read the general history of the locomotives and of the operations as well.

Next, have a sober look at the space you have to work with. Take away about 25% of that, and that will be the space you will need to manage the layout and to build it. The rest is useful space, and since there will be less than you thought, think very soberly about your list of gotta haves in this design. You may have to do some re-thinking.

What era, what theme, what part of the line, how much room to do it, all these questions must be answered. Then, begin to draw up a varied and realistic design of tracks. Read John Armstrong’s “Track Planning for Realistic Operations”, one of the singular and definitive of the modelers’ bibles. You’ll get tips on what to include and how, and what errors routinely crop up in model designs.

Estimate material costs, once you know the rough dimensions of your bench and its construction type, and then get tools and the material. A book on bench construction from Kalmbach, our hosts here, would be highly advisable.

That should get you thinking, if not started.

4

I wish I could! LOL! One of the few times I wish I had a DOS PC. Being a Mac guy, there are few options open to me.

What really gets to me is what I’ll need for these Passenger cars. To make em look “RIGHT” I need what? Almost a 30 inch curve for em.

My space is a basement that in the area I’ll be working in is 18’ x 60’ with a few support poles to work around. As stated, I’ll probably go modular so that I can add to it as time and money allows.

5

o i didn’t know u had a mac well that stinks lol

6

The first thing I would do is read my beginner’s guide in my signature. That will get you focussed on how to think about your design.

As for the design software. They are availble for the mac, I just don’t know who or where. Post on the other side about: “Layout Software for MACs”

7

depending on the age of your mac this might be useful

http://www.theliquidateher.com/3drrconceptanddesign-macintosh.html

for newer macs try this

http://www.railmodeller.com/

or this

http://www.haddonsoftware.com/emexinfo.html

edit: i haven’t used any of these , and sorry that there don’t seem to be any free railroad design programs on the mac . if you try these out keep us posted on which you like better

8

It sounds like an ambitious project but still doable. I like your idea of building the layout in sections. I considered doing the same for my freelanced railroad which is a stepchild of the NYC. It runs from the West Shore line across the southern tier of New York, closesly following routes of the Erie and DL&W with a little flavor of the NYOW thrown in. My final plan is a loop to loop and I thought about having one portable loop that I could move down the line as I completed and installed new sections. I finally decided it would be difficult to make a large loop portable especially since in the end it would be stacked above the other loop. I opted instead to build the whole mainline from one loop to the other than add in the scenery and service track later. This has allowed me to run trains while I am filling in the scenery.

9

I they are supposed to navigate as tight as 24" radius, but our club has one section where we pinched down and have only 32" curves. On that section we have a perminant slow order for passenger cars. I would say 36" is where they begin to look OK, and 40+ is when they really start looking right.

That is a way different blink-of-an-eye especially as far as scenery goes. The 1950-60 will go well with a 20th Century, but container cars live in a world with a whole different look and feel. Especially trackside structures. I would make the layout for the Passenger and 1950 theme and then just run the container trains as desired as an “out of reality” type thing.