Where to begin?

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hello Group,

I am about to begin my first layout. I going to do a freelance New England in the fall during the late 40’s to early 50’s. I want to have some mountains and tunnels and a rail yard. Many of the structures have been built but I am at a loss as to where to start with the layout.

Should I go with a 4 X 8, should I use an open grid, or use a kit like “River Pass,” etc? Does anyone know of any pre-made track plans that include mountains?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks.

Mike

2

[#welcome] Welcome aboard, Hiram!

Since you haven’t specified either your modeling scale or the size of your layout space, it would be very difficult to give any kind of meaningful direct answer. So I am going to give you two indirect answers:

  1. Find a Spacemouse post, and click on the Beginner’s Guide in his signature.
  2. Find a copy of John Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation. That book will walk you through all the whats and whys of designing a layout.

After you figure out what space you have and what you can put in it, then you can start thinking about what kind of benchwork to build and what tracklaying methods work best.

Just for information - as long as there is space between the tracks on a track plan, you can put in virtually any kind of scenery from Mojave Desert flat to West Virginia vertical. My own modeling is based on a place where Mother Nature stood things on edge (and then covered them with a cedar forest.) By straightening a few wiggles in the main line and eliminating my grades I could have the foundation for a modern city like the one Rod Stewart built (December 07 Model Railroader,) except that in my case it would look a lot more like Osaka!

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

3

Thanks Chuck,

I know that most people think that a 4 x 8 is a good starter layout. It is in that it gets you running trains and you find out all the things you don’t want, but among the first things you realize is that a 4 x 8 is a real limitation. Look at where you plan to put a 4 x 8 (You have to walk around the 4 x 8 right?) and design for that space. 9 times out of 10 you’ll get a much better layout.

4

Try to think about what you want to do (industries, junctions, etc) then try to think about where you want to locate the railroad (New England) and then what you need to accomplish that.

Try to think of what service are you providing, what customers.

With a 4x8 in HO you also have to realize it is a very small space. So when you “mountains” you will really get hills. When you say “tunnels” you may get “a” tunnel. When you say rail yard remember on a 4x8 you can proabably do all the switching you need with a siging and 1 or 2 tracks. People also want to put in a turntable and roundhouse and all that stuff. 95% of them will never really use it. It will be a huge static diorama that eats up 20-30% of their space and really just used to display an engine collection.

The net is be ready to scale back to make things fit. Unless you are doing a Boston theme, new England is usually about small trains in fairly rural areas. That mens less track rather than more.

I would suggest the Jefferson and W. Memphis plan or look at the trackplan library on the Trains .com site.

Dave H.

5

The Model Railroader magazine mantra is Dream - Plan - Build. Sounds like you’ve got the Dream part done, but planning is very important. It’s a lot cheaper to make mistakes on paper, or on a computer screen, than it is with wood and track.

I used the RTS computer program from Atlas (the track people) at www.atlasrr.com. XtrakCad is a more sophisticated program, available from www.sillub.com. Both are free. Of course, you might want to start with pencil and paper. I fact, that’s exactly what I’d recommend for the first step.

What does your space look like? Is it going to be a “dedicated” space that belongs to your layout, or will you be sharing it with the rest of the family, or even using it for dinner in a small space? If you can really dedicate the space, then consider the “around-the-walls” idea, which gives a much more flexible approach and much longer runs. Some modellers stop at the door, while others just put up a bridge and either remove it or duck under it to get in and out of the room.

As a member of Red Sox Nation myself, I think of New England as a place with a small fishing village with lobster boats, and the New Haven, Boston and Maine and Maine Central railroads. There are old brick mill buildings, most in disrepair back in the 40’s and 50’s, but some may have already been “recycled” as furniture factories, etc. There’s still a viable dairy industry, too.

My own layout, by the way, is a 5x12 table, which I can walk around and push across the room on wheels. It wouldn’t be my choice of the ideal way to build a layout, but it lets me “share” the room with the family, and tucks in under the 45-degree roofline when not in use.

6

Here is what I did.

I knew what I wanted, a canyon with big bridges, a logging camp and a mine.

I knew what my space was

I drew a map of my space on squared paper and laid out a dozen ways to get what I wanted including a place for my buildings.

I decided on an around the wall because it used the space well and met my wif’s criteria of leaving space for the tables for Thanksgiving dinner.

I then laid out the idea on the floor, full size with blue masking tape. I could test curve radius and places for buildings.

Then I built table.

It worked pretty well for me.

I knew I liked scenery better than operations so that helped make decissions. Now that I am getting into operations, I will have to make some modifications. With foam sceney, that is not all that hard.

Good luck. Keep us posted. I really benefited by the ideas shared everytime I posted a progress report.

7

The layout will be in HO. As far as the space goes, I was planning to start out small, maybe 36 sqft. or so and add on as time and space allow.

I will check out your suggestions. Thanks for the response.

8

This occured to me. I have already built the Atlas roundhouse which has a fairly large foot print. I was wondering how I was put the yard and get the other things into the 4 X 8. Thanks for th response.

9

Thanks Dave, I am beginning to realize that 4 X 8 is probably too small, even for my first attempt. I will be modeling a rural northern New England theme rather than Boston or even Providence. I’ll check out the plans you’ve recommended.

10

Thanks for the tip on the free programs. I was wondering if anything like that was available at no cost. I will have dedicated basment space for the layout. I already have some Boston & Maine and New Haven locomotives and rolling stock for starters, probably not as much as I’ll need.

11

Thanks Art, from the posts so far I can see that the immediate space available is an important consideration. I think that like you, I am more of a scenery guy myself. I do want the layout to make sence as well so operations is also a major consideration.