Since all US railroads use east and west for train direction all model railroads should run east and west. So what is eastbound on your railroad? Trains running clockwise or trains running counter clockwise? Counter clockwise for me.
My layout consists of a few modules without continues running. If I really think about it I’m running mostly on the backside of the modules and the audience side is against the wall then East would be on my left or vice versa.
Pete.
Not correct. Some prototype roads run N-S and some run N-S on some subs and E-W on other subs.
Clockwise is east bound on my layout. Presently I face east facing my layout to run my trains. My layout is HO Scale in our garage mounted on casters and can be rotated 360°.
The top of this drawing is toward the east wall of my garage.
My normal operation is counter clockwise or East to West on the Twice Around double loop. Up the 3½% grade across the Howe Truss Bridge and Trestle then down the 3½% Helix to the main level.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Growing old is a bummer, aging is definitely not for wimps.
Interesting question and one that I often wonder about. I imagine for most of us, we cannot come up with a solid answer.
In my case, my layout runs from west to east on one wall of the basement, then turns south down a second wall, then back east to west along a third wall of the basement, and finally north onto a peninsula.
That said, at the west end of my layout sits Dearborn Station which on the prototype faced north (not west). So, that is my orientation. If my layout did not make those various turns along the basement walls, a straightened layout would have the end of that peninsula facing south. That works for fine for me because the peninsula holds the Chicago North Western Station which faced south on the prototype.
That all said, my trains run north and south on a continuous loop double mainline. The outer mainline runs counter clockwise and the inner mainline runs clockwise.
Rich
My original layout was built as an east/west line, but when I finally got around to adding the partial upper level, I now also have a north/south line.
I can run the main level as a loop, but seldom do, as I prefer point-to-point operations.
I also have interchange at five different places (all basically staging tracks). Four of them are in the layout room, while the fifth one is in my workshop via a hole in the wall, which, once the scenery is completed, won’t be visible.
The east/west line has at least three areas where helpers might be required, while the north/south line almost always requires helpers when travelling north.
Wayne
I guess mine generally go anti-clockwise, however, I do have a decent size balloon track and can and do turn them around sometimes. If I am really on the ball I can run opposing trains taking advantage of a long siding and other strategically placed turnouts that let them pass. It does require full focus so as to avoid disaster.[(-D]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbUhA2_F-7M&ab_channel=BATTRAIN1
The section of the STRATTON AND GILLETTE I model runs North-South.
-Kevin
Counterclockwise for me. My layout is orientated with the proper cardinal directions due to the setup of my garage.
Cardinal directions! That’s the term that I was looking for.
Rich
I’ve never thought about it. The trains using the outside loop run counter-clockwise, and when the train comes by where I normally stand, in my head it seems to be going east.
My old house was oriented facing north because the south roof used to have solar panels. This was an old pumped hot water system, which unfortunately had a lot of plumbing and was not designed for easy repair.
So, the back side of the layout faced south. The South Ferry subway station is on that wall. I generally don’t use compass points. Most of the layout is a single track loop. As a “reliable, bullet-proof track” fanatic, I don’t have a preferred direction. I have reverse loops facing either direction, so there’s really no preference.
I also have a pair of passing sidings so trains going in opposite directions can pass. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, but I can run a train in each direction on the same loop, without stopping either train.
My layout is mostly around the walls and I purposely designd it so that east is to the right and west is to the left because that is how it is on the map. The same holds true for the center penisula.
Allen McClelland briefly touched on this subject in the book about his Virginian and Ohio and if I remember, that ran just the opposite and he thought that was correct but I can’t remember his reasoning.
East is counterclockwise. Far enough east and suddenly you’re to the west!
Eastbound on my layout is toward Ogden (UT) staging. Orientation to the viewer changes depending on which deck you’re on. The main deck is oriented like a map, so east is to the right.
North is to the right and south is to the left. No east or west.
Say what?
Nice layout!
“Which way is East?” To the right of course.
I have never in 55 years in this hobby thought of it in terms of clockwise or counter clockwise - never had a layout that was a simple oval…
But all my more recent layouts (except one) have been designed so that the whole layout is viewed as if the viewer is facing north, so left is West and right is East.
The new layout:
This makes things much easier for operators to understand where they are, and where they are going, even on a continious layout.
The new layout pictured above is continious in that it has thru staging - trains leaving the scene westbound will re-enter at the other end, still westbound, etc.
I guess you could say that East bound trains are “clockwise” and West bound trains “counter clockwise”, but I never think of it that way. The oval is big and squiggly so it does not resemble a clock at all?
Sheldon
My layout is around the wall with towns of Taylor Tx, Smithville Tx and La Grange Tx. On the map they are north - south. I’m running counter clockwise from Taylor (North).
Each to his own [:)]
Tom