Be warned, this is long - if you have time to read this novel, the first two paragraphs explain some of the size limitations as well as what my hopes and dreams are for this layout, while the two after explain how I have approached operations on this layout. Key notes and thoughts are in a bulleted list at the bottom.
I am looking at buying my first home. As I put in the leg work for the purchase, I am also working on designing a layout to help keep me excited amidst all the paperwork and packing. A particular home I am planning around has a good space for a layout in the basement. The layout has a 10' width restriction on one end and 12' on the other end due to appliances that I can't move. I've worked on numerous versions of this layout but I think I have a general idea of how I want it to look now. This layout has some possible flaws and I want to get input on if this is even feasible with the models I want to run.
In terms of what I want from a layout, I would like to run up to three trains in a loop, and also have an option for some small operations running (I have become fond of small steam engines and pulling small local freights seems like a perfect role for them). I'd also like a multi-level layout - the bottom layer serves as unseen storage while the the top two layers are for running, scenery, etc. In terms of operations, I am not familiar with specific operations on a railroad but I have a basic idea of how it works and I have built the layouts "operability" with this understanding, which I'll delve into later. To facilitate operations, I'd like to have industries scattered around the layout. I also have several coal hoppers and a lot of coal haulers (N&W and C&O) and would like a coal mine (I would love to use BTS Encore Series Cabin Creek mine but I think the K&P Model kits give me what I am looking for in a more-forgiving space). Finally, I admire the modeling craftsmanship showed by many OGR forum members and I love how some of them blend photography or videography into the hobby. To that end, I have tried to design this layout to allow for several small scenes that mesh well when viewed as a whole, but are also distinct enough that each scene can look like its own unique location, which will give the illusion of a much larger layout with clever camera angles. Scenes I'd like to have on the layout include wooded area(s), small rugged industrial zones, a small town, and tree-studded mountainsides with tracks carving a path around the rock. I have ideas for where each of these scenes can go - the mountainsides on the top of the layout, wooded area between the roundhouse and the right-end curve of the double-main, the right-side green track is another opportunity for a mountain scene, and the small town can be nestled inside the yard lead semi-circle on the left side of the layout, but nothing is set in stone and everything is up for discussion..
An image of the layout is attached below. The layout colorcode is:
- Blue: Double-main, first (lower) level
- Green: single-track line, second (upper) level
- Red: connects different levels to the next one above/below it
- Yellow: freight yard, arrival/departure track, and yard lead
- Gray: Engine yard/service
- Orange: industrial sidings/team track
- Black: Coal mine
In looking at how to design the layout for operations, I have taken a bit of inspiration from our friends in H0 (as I got the idea looking at some H0 layouts). The yard will serve as the centerpiece and hub for operations. An inbound train (pulled by a mainline engine - eg, NYC Mohawk, N&W Class A, etc) will come from the storage layer and enter the double-track mainline on the first (lower) layer destined for the yard. Once the train is in the yard, switchers will break down the inbound train into either an outbound train moving to other yards or towns (ie, back to the storage layer), or local freights destined for industries around the layout. Motive power can be swapped at the roundhouse for the departing train. Smaller steam engines (Mogul, Consolidation, etc) will pick up the local freights and carry them to their destination. At the receiving industries, the empties/departing cars will be picked up and the arriving cars dropped off, with these new cars carried back to the yard to be organized into another departing train for destinations beyond (back to the storage layer).
This layout does not have a reverse loop, so engines will need to make sure they are facing the correct direction (using the turntable) to service industries without needing to change direction. If additional industries are added to the design, this may present an opportunity for organizing multiple local freights in the yard. I have a few industries on the top layer, so two sections of track connect the upper and lower layers to facilitate movement between levels without a direction change. I am right now thinking of running smaller trains in general, with 8-10 cars on arriving/departing mainline freights, and locals being 3-4 cars. At this length, I think most of both engine and train can fit into the arrival/departure track, the O72 lead is long enough to allow a switcher to push them into the yard, and the yard spurs are long enough to hold a single train. The yard also has a run around for servicing industries I would like nearby (but are not yet in the plan). The loops will allow for arriving trains to run continuously while I take time building trains or making space in the yard (I don't plan on integrating timetables or schedules into running sessions right now, my vision for this is to be more relaxed).
A few notes and thoughts I specifically would like feedback on:
- All track is Ross O, most switches - in yards, when switching between mainlines, etc - are #4/14-degrees (can larger engines run over these without problem?)
- The double-track mainline (and yard lead/arrival-departure track) have a 4" offset, not the typical 6" - on the left-side of the layout, the track has (from outer to inner curves): O88, O80, O72. Different track radii are used on the other side of the layout but they use the same 4" offset. Because I am planning on running a lot of big and articulated steam, I am a bit worried this may be an issue when running two steam engines together or if a passenger train is on the outside. The largest engines I plan on running will be an Allegheny and Y3/Y6b.The longest car I have is a set of 18" passenger cars.
- The yard may be too far out of reach - I chose this layout originally because it allowed me to have a locomotive workshop connect directly to the turntable, and I can also fit in more spurs, but the yard and the connections are probably too far away. Feedback on exact placement for both of these is welcome!
- The graded track portions may be too close to each other to create scenery, or the scenery may hug the track so close that larger engines may risk breaking it.
- The layout in its current form will require a duckunder. I have not decided if I want that to be behind the roundhouse (removing the forest; I am leaning towards this option) or under all the switches leading into the yard/engine yard (will shrink the town and yard scenery areas),
- The storage level has not been designed yet but I will want a reversing loop
- Yard lead and arrival/departure are connected - trains will have to use the lead either when arriving or departing
- The inner and outer grades are 1.9% and 2.4%, respectively.
- The track does not all connect neatly, resulting in some gaps or overlaps in the plan
- As the plan becomes more refined I will change some of the straight sections with Gargraves flex track to add some more character to the layout and scenery.
- Each level is 6" above the one below it
Any feedback, suggestions, criticism, etc, are welcome. SCARM file is also attached. Thank you!
