Open Spot on Layout...what to do with it? Suggestions Needed/Appreciated

If it were mine, I would make a road over to it and turn it into a park with a playground.

How about a nice water scene, with a dock a few small boats with people fishing, boating and swimming .

 

 

Alex

I am with Alex on this one. I believe a water feature would make perfect use of this limited space.

Hmmmm....well, having a realistic open space of countryside is kind of unique in a world of layouts "paved with Plasticville", and if you don't have room to put in a switch and serve a siding, nothing may be gained by "covering it up".  On another posting they are discussing modeling abandoned track, so  if that is an itch you have to scratch, with no switch now in place you could put a stretch of abandoned track or a line of ties on a roadbed to an abandoned building, say, a crumbling grain elevator.

A small farm and buildings is another possibility.

Park. 

I would also extend the road but I would put a fenced in junk yard there

I'm with Frank and Ben.

A structure, small, with lots of character like a broken down repair shop/junkyard.

Junk yards have lots of character !!

Or a small caboose shed next to a piece of extended track into that area.

 

I like the open area! Great place for a kid to fly a kite.....run, jump, etc.

 

Sometimes "less is more.."

 

Says one who tends to lay track on every available square inch, and then wonders why his table looks cluttered............

 

 

I like the thought of a gravel or dirt road going to this area. I've long thought about water but am a bit nervous doing such a task. Perhaps I'll just go for water as a "test" pond. Should I want to do something differently down the road, it would be pretty easy to remove. 

 

THose are lumberjacks in the bottom of the photos around the trees. They can be moved easily. 

Looks like a good place for a drive in theater.

A Korber radio station and tower- gravel road to it-perhaps abandoned rail behind it.

You could put in a couple of Lionel wind turbines.

Bill...

 

I like your idea and can empathize with your last comment!

 

THIS is the accessory that comes to mind...

http://www.legacykline.com/apps/kl/catalog.html?useraction=item&p_item_type=Accessories&p_oem_sku=K-42438

 

BTW, there's currently one offered on the auction-we-can't-mention...but not by the K-Line stock number.

 

Actually, this sort of animated accessory would not be that difficult to make.  There are lots of slow-rotation mechanisms to which a figure could be pegged and a small airplane attached with very fine wire.  I'll even bet that George at ITTProducts, the sound module folks, could put together a quick R/C airplane droning chip to add a bit of audio pizazz to the scene....if for no other reason than to drown out the motor/gear noise!!

 

Something more static?   Change the gizmo at the end of the 'string' to a kite, as Bill suggested, and call it good.  Hey, if you have a small fan in proximity, it might even make the kite 'dance' a bit!

 

Whatever....   BUT HAVE FUN WITH IT!!

 

KD

 

If you want to get creative, you could put in a ruined or abandoned building with traces of that abandoned rail line.  I find these types of places to be visually very interesting.

 

Andy

  A war memorial site with a flag and maybe a tank or gun,or a spot for an old caboose with the local railroad herald on it.

Lots of splendid ideas here.  How about an abandoned mine shaft at the end of the extended gravel/dirt road?

 

Another thought.  At a similar site on a previous layout I had a den with a bear poking its head out.  Not very prototypical maybe, but fun on a 3 rail traditional layout.  It got lots of comments.

That looks like prime coal country.  How about a strip mine or maybe a limestone quarry.  Maybe some fracking equipment. 

Pave paradise. Put up a parking lot.
Actually, I think some people with a tent and campsite might be neat.

I like the abandoned mineshaft idea, along some remnants of an old tipple maybe?

Or maybe a small bulk station tank farm with a truck loading platform?

 

Rod

Korber radio tower, a small AmeriTowne building for a Transmitter shack and a winding dirt road leading up to it.

I sincerely appreciate all of you folks taking the time to add some ideas...this forum really is full of great people and TONS of talent. 

 

My CURRENT plan, subject to change, is to change that single straight piece of track coming off that 0-27 switch into an 0-27 curve to wind towards the station then ending in the open space behind the station. I think a small coal yard or freight depot or similar would look good there. I will also add a few rusty piece of track to continue my rusty and weed-filled "abandoned" track near the power station. I hope to add a small stream or pond as well. The curve coming off the switch will be extremely tight, 0-27 or slightly bent tighter. Most of my Railking diesels are able to run on 0-27...as long as I can get a few smaller engines in there that would be ideal. I don't expect the big stuff but my Railking switchers, AS-616, GP9s and such, that run great on 0-27 need to get in there. 

 

I DO really like the dirt/gravel road ideas, abandoned buildings, junk yards, radio towers, etc, etc, etc. I may just need to add ANOTHER extension to  work in all of the new ideas tossed in my head!!!!

Don't know what part of the country you are in but I had a bare spot and added 5 oil (horsehead) wells, they look great with the heads bobbing up and down.

 

Brent

I was thinking the same thing as Brent.  Oil wells with storage tanks.  You could extend the road past the station to access them.  Here is what I did with an akward empty space.

 

 

Tom

I'm working on a entire abandoned town right now. You could make a reason for the old siding with some sort of old run down factory and a couple of out houses. I'm have a heck of fun time working on the town. I have lots to do but it's coming along fine. Don

Seriously, leave it alone - or at least leave it empty, even if you change it to another

theme. Our layouts are so often so claustrophobic.

Tom/Brent...where do the oil rigs come from? Those are pretty neat and I could have another spot or two for one or two rigs. 

My pumps are "Cornerstone Series" by Walthers.  However Walthers does not have these in "O" Gauge any longer. I know because they told me when I had to replace a motor, They do make them in "HO" and I think "N". I found mine in my local LHS under a bunch of boxes, bought all he had.

 

They are a great addition to my layout.

 

Brent

They are on E-bay all the time. I think they run on DC only. Don

Where did you get the tanks?

 

Ken

put large trees on it that are actually O scale with a playground and dirt/ gravel road.

 

Bill D

Ditto, I need some tanks

Brent

I like it the way it is, or maybe add a tree or three.  I think people err who fill their layout with too much stuff.

.....

Dennis

I think the space looks good how it is. You could possibly add a few park benches and an ice cream stand to make it like a little park.

You could add a 2 story hotel and some "ladies of the night" for some alternative entertainment.

I suggest two things: #1 An old overgrown cemetery. #2 Lionel has some nice hobo accessories with a campfire or you can make your own with a few hobos from either Woodland Scenics or Arttista with a flickering red LED from Evans that you could put in a burn barrel. I've got both on my layout and they both are enjoyed by friends and family that look at the layout. My cemetery includes a hearse, minister and greaving family looking at the casket in the hole, two workers who dug the hole, another family at a tombstone, a statue, some squirrels and a bench with a man reading a paper. You can put in a lot of detail in a little space.

I built my tank from 2" PVC pipe and some Plastruct tubing.  The pump is a Walthers Cornerstone unit.  I believe Atlas O is making these now.

 

Tom

Can I make a totally different suggestion?

 

Just add some trees and leave it as is.   Sometimes by shoe-horning in an extra building/scene can make the layout too crowded.  Leave it empty, add some trees and let it be the way it is.

I continue to thank everyone for additional comments. I've revised my original post for my current thoughts. 

 

I do respect the suggestions of leave it as-is. I've certainly considered it seriously both on an aesthetic part as well as a financial side! I'm not the person to cram every last inch of layout top with track or buildings, although it may appear that way. To me, this spot just seems too bare.