Most model train or railroad layouts are made for viewing. Most have beautifully made, realistic scenery and show trains running from the mountains and tunnels to the fields, small towns, even cities. Usually, several separate colorful trains will be looping throughout the scenes, just like in real life, they come rolling by. Most of us see these gorgeous layouts in showrooms or as display layouts build by train clubs, train store window or showrooms at manufacturers to hype up sales. We are awed for 30 minutes we have to see them. But these layouts soon lose interest and attention of most railroad fans. i did not want to make one of these layouts and planned to make a layout that would keep me interested in operating and last for years.
Let us see your Railroading style layout with a brief introduction, pictures and how it has keep up your interest in operating it. I will start with my layout details.
This layout was designed and built in 1977 as a 027, 50’s era model railroad doing railroad operations to keep the engineers busy with operation, switching, reversing, coupling and uncoupling, operating multiple trains, making trains and includes many operating accessories. Space/missile and General trains are operated also. These things will keep up interest in running and watching trains and improving the layout. While setting up three or five trains to loop on 3 interconnected loops, is and can be done on this layout, experience has been that just looping gets boring quickly.
The layout has an L shape, each leg is 12ft long and 6ft wide, two track diagram control panels with three Lionel LW transformers and is operated with 1, 2, or 3 engineers. 2 of the 3 loops have double revering loops and the outside loop has a Wye to allow lots of options to reverse trains. Conventional train operation is used, and two loops have a 2 trains on 1 track relayed system. The layout has 31 Marx switches and 21 uncoupling/operating track sections for lots of train operating options. An operating homemade turntable and associated TT whisker tracks will allow reversal of engines and storage and selection of locos and was desired and planned into the layout from conception.
The layout has several operating accessories that provide action and a purposes and jobs for the trains to serve. Accessories include the Lionel Operating Gantry Crane, cattle pen and cattle cars, milk platforms and milk cars, log and coal mine loaders, saw mill, drum loader, barrel loader and barrel unloading cars, frozen pond moving ice skaters. Another objective was to have fun building, operating and sharing the layout with others especially young children.
Charlie
PS, Link below shows how the layout was built. Table of Contents page1 post 1 bottom page
