I took a plan by Iain Rice in his book Shelf Layouts and massaged it a bit to fit my needs. 12 inch squares. Roughly 14 by 26 feet. I could make it longer, up to 32 feet long, but this seemed about right. 14 feet wide is a hard limit.
I used 072 turnouts, because that is what I have. I wish I could have used #6 on the main line, and #4 in the yards. The action takes place at the bottom of the layout, with the top serving as a "fiddle yard." The two tracks behind the trees on the top right serve as staging. There is a hint of a junction with a foreign road at the upper left which gives a "universal industry."
The blue lines represent the bench work. I'll work in some suggestion of elevation change by varying the terrain. The track will remain flat.
I haven't sorted out what industries I'll have. and they may change depending on the day and what I put on the layout. Yes, the locomotive can chase its caboose, but the primary focus of the layout will be operations, switching freight. The skinny benchwork on the upper right will probably be hinged for access.
Ideas? I used RRTrack For those who have access to RRTrack, feel free to play with this and give me some ideas.
How do I add the .rrt file? I have been defeated by the software. OK, I've got it sorted out, now. Thanks, Bill
I know that numbered turnouts would work out better, but...
