This post is by Sam D. Teague, Railroad Artifact Preservation Society founder and president.
The late John Armstrong was the dean of model railroad layout planning and design until his death in 2004. The attached photo shows a design that he did for Judge Dean. (Judge Dean's family donated his entire collection to the Railroad Artifact Preservation Society which made the Santa Fe's Raton Pass Model Railroad possible.)
Most of us design our own model railroads, usually with a piece of paper and pencil. For Santa Fe's Raton Pass, I used CAD which is very good if you know how to use it. Now there is even a better way to design your layout. AffordableModelRailroads.com can do it for you. Not only will they design your railroad to your specifications and desires, they can print it out full size so that you can place the complete design directly onto your bench-work. (They will even build your bench-work and your entire model railroad if you like) The second attached photo shows a sample of this. Imagine, being able to lay your track directly on the full size plan, no guessing where it should be placed. And structures, turnouts, yards and industries are also printed on the full-size design. This takes out all of the guess work and climates mistakes saving money in the long run. It also assures a smooth operating design because any mistakes in design have been eliminated before printing.
I encourage you to check out the new dean of model railroad layout planning and design. Click this link for more information. affordablemodelrailroads.com/7.html
