Well we have absorbed some family displaced by Hurricane Harvey. The end result is my layout room has been re-purposed and it was a no-brainer. I still have the green light to build a layout, but smaller is the keyword here so I am now in the attic space with a total area of 8' x 8' for now. I am still trying to fall within the TOMA idea however I have had to move from a continuous running layout to a switching layout. There are no reversing loops or anything complicated other than a heck of a 4% grade to rise up from a lower level. Since the track will not permit long trains, a locomotive and 4-6 cars should be ok. I apologize for appearing wishy-washy on a layout but circumstances are not kind sometimes.The N scale layout plan for now looks to be 2 modules, one 18" x 80" and the other 18" x 62" with plans calling for a unused 36" bi-fold door kit still in the attic..plans within plans..lol. The plan calls for the eventual expansion of the modules if/when I can re-occupy my 12' X 16' space. Only time will tell. The great part is I now have small on-lookers/participants that I can possibly corrupt into model railroaders. Please look this plan over and identify any possible trouble sports or obvious design flaws. I know the grade is kinda steep and I may be able to lessen it a bit shifting some of the staging track on the lower level. I hope to model the 1979-80 time period using switchers and GP style locomotives from the MKT, CRIP, Frisco or the KCS. Many thanks for any and all help.
Looks pretty good! But... The trains from the staging yard enters the layout at the end of the run around track - so you sort of start your operation from a point where you would typically end it. That's sub-optimal in my opinion and also not prototypical. The outlet track lead is way shorter than your longest staging yard track - so all that extra track in your staging is basically a waste - you will never be able to utilize them because a full length train in your longest staging track will never fit in the outlet lead and you will not be able to bring them to the run-around/passing loop to complete switching. In module 1 I see your industries defined, but in Module 2 I don't see any labeling (So I don't want to assume), but if it was me, I would remove a couple of turnouts from staging and create another passing loop/run around in module 2. I am not sure how you will be accessing staging, but the tracks are towards the wall (I am assuming that the wall is on the side of the purple track), and that is pretty deep inside for you to reach, especially the opening that 4% grade will give you will not be sufficient for you to service the far side of the staging tracks. Given you have turnouts inside the staging, that might end up being a maintenance and operation nightmare. I would recommend the following: Forget the hidden staging Make module 2 at the same level as module 1 - no grade Create an open yard which will double up as your staging. If you wish you can keep the yard in the foreground, and put a couple of forks in the background in front of low relief industry buildings, so that you can do switching in module 2 as well. That will also make a very exciting scene. Make sure that you have a proper yard lead and a run around track in module 2. Think creative - may be make the yard relatively small (3/4 tracks max) and utilize additional space for an engine service facility. My biggest recommendation is to keep it simple, but well built, that makes sense. Good luck!
Thanks you for the input Nimo. I have tried to readjust the design a but as you mentioned. I did forget to mention that I have the ability to add a 18" wide by 60" deep module #3 on the right side to eventually expand the " main track " and give a bit more room for trains. I found a way to increase the left side depth to 91" total or about another 11" of benchwork. The modified design gives about 11 car spot locations and a small yard. The industries mentioned I already have and have tried to make their respective " footprints " work with the design. Once again the design is not something that cannot be changed/tweeked. I am trying to keep the corner as a scenic divider and may try a bit more elevation changes to help with that.
Much better for sure, just a few more adjustments, and it should be all right. I don't have time now to draw it in a track planning software, so these are just scribbling done in MS Paint, so sorry for the messy appearance, but here are my recommendations - hope you can make sense of it. I will try to put something in place over the weekend. One of the most important thing to keep in mind is the flow of traffic - railroads always avoid zigzag movements as much as they can and only use them in situations where they cannot find a route any other way (like in the mountains). So the best way to design a layout, in my opinion, is to think of the easiest and smallest route an engineer can take to go to point A from point B. To make it easy, I sometimes imagine myself driving a very long road train where multiple bogies are attached to my truck - what route and movement will be easiest for me to go from one point to the other - that should be the ideal route for a railroad track too.
