Hello All: I'm building an n-scale HCD layout with Kato Unitrack. My inspiration is switching in general and, more specifically, the old Illinois Northern RR on Chicago's southwest side. The IN was controlled by the ATSF for awhile and I'm using ATSF equipment on my layout. The layout is simple: an outside loop with a spur behind a backdrop for staging. In the front is a small stub yard leading to an industrial district. The trains in the staging area can pick up and drop off cars for sorting in the stub yard by a switcher, which can make a daily run to the industrial are to drop off and pick up cars. The attached track plan is a draft, which includes footprints of the Walthers Cornerstone structures that I have assembled. Eventually I would like to include an urban street scene in the center. I'm a newbie, which the primary reason I'm using Unitrack. It does make some things easier, but as I have discovered, the constraints of sectional track limit what one can do. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Terry
Wow -- looks good to me Terry and I like your theme for the road. I think a lot of experienced modelers enjoy Kato Unitrack. I've been in N a long time and if I build a new pike, I'll likely give it a try.
I like the plan overall and the IN is a cool prototype. A couple notes: 1) It seems like the spur under Robert's Printing gets awful close to the mainline. There are cases in urban settings like this were spurs dead end like that but they shouldn't infringe on the right of way of the thorough line which it looks like it does. 2) I'd move the Power and Light building so it's in between the road and spur, and put a big pile of coal where you have the building marked now. 3) Have you considered using Unitrack compact turnouts? They can give you spurs which go off at a 90 degree angle in small of space which can lead to more interasting spur arraignments. 3) How is the layout going to fit into the room? What height are you going to put it at? How many sides will be accessible? How far away from it are you going to be while operating it? It's good to think about all of this when planning structures placement and track plans.
Terry: I like the staging-to-yard-to-industries operations concept. Do you have a lot of experience operating on others' switching layouts, especially on switching layouts that incorporate more complex switching tasks? If your primary goal is to challenge yourself (and anyone else that operates on your layout) every single time you run trains, then using the Time Saver track configuration for your industries will achieve that goal beautifully. On the other hand, if you or friends sometimes want a more relaxed/less challenging/non-competitive session, or if someone is less experienced with switching, or if operators want to work cooperatively as opposed to competitively, you may want to configure your industrial tracks with fewer switchbacks and longer tails. You would still be able to ramp up the switching difficulty during a specific operating session by restricting operators from moving certain cars or using certain tracks, but the difficulty level could be adjusted up or down to match a specific operator's skills, interests, or energy levels that day. The focus should always be on having fun, however you define that. With a track plan that offers more options, on one day, "fun" might mean competing with another operator to see who can solve a challenging switching puzzle fastest and/or in the fewest moves; on a different day, "fun" is a lone operator leisurely running a train from a yard, making a loop and setting out and picking up cars at an interchange track, making a loop, setting out/picking up cars at Industry A, making a loop, setting out/picking up cars at Industry B, making a loop, s/o and p/u cars at Industry C, etc.; and on another day, "fun" could be two operators working cooperatively: a roadswitcher operator moving cars from staging/interchange track(s)/rail yard to an industrial siding, while an industrial switcher operator moves those cars between the industrial siding and multiple industries and/or multiple industrial spots. For what it's worth... My first N-scale layout was a 1.5ft x <4ft variation of the Time Saver Switching Puzzle on a piece of foam insulation. As space, finances, and time allowed, I built other layouts that were not switching puzzles, but kept the Time Saver. Over time, I found myself spending almost all of my time switching on the other layouts, and only working the Time Saver when someone visited and wanted to test himself (or me) on the Time Saver. Obviously, your preferences won't necessarily change like mine did, but designing your HCD layout so it can be run in several different ways would seem to optimize the chance of continuing to have "fun" in the future. For those of you interested in switching puzzles, search the TrainBoard forums (or Google) for info on John Allen's Time Saver Switching Puzzle, or on Inglenook Switching (or shunting) Puzzles. Either can be set up as a puzzle only, as a puzzle within a larger layout, or as an element within a larger layout that could also function as a puzzle by imposing restrictions on car movements or limiting which tracks can be used.
Looks good to me. Have a loop to watch trains run and lots of switching. Could move freight house to the left a little bit. That way could have two tracks serve the freight house. Have to line doors up to freight house doors and doors between cars. Have fun. Dan
You have an awesome track plan. I'm going to build an HCD layout, and I like your plan. I'd leave your track set temporary also the buildings until you run some trains, then tack it down. This is a layout that will keep you happy a long time.
My experience is that having your switching area so far from the edge you run your trains from will make it hard to reach things. It seems like you could put the industrial scene closer to the far edge and move your divider to the middle. It would give you all around access. If you have to have the back area against a wall you might consider putting the layout on casters so you can move it out to run and slide it against the wall at other times.
