New to TB here, good friend of mine suggested I jump on here and ask the fine folks here for help. I recently moved and finally have space for a small N scale layout, roughly 3x10, in the basement. Little bit about what I am doing, I model a freelance called the Youngstown & Ohio River that goes from the Ohio River up to Lake Erie as a regional road hauling primarily coal, salt and grain. The railroad is based off of a small interurban that went belly up during the depression, I just chose to bring them into the future. For my layout I have two ideas, but I am not good at getting those ideas to paper to start the plan. So here are my ideas: Idea #1: Fairport Harbor -Lake Erie dock scene -Balloon track and small yard -Small modern freighter or barge for coal loading/unloading -Interchange track to NS or CSX Idea #2: Southern Ohio Scenery -Modern coal mine siding -Appalachian foothills and small river/stream -Staging hidden on the back side of the hills for easy changing of trains. I'm looking at a maximum train length of 5', two SD40-2'a and 12 coal cars. It will be built fairly tall to force the viewer perspective so train length won't feel weird. Any help anybody can give me would be great. Thanks, FS
FS - Your 3x10 space is close enough to the proportions of a hollow core door that you might want to perform a search for HCD track plans. Include keywords such as "harbor" or "coal mine," and you will find some plans. If you find plans that interest you, it would be a relatively simple matter to stretch a HCD plan to fill your space. Also, to give the track planners on the Forum more to work with, you ought to provide some additional info. For example, do you want continuous running, or are you a point-to-point type of person? Do you love scenery, or do you want lots of track? The more of your wishes you can express, the more likely someone can help. - Jeff
@Jeff- thanks for the pointers. I have done a TON of digging on layout plans online. I have not found anything to date that I really like all that much. The closest I've ever come is the Mainline Trains kit "Canyon Pass" but it still isn't everything I'm looking for. As far as more details: I want a loop for continuous running, but the goal is to never have it fee like you see the same train all the time. I want it as realistic as possible on everything from track work to scenery. I also have a ton of Micro Engineering track and switches to use. @bremner - I really like what Dave has done with the Juniata Division. It is a great layout, just doesn't quite fit what I am looking for. Either way, I always enjoy seeing pictures and videos from Dave on his Facebook page.
FS - I think you must provide more information about what you want and don't want. Maybe if you describe what you like and dislike about the Canyon Pass and Juniata Division track plans, it could be helpful. In what ways do these track plans fall short? So far, I don't think you have explained your vision clearly enough for anyone to do more than guess at what you want. If it comes down to "I'll know it when I see it," then this is going to be a very arduous process for all involved. Also, keep in mind that there is a difference between a track plan and a layout. The same track plan can be expressed as a layout in a variety of ways by altering the terrain, scenery, structures, and place in time. It is the execution that turns a track plan into a layout. I'm by no means a master modeler, but I took a track plan that someone else built as a layout set in the mountains of the early 2oth century American West and used it to create a layout set in 1970's New England. The track plan was important but not nearly as important as making the layout look and feel like New England. - Jeff
Keep this one handy. Perhaps take a pad and pencil, then sketch a few alterations you might make. This is a potential starting point.
I see what you're saying Jeff. So the long short of it is I like the two loop setup of the Canyon Pass layout. I am not a fan of the double track main and flat track of the Juniata Division. I know scenery and hills go a long way, but I still want it to truly fee like Appalachia. I am looking for a single track main with some kind of hidden staging so I can end up with directional trains moving back and forth. Grain and salt south to the Ohio River, coal north toward Lake Erie. So in essence I want a loop that looks and feels like a point to point that is following a valley through southern Ohio. It is a regional road, so traffic can tend to move one direction at a time, thus ruling out passing sidings and double track. I think a more scenic rolling layout design like Canyon Pass is what I am looking for more so than a flat loop with some switching like Juniata Division. I also don't see myself expanding on this at all in the future, so I want to get it right the first time for a one and done kind of thing.
If you can decoder my chicken scratches, this is what I came up with working off of the Canyon Pass plan.
