I have been to and printed out extensive material from the NMRA layout Sig area, but are there any other layout areas that you might have found helpful in planning. I'm thinking maybe there should be a forum here dedicated to layout problems in all scales. Speaking of which I am working with a reversing loop (two of them actually) that is in an area I hope to capture the look and feel of the Vancouver Wharves: ships, intermodal, grain, freight. Trying to plan this reversing loop (so it doesn't look like a reversing loop) is turning into a real bear. The only solution that sounds plausible, is to have a scenic break. When you walk in the room (a study)...I'm calling my layout "N Study"; the first thing you will see is this reversing loop. I don't want it to look like a loop. I have thought of running a diagonal out from the wall to the outer most edge of the loop so people can't take the whole scene (loop) in at once, and can't see the next scene until they round the corner (this is a shelf layout, double deck, reversing loop over and under). Any suggestions welcomed!
You might want to consider joining the Layout Design SIG (ldsig) email list at egroups. As for your specific problem, well, it really doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. I immediately remembered an article in MR from about 10 years ago about the old B&M. No, not that B&M... the Beaufort & Morehead in North Carolina. So I looked it up (Jan '90 if you're interested). Lo and behold, right there in all the trackage for the North Carolina State Ports Authority is a reversing loop! Ok, ok... I doubt that's really how those tracks are used, but the point is that with tracks going in all directions, it should be pretty easy to disguise a reversing loop. Or, you could have the loop serve a rotary coal dump. But if you're trying to hide the loop for staging purposes, why not try the reverted loop? It would mean a backing move for turning trains which means you can't just let a train loop back and forth for the heck of it. But you get the loop hidden, more staging (since it's at the tail of the loop, not in the loop), and a longer mainline all for basically no additional space. Dwight
You might consider hiding portions of the loop from visitors, with buildings, oil tanks, stacks of containers, trees, etc. These tend to break the scene making the eye lose continuety with the track. ------------------ Watash #982 "See you in the Pit"
I joined the one list...or egroup...or yahoo whatever it is called now layout design group, and it appears it might do the trick.
