So hows this for a starting point... After wasting countless hours designing layouts far too large, complicated and expensive for a first-attempt, I think I may have come up with a good plan for my first layout.... Its N scale, Atlas C55 track, 15" minimum radius, diesel era around 1970's to present. What I wanted is some basic switching with a small yard and an industry to serve, and some roundy-round for when I just want to 'play trains'. Empties will be dropped off at the yard (from hidden staging, or my imagination) then taken to the elevator to be loaded and returned to the yard to be cut into another train. So. Is it too minimalist? I didn't want to make it too complicated or crowded, but maybe I should have? :thumbs_up: :thumbs_down: :tb-confused:
I would add one thing- an interchange where cars from another rr are picked up and dropped off. Your layout looks like you have 4 places to switch: the elevator, the spurs coming off each end at the bottom of the plan (I assume future connections but they could be used as industries in the meantime), and the spurs that come off the yard tracks, I assume either engine tracks or "company service"/ store tracks. Two ways to add an interchange track to this layout. Come straight off one end. The interchange could be one track on a 1" x 4" board- perhaps 6 feet long. If that take up too muchn length of space, even temporarily, set up only during op sessions, there is another way. It would take an additional 2 to 3 inches of length. Let one of the tracks coming off one end curve around paralleling the end curve of the oval route until at right angles to the length of the layout and then go off the far side. That would provide an interchange approximately 3 feet long-- 10 cars in N scale. That interchange could be the trunkline RR while your layout is the in-town switching road. The trunkline leaves you a cut off cars once or twice a day for the industries on your layout, you switch em in and switch out the outbound loads and/or empties. I used an "off the edge of the layout" interchange for my "Lighter Than Air" layout representing the on-base trackage on a Navy blimp station. Track running off the edge was the Santa Fe mainline connection, delivering helium tankcars, conventional tankcars for diesel fuelm and aviation gasoline, boxcars of munitions and other supplies, and open-top cars- flats and gons of various equipment.
I like that idea, I'll have a play with it tonight and see what I can come up with. The two tracks going off the bottom left and right are supposed to be interchanges and could lead to hidden staging (when I accumulate enough rolling stock to justify it!!). I'm unsure what to do with the spur coming off the yard tracks, I was thinking either engine servicing/storage or possibly another industry, perhaps something using box cars that can come from the interchange...
I'm no expert, but I'll throw out my thoughts anyway. The interchange tracks leading off the ends are a good idea. Be sure to build the benchwork so it's easy to join more layout to it later. Maybe cut the track back enough to put a half-length track in at each end during construction, which can be pulled out later to use a length of straight to connect ala Ntrak? My second thought is that I see a back-to-back switch in the grid 3 over 3 down which makes an S curve and the only straight track between it is the switch. Looks like derail city to me. Been there, done that. Took all the fun out of it for me.
Thanks Richard. At first I wasn't even going to put a cross over there but I decided it would be useful for the switcher to be able to do a run around. I was thinking of extending it a bit past 8' and making that left hand interchange longer as Kenneth suggested to increase the switching oppertunities. So if I change that cross over from right handed to left, so the cars from could be pulled straight onto the A-D track from the interchange, that should fix it. I'm still not sure what to do with the spur off the yard...
