Here are the first 3 ideas for a tabletop scenario in a room that is 9' by 14'. This is very much like starting a new railroad. First one must obtain the land. Actually it is probably better to have an idea of where you want the train to go, but let's not quibble

I hope to have the following pairs of destinations located somewhere on the layout:

1. rural and urban grain elevators/terminals
2. coal mine and coal yard
3. oil refinery and fuel depot
4. farm and meat packing plant
5. lumber mill and lumber yard
6. turntable with roundhouse (6 bay)

The first idea is to have two short peninsulas, each 4 feet wide, with a narrow around the room border.

Ignore the track for the moment. That is just there for illustrative purposes.

The second idea is to have one long peninsula, still 4 feet wide.

The third idea is a variation on the first. By narrowing one peninsula to 3 feet, I can widen the width of the wall shelves to 2 feet, giving me more opportunities for a switching yard and a maybe a small town.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Are there other alternatives?

I received a couple of more suggestions via email (thanks Brian!) and then I played around with a dozen other possibilities. Here is my present favorite:

The 2 foot wide back wall should provide a switching yard and the 18" wall on the right will allow the mainline along the front and still have room for a coal mine behind it.

I still like the table layout. Here is a slightly "better" mainline route:

The center peninsula should be able to hold a large holding yard, complete with turntable and roundhouse.

Here is a close-up of the track for the coal mine along the east wall:

This was my first effort at using Atlas code 100 as the building units. Overall, I was pleased with the 3rd PlanIt software to handle this.

March 15, 1999

Here are a few more principles that I have identified when designing this layout.

(1) start small
(2) don't cram too much track - leave room for scenery
(3) start with a published plan from a magazine
(4) hide switch motors
(5) have a large minimum radius (30") on mainline

August 31, 1999

I have spent over 50 hours this month working on creating and modifying a layout. By the end of the month I think I have a plan that is very close to the one I will finally use. I am including a few photographs taken today that should give one a general idea of my present situation.

Here is the view from the doorway into the room.

Here is a rough plan of the layout. The doorway is in the bottom right corner. The first image from the doorway points toward "Tiny Town".

This shows the city with the meat packing plant on the top left corner.

Here is a view of the track layout near the oil refinery. This picture is also taken from the doorway, looking along the wall to the right.

Here are two views of the upper level at the end of the room. The first shows the area near the coal mine, the second shows the area near the lumber mill.

The last image shows the yard. The door to the room is on the top left, and the edge of the city is on the top right.

I have created a revised (Sept. 14, 1999) schematic that focuses on the mainline. Most of my existing industrial spurs are unaffected. It will simplify the mainline to a easily understood oval. I still need to replan the yard layout for the tiny town.

Page first created: February 4, 1999
Date last modified: September 14, 1999

Created by Dale Burnett
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