Let me preface this with the fact that I totaly suck at designing track plans, espicaly on a small scale. I know others are awsome at this. The space available is 6 foot by 8 foot in an L shape shelf layout, 24 inches deep. Theme desired is steam era logging. Motive power to be my PFM B2 shay, 3-5 logging skelleton cars. I envision a switch back set up, 4' grades using the woodland scenics premade grade sections. A reload camp at the end of track after the final switch back. A small mill or the pond for the mill at the front of the layout at one end with the mill off layout where you would be standing while operating the layout. A small single stall engine house would be nice with a 2nd track next to it for a derilect engine to sit on. I am between doing this or the small L shaped layout in my other thread on a micro layout. I totaly forgot about this shay till I went thru my drawer of HO stuff I had packed away. I would extend the other layout to fit my available space as well. Many thanks in advance. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
I admit I'm tempted, but unfortunately I won't get much done on my own layout until colder weather sets in.
I will say, however, that your biggest problem is revealed in your first sentence. See my signature block for clarification.
You've essentially designed it yourselfe already. Just go sketch out what you described in your post, and post a picture. You will get lots of advice. The biggest problem I see at the moment is, "What happens to this layout when you get tired of shuttling logs between the logging camp and the sawmill?
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Hi!
Sketching track plans has been a pasttime of mine since the late 1950s. That being said, I strongly urge you to "do it yourself".................
Pick up a pad of quadrille paper. Assign a scale to the squares, say 1 square equals 3 inches (4 squares equal 1 foot). In a pointed marker pen, outline the limits of your table (or room). Make several copies of that template.
Get a ruler and compass (and a track laying template - $10 - if you can).
Start sketching out a main line. you may want to get a couple of track plan books to give you ideas to get you started.
Keep at it until you get what works for you. Oh, don't cheat on radius, and remember, a section of track is wider than a pencil line. In that, remember that your pencil line is a track center line.
It may take awhile, but I promise that you will be much more satisfied with what YOU develop than with what you will find in a book or what someone else drew for you.
For what its worth.................
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I'm going to show you a couple of phots of part of my layout. This is in a corner. The right half is an 8 foot long section and the left half is 6 foot long section. As you will see, there are four levels. Each track level is 2 inches higher than the last one, but the two levels on each section are 4 inches higher. The track goes from the left (bottom) to the right, then to the left, then to the right (top). The first photo has the detail of how the tracks cross each other. The back one goes through a tunnel and is going from the bottom left to the right bottom section, which is 2 inches higher. The verry back track on the left is going to a coal dock and is not part of the 4 levels. (After having built this corner module set first, I expanded the layout by extending the track from each module to go around the room, to the layout that I have now.) So I hope this gives you some ideas.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.