Fox River RR

[bearman]

As cuyama indicated, you might get a little bored over the long run, but I think that there is potential along the lines that he stated.  Maybe modify it to a single track w/passing sidings and a gentle curve or two and adding a modest yard along the long run along the top and you may be onto something.

[cuyama]

This would not present many challenges to build, but depending on your interests, it might not be that engaging in the long run, either. I notice that there are only a few industry spurs and they all seem to be going in the same direction. This minimizes the interest and fun of switching cars. There's no provision for staging trains, so there's no way to enjoy the idea of the railroad connecting to "somewhere else" that many find interesting.

It would certainly be possible to add more switching fun and challenge and staging, but it would take some re-engineering of the design. As an example, David Popp's first phases of the Naugatuck Valley RR design are also in the MR Track Plans files. This design occupies about the same size room as the Fox River, but offers much more interest and challenge for operations. It would be more challenging to build, but many would find it more satisfying over the long run.

Of course, operations is not the only reason to build a layout. If your interests run more to model railfanning, watching a few trains take their turns around the layout, the relatively simple double-track twisted oval of the Fox River would be fine. I might suggest adding another crossover or two so trains could get around one another when necessary.

But many folks I know who thought they wanted to just "watch 'em run" discovered after their layouts were built that they wished they had designed in more long-term operating interest.

Byron

[aaron279279]

I saw a plan for the Fox River RR on M&R's site. Has anyone ever built this or known anyone who has. I wanted to know if this is a pretty simple and easy layout to build?