As others have suggested, placing the structures against the wall will help. Cutting some in half is also a good idea.
Freytag’s book has a compact shelf design in the later pages that may be helpful for reference (if you have the book).
One helpful tip is to overlap elements as much as possible. So the shipping/receiving yard could be in front of the structures and their trackage. Although it is in N scale, the steel mill area of this layout may offer some ideas. There is a link there to the magazine article that describes the track plan in more detail.
Good luck with your layout,
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
My instinct given your space would be to consider how each of the Walthers steel mill kits can be in essence cut in half lengthwise so they become closer to prototype length, but be more like fairly thick building fronts -- yet still massive. That way you wouldn't have to skimp on the interesting steel mill trackage itself not to mention things like piles of raw materials and the assorted stuff you see in photos of active mills. There is of course a sequence to how these structures were usually arranged. It sounds like you perhaps have the Dean Freytag book that Walthers published and which the NMRA now sells. Freytag's Cyclopedia of Industrial Modeling that Plastruct published is a resource for steel mill modeling that not all are aware of.
Dave Nelson
Thanks for the responses. Going to Google maps next to check it out.
Mike Rabbitt used to be an active contributor to steel mill modeling. At one time he offered dozens of drawings of steel-related structures.
Here are some photos of his layout which, I believe, was dismantled.
http://www.phillynmra.org/archives/layout/mike-rabbitt-lake-erie-mad-river
Seeing photos of other models is always helpful. Here's another look:
You may want to mute the musical "score"
Good Luck, Ed
I always thought the California Steel plant (what's left of the old Kaiser Steel plant near Fontana, California -- just south of the Auto Club Speedway) could make for a very interesting and compact layout. With a little compression in the north/south axis, I think it could be made to fit in a 2' by 14' space. If you look at the actual track arrangements, there are storage tracks along the north and south sides of the site with spurs to the various buildings along the center of the site. Most of the curves are very tight. Take a look on Google Maps. A staging yard along a second wall could be added to the southwest corner of the 2' by 14' shelf layout.
Hornblower
Hi,
I figured I would start a thread since I have a little more time now. I am building a new house and about the same time Walthers relaunched the Steel series. I have always wanted to do a steel mill layout so I ordered the entire series. In the new house I have a 2X14' area I will be building the new layout in. I know that could be tight, but at least it will be lots of action in a compact space. I have been reading every book I can can get on the topic and old magaizine articles.
Most of what I have read has trackplans and ideas around a much bigger space, makes sense for this industry. Anyone else doing any trackplanning for the series. Trying to figure out how to make it work and include a receiving yard as well. Part of me wants to build for expansion when the kids move out and I gain more space in that room, but I also don't have pateince for that either. Not convinced my kids will ever really leave :)
Not asking for a trackplan, just looking for any ideas you have or have found you can share.
Thanks