For several years (starting maybe 6-7 years back) the Walthers HO catalogue had an article in the beginning pages about using Walthers products to make a 4x8 HO layout that was just an engine service area. IIRC it included a turntable, roundhouse, and other facilities for servicing steam, and a diesel "squarehouse".
gregc not sure where my project will end up, what might be called staging would just be a place to hold locos and a few cars for the engine terminal.
not sure where my project will end up, what might be called staging would just be a place to hold locos and a few cars for the engine terminal.
Rich
Alton Junction
i was helping with their layout pre-covid. it was something i had never seen nor thought of. it primarily just moved trains between 3 staging areas and the yard where trains were broken down, reassembled and returned to staging
it's hard for me to imagine the need for a yard without staging. but i'll think about
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
gregc richhotrain what size space would you have available for such a layout? have a couple 2'x8' pieces of foam i'm thinking i could use and support somewhat temporary in the room we need to prep for moving. thinking more of future module than layout
richhotrain what size space would you have available for such a layout?
have a couple 2'x8' pieces of foam i'm thinking i could use and support somewhat temporary in the room we need to prep for moving. thinking more of future module than layout
My layout is actually fairly large with a downtown passenger station at one end of the layout and an engine servicing facility (ESF), with ash pit, coaling tower, turntable and roundhouse, at the other end of the layout. In between is a yard which doubles as visible staging.
I run locomotives from the ESF to the yard to pick up cars and drop them off at freight sidings inside the downtown passenger station.
So, I was thinking that you could do something similar with just the ESF and the yard.
richhotrainwhat size space would you have available for such a layout?
I kind of decided my main industry on the layout is a Rocky Mountain pusher/ maintenance/MOW station. As I acquire more engines the rolling stock is getting pushed out and more appropriate structures are popping up. I need to take an updated photo.
I move engines around the joint and can have a train or two passing through every five or six minutes while doing so.
I think an engine terminal is an excellent idea. At some point you may be able to connect it to a loop of track either temporarily or permanently and send things on their way.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
greg, what size space would you have available for such a layout?
i'm very encouraged by your comments. i need to consider the required amount of trackage to make this work and then secondary trackage.
Assembling and fiddling with steam engines has always been my favorite part of the hobby. If we downsize our home some day, I could see myself having a shelf layout with a turntable that showcases my steam locos, with a few feet of track to make them go backward and forward a bit and "make some noise". The urge to have long runs could be met at a local club.
Simon
gregci've seen layouts that are really nothing more than a yard (and possibly engine terminal) where trains move a short distance between the yard and staging, and cars are not switched to any industries outside the yard.
Yes... there was a beautiful one here in Cape Coral a few years ago that I visited.
Basically, the one-feature layouts I have seen are built along one or two walls of a spare bedroom with staging tracks on one or both ends.
The "yard" would be in the staging area. Locomotives would enter the scene, go through all the service moves, get ready for the next trip, and exit back to the unseen "yard" when needed for service.
Switching could consist of moving loads of coal, diesel fuel, sand, supplies, and cinders.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Model Railroad Planning 2015, pages 30-33, shows an interesting locomotive terminal layout in a 12 ft x 30 inch space. It's based on the NYC in Buffalo and has water, coal, ash, sand, inspection, and cleaning aspects of locomotive servicing.
Engine only terminal layouts are fairly common here in the UK. It allows running a large number of locomotives in a small space. Operators of such layouts take great enjoyment moving the locomotives from one section to another.
Here is such a layout. Obviously to UK style, but the idea is transferrable.
https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/model-railways/botleigh-north-old-shed-in-oo-gauge/
Hope it helps.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
That sounds like a great idea! I find that the loco terminal is often the focal point of a layout and to me, its the most interesting.
What would help such a "layout" is to have an appropriate backdrop, so as to give the feel/illusion that there is the rest of the railroad "out there".
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
i've seen layouts that are really nothing more than a yard (and possibly engine terminal) where trains move a short distance between the yard and staging, and cars are not switched to any industries outside the yard.
but i'm asking about a layout that is really nothing but an engine terminal with coal/oil, sand, ash pits, ... and having spurs for rolling stock to move fuel, sand, ash, parts for roundhouse, ... Presumably there are a few truncated yard tracks for rolling stock to move locos between that are made ready for some outgoing train and moved back from an incoming train.
wondering if such a layout could give a "big railroad feel" in a very limited space?