Track plan help

[Anonymous]

I have out of model railroading for about 12 years
and I am thinking of doing a small switching
layout. I live in a small place and don't have
much space. I hace a piece of wood that is approx.
12"x48". Is it possible to build something that
I could incorperate switching a couple of small
industries or something? My smallest engine is
a MDC boxcab which I think wouls be perfect on
something small. I also have some assorted
rolling stock. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Also on the MDC unit one of the fuel tanks broke
off. Is there a way of replicating the broken
piece so that it looks like the other side? I
don't have the broken piece so I need to make a
new one. Thanks again

[rogerhensley]

Can't help with the boxcab, but I can tell you that a small switching layout is very possible in the space you mention. Europeans, especially Brits, do it all of the time. In fact, the lastest NMRA Webmaster's Choice is one such layout in OO scale with links to a couple of others. I believe that there was also another British switching layout a couple of months or so ago. That one was American Prototype. [Go to http://www.nmra.org/ and follow the Webmaster's Choice links.]

In fact, I have seen a couple of super detailed switching layouts in MR (I believe) over the past couple of years. So, it is not only doable, but can be done very well. My word on that is to layout a plan (look around and find one) and do it. Enjoy!

Roger Hensley
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

It's very doable as Roger says. However you might consider switching to N-Scale as you can get a lot more in that space (4 to 6 industries instead of 2 or 3). In HO or N though you can build something that is very nice to look at and operate. As far as the fuel tank goes you may be able to order a replacement thru your local hobby shop or the Walthers cat., if not you can make one out of strip styrene or the various shapes you can get from co.'s like Evergreen or KD. Whatever you do good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks to you and Roger. You have both given me some good info. As I have a fair amount of HO
rolling stock and a couple of good engines I'll probably stick with a small HO swithching layout.
As for the fuel take ideas,I'll probably go with the strip styrene and odd shape idea.
Again thanks again

[Anonymous]

You might also want to check out the book "Small, Smart & Practical Track Plans" by Iain Rice, published by Kalmbach. It has several good ideas that can be used in switching layouts.

[BR60103]

If your layout is only 12" wide, you may not need to fix your loco immediately, since you'll only be looking at one side of it.

David

[Anonymous]

PS: Here's a Brit website with some pretty interesting switching layouts on it:

http://www.ModelTrainsInternational.co.uk/