It just seems to me more often than not the main layouts featured month to month are point to point designs. Years ago it seemed to be all continuous loop types. Everyone is different, but to me spending 25 mins switching/shunting your train, then running it for 6 mins to the other end of the layout to remarshall it sounds very unappealing. Don't get me wrong, I believe there is no wrong way to enjoy the hobby! I enjoy realistic operation and switch all my trains. I also enjoy just sitting back, letting them run on a continuous loop and watch them. I also take this time to simulate travel to the next city, and perform industrial moves with locals. I was just wonder what the general consensus is with layout designs these days. What do you guys/girls have/like to run?
heavydIt just seems to me more often than not the main layouts featured month to month are point to point designs.
Not really "more often than not".
May 2013 Santa Fe Loop to loop, Trolley car lien modules are used as larger layout which might be point to point, do not know
April 2013 Forest Park Southern point to point, car ferry track plan oval
March 2013 East Bershire branch oval, Sugar Valley & Sweetwater oval or loop to loop
heavydEveryone is different, but to me spending 25 mins switching/shunting your train, then running it for 6 mins to the other end of the layout to remarshall it sounds very unappealing. I also enjoy just sitting back, letting them run on a continuous loop and watch them.
I too like to watch trains go--but I also like operations. But designing a layout that combines the two can be challenging. You give up a lot of realism and space to turning your trains and/or making a loop without running your train through the same scene again.
Some people enjoy operations, some enjoy building a model, some enjoy realistic scenery, and others enjoy photography--none of which require a loop.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
February 2013 PRR oval and loop to loop, Great Northern loops and ovals, Maryland Midland loop to loop
January 2013 Maine Central oval two laps
those are the only issues I have here, but I do not see a pattern of mostly point to point
Just my perception. I am currently reading Apr 13, "Mountain Railroading", point to point. Just got done with Jun 13, Mountains to the seaside, three decks", point to point. Feb 13, "Modeling a modern short line in 2 1/2 decks, basically point to point with end staging with a balloon track at each end. I know there are more. For sure there are lots of regular loop types too. I guess I am just noticing more the ptp types and maybe ignoring the regular loops and throwing off my perception. But it does seem there are more of them the last few years.
2 or 3 out of 8 or 10 would not be "more often than not" in my vernacular, but that is just me
heavydI guess I am just noticing more the ptp types and maybe ignoring the regular loops and throwing off my perception
The phenomenon is called confirmation bias
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
It is easy to design a layout with end yards for when you want to use them and a loop or oval connection to just let trains run. Lots of plans in the magazines do that
There is a tendency in today's Modeling Communities to have things much closer to real thing (Super Detailed Engines and Rolling Stock right from the MFG.)!
So goes the concept of realism in building a layout to reflect the way the actual Railroad operate!
Clubs tend to have very large Roundy-Round Layouts as does the Club I belong to, as the Visiting Public wants to see trains run! They have no concept of the real trains as they mostly are occasional model Railroaders (meaning they usual;ly only set up train at Christmas Time around the Tree) or want to see what all the noise is about!
So all they ever see is the trains making endless loops and they think this is the way it is supposed to be!
When people visit a Prototypical Point to Point layout they do not understand why the train can't be running unattended!
And besides sitting down and watching trains making endless loops for 12 hours is kinda BORING - as we do this all the time at the Club when weopen for Exhibiting the Layout during the Towns Festivals.
I just can not stand watching the same train running hour after hour - I usually go run the Gift Shop !
At least there I get to talk with the visitors and NOT have to worry about the train derailing because of the little Kids (or BIG ones) polking the cars to see them derail and crash!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
LION has TWO loops and the main part of the system is a point to loop, or really it is just a long point to point but having only one point if you get my point.
Him has 14 scale miles of track: 9 miles on the local train which takes 20 minutes to complete its run, and 2.5 miles each on the loops. One loop is the Northbound Express train, and the other is the Southbound Express train. Each loop takes about five minutes.
LION runs one train on each of the loops, and can run up to six trains at once on the local track, with one leaving 242nd Street every three minutes.
There are some sidings and yards to hold work equipment, but that is about the whole operation.
Let me tell you, running the Broadway Local in North Dakota is every bit as boring as running it in Manhattan where it is called "Scraping the Wall".
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
In the last 5-10 years, I don't see any bias in MR's coverage. I suppose if you went back far enough, like the 1960's, there are probably more pt to pt layouts in the mag now compared to then, but that just reflects the trends in layout design over that time.
My 35 x 13 J shaped layout was built strictly as a pt to pt, but I missed just watching the train run around a loop. So I added turnback loops at each end and made the layout into a dogbone/waterwings set up.
Operationally, its still a pt to pt with one of the turnback loops being a load out track for short gravel cars that originate in staging at the other end of the layout. The other loop is mostly hidden.
- Douglas
My guess would be that more modelers are limited by space. In my case, my last layout was in my ex-father-in-law's basement he allotted me a 10'x12' space. When I moved into a larger apartment, I had a 33'x35' basement at my disposal. Yes, an apartment with a basement.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
alco_fan February 2013 PRR oval and loop to loop, Great Northern loops and ovals, Maryland Midland loop to loop January 2013 Maine Central oval two laps those are the only issues I have here, but I do not see a pattern of mostly point to point
For me and if I could build a Godzilla size basement layout it would be a point to point branch line with lots of switching or it would be a urban industrial branch switching layout with stagging,lots of large industries and a small holding yard.
Of course I never really got into watching trains run endless loops so,I prefer switching type layouts.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
hmmmmm, I haven't really thought about it. What exactly is a point to point though, could the one that I was going to build be considered a point to point because trains would go from one side to the other? or is it stub ended on both ends like some of the maps on rail simulators.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
could it be that:
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
Burlington Northern #24 hmmmmm, I haven't really thought about it. What exactly is a point to point though, could the one that I was going to build be considered a point to point because trains would go from one side to the other? or is it stub ended on both ends like some of the maps on rail simulators.
SpaceMouse Burlington Northern #24 hmmmmm, I haven't really thought about it. What exactly is a point to point though, could the one that I was going to build be considered a point to point because trains would go from one side to the other? or is it stub ended on both ends like some of the maps on rail simulators. The second. Trains don't go in circles they go from one place to another.
hello ilike this discussion i used to belive that railroads don't run in circles until i saw some industrial railroads that pretty much is a large oval with the industry in the middle with various sidings coming off the circle.
mark
It takes a bit of real estate to turn a train, even with 18" radius. I built my as a very large (at least to me it is very large 30x15) dog-bone but it can be operated as a point to point, also you don't notice the return track as it looks like another line that comes near but never too near the line that runs to the front of the layout.
I think DCC may have made it easier for many to work happily with point to point.
A large basement layout I have visited has a point to point, with large yards on two adjacent walls. A strategically place scenic divider, that the train can pass through on the back side, makes it possible to have continuous running if desired. Something for everybody.
Have fun,
Richard
Point to point, as an operations concept, can be done on a pure, linear, single string track plan, or on a loop, or even a bowl of spaghetti. It all depends on how you handle the "backstage." On a loop, for example, one side can be staging and the other a town or station. Trains come from Leftyville, enter the Modeltown, and leave for Rightside. Now take this, stretch it into a basement, make a few peninsulas, and add more towns and voila, you have a basement size loop that is indistinguishable from a point to point.
Now, on the other hand, if you're thinking a shelf style layout vs a table top like the 4x8, that changes the conversation.
As for me, I like to operate P2P, but, if I had the room, I would do it with a hidden loop for those times I'd like to just let 'em run.
h2w hello ilike this discussion i used to belive that railroads don't run in circles until i saw some industrial railroads that pretty much is a large oval with the industry in the middle with various sidings coming off the circle. mark
The east loop (finished) is four tracks, the West loop is now also finished and is four tracks. The right loop loads unit oil trains from Dickinson to Maryland. The Left loop unloads sand for fracking. Oil trucks line up for miles on 115th Avenue (a dirt road that needs a lot of work that it will not get. It is a county road, and the county has no road building equipment. All paved road are bid out to contractors, contractors that are already booked solid in the oil fields.)
The BNSF main line passes by at the bottom of the layout.