Outsailing86 Always thinking about the next layout, where I want to run Autoracks and Intermodal. It's going to be freestanding in a basement, around a 10'x12' footprint. Possibly think Wildcat Central, but it just seems a HO scale layout in 120 sq feet is dominated by curves. Don't really want to go to N scale... Seems like most published plans are 1950 era. Why no modern era love?
Always thinking about the next layout, where I want to run Autoracks and Intermodal. It's going to be freestanding in a basement, around a 10'x12' footprint. Possibly think Wildcat Central, but it just seems a HO scale layout in 120 sq feet is dominated by curves. Don't really want to go to N scale...
Seems like most published plans are 1950 era. Why no modern era love?
That's the dilemma if you want any kind of continuous running in a fairly small room. Curves. Especially if you need decent curve radii for modern longer rolling stock.
My last layout was in a slightly larger 10x18' room and I did an around the walls large oval format to get 32" minimum radius.
It doesn't hurt to look at a lot of track plans to get idea's and design your own.
Ultimately 10x12 isn't really big enough to run auto racks and intermodal. Space is often a real limiting factor - sucks.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
My current layout is a Heart of Georgia. I'm thinking my next one will be the Wildcat Central. Lack of staging on the HoG gets pretty tough after a while. I also want to run Intermodal and Autoracks but the room just isn't there with the HoG.
Beats me. I'm a modern age modeler too. I think designing a layout plan for modern era is probably less complicated? Back in the day, the goal was to get as much mainline run as possible, so packing a space full of track took some innovation. Shorter cars and locomotives made that easier too since you could work with sharper curves.
When faced with 70 foot and longer cars pulled by modern locos, its tougher to come up with a lot of different ways to fill a 10x12 space, IMO.
Its probably going to result in something like the Heart of Georgia basic plan simply altered a bit to fit the room.
Model Railroad Planning 2000 had an interesting bedroom sized plan, the Y2K railroad, but I don't have a link or ability to show the plan electronically.
If you meant free-standing like in the middle of the 10 x 12 room, the footprint of that layout would be quite small.
Having said that, you could adapt many plans to the modern era by changing the structures and rolling stock. The Virginian project layout comes to mind. Its defined by sharp curves, but changing the theme to aggregate, cement, or even corn syrup would allow it to be dominated by shorter cars.
- Douglas