Bench work shape

[Anonymous]

There are many ways to plan a layout. One that I suggest is that you spend way more time looking at alternate benchwork designs that will fit into the area you are working with, then worry about the track after.

Needless to say, if you are deciding on benchwork, you are also deciding on a basic mainline. So worry about the benchwork shape/mainline , and the style of layout you are going to have, then add the further details latter.

In a room 7 by 13, I first did a rectangular layout design - water wings shaped. I didn't like this and moved on to an around the room design. I preferred a walk in style of layout so I moved to a letter "G" shaped layout. I decided this didn't give me the empire I wanted so I moved to a double decker letter "G" layout. It took me about 7 major benchwork/basic mainline designs before I settled on the look and style I wanted.

Once I had made my basic decision as to the style of layout and shape of the benchwork, I then built it while looking in MR for sections of other people's layouts that would help me in building mine. I found one section I thought would work. I modified it and laid the track for it. This taught me what fit where and I was able to move on to the next section with more experience and better sense of what I wanted. I just kept this up as I went around the layout.

[Anonymous]

There are many ways to plan a layout. One that I suggest is that you spend way more time looking at alternate benchwork designs that will fit into the area you are working with, then worry about the track after.

Needless to say, if you are deciding on benchwork, you are also deciding on a basic mainline. So worry about the benchwork shape/mainline , and the style of layout you are going to have, then add the further details latter.

In a room 7 by 13, I first did a rectangular layout design - water wings shaped. I didn't like this and moved on to an around the room design. I preferred a walk in style of layout so I moved to a letter "G" shaped layout. I decided this didn't give me the empire I wanted so I moved to a double decker letter "G" layout. It took me about 7 major benchwork/basic mainline designs before I settled on the look and style I wanted.

Once I had made my basic decision as to the style of layout and shape of the benchwork, I then built it while looking in MR for sections of other people's layouts that would help me in building mine. I found one section I thought would work. I modified it and laid the track for it. This taught me what fit where and I was able to move on to the next section with more experience and better sense of what I wanted. I just kept this up as I went around the layout.

[IRONROOSTER]

I agree that looking at benchwork designs that fit your area is a good early exercise. I think you also have to consider what you want to accomplish in the way of your layout, sort of a list of givens and druthers as John Armstrong says. For my current layout I have a space 11'3" x18'8". I drew up plans in HO, O, and S. In HO I used the multiple blob approach that John Armstrong used in his book "Creative Layout Design". This resulted in complex, complicated layout layout that looked like I would never get reasonably finished or like. I then went with a more simple around the wall mainline with center branch in O scale, this was influenced by Jeff Madden's article "Come and Go Layout Design". I liked the bench work design of the around the walls 18" deep with a 3'6" x 12" center island, but realized that in O scale the trains would be shorter than I wanted and the center branchline would not amount to much. So I shifted to S scale and double tracked the mainline with staging tracks on one side to be senically a station and an interchange on the other side. The branchline in the center will be narrow gauge. This will enable me to run long trains on the outside while operating short narrow gauge trains in the middle. Best of all, all parts of the layout are less than 2 feet from an edge. This really makes working on the layout easy.
Enjoy
Paul

[IRONROOSTER]

I agree that looking at benchwork designs that fit your area is a good early exercise. I think you also have to consider what you want to accomplish in the way of your layout, sort of a list of givens and druthers as John Armstrong says. For my current layout I have a space 11'3" x18'8". I drew up plans in HO, O, and S. In HO I used the multiple blob approach that John Armstrong used in his book "Creative Layout Design". This resulted in complex, complicated layout layout that looked like I would never get reasonably finished or like. I then went with a more simple around the wall mainline with center branch in O scale, this was influenced by Jeff Madden's article "Come and Go Layout Design". I liked the bench work design of the around the walls 18" deep with a 3'6" x 12" center island, but realized that in O scale the trains would be shorter than I wanted and the center branchline would not amount to much. So I shifted to S scale and double tracked the mainline with staging tracks on one side to be senically a station and an interchange on the other side. The branchline in the center will be narrow gauge. This will enable me to run long trains on the outside while operating short narrow gauge trains in the middle. Best of all, all parts of the layout are less than 2 feet from an edge. This really makes working on the layout easy.
Enjoy
Paul