New guy here, built a few small layouts in the past but am about to jump into a more permanent one. I've been given the green light and 15ft of wall space in the finished basement. It only took having two sons that are interested in trains to make this happen.
Wanting to stick with MoPac, I already have a couple of locos and rolling stock from my previous adventures, going to try to keep it 1960's-70's. Wanting more continous running than switching space. For industry going to do tie yard and sawmill, then also have a yard of some sort. Any other good places to look for advice and ideas? Thanks
The track database or MRVP would be the perfect choices. Many different ideas and excellent suggestions to make or take one that you like.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
The NMRA is in my opinion the if not one of the best places to start. So much info there, particularly with the links to local divisions. Finding one in your area could be helpful too.Too much information to try and communicate here but everything you need to know to get started by the time you use the links from their site.
http://www.nmra.org/
Richard
Based on my own experiences, kids tend to quickly become bored with continuous running layouts. Get a kid interested in why a railroad exists and they will quickly understand what point-to-point operations are all about. Even the Thomas the Tank Engine stories were about being useful by getting work done. Kids quickly understand that there is a reason to move a boxcar from one point to another whether it be to move freight or just to comply with orders from the dispatcher. While it isn't difficult for an adult to imagine his trains running from one town to another based on memories of their own past experiences, keep in mind that most kids have yet to experience such travels and cannot imagine long distances between towns. With only 15 feet of (one?) wall available, a point-to-point representation of a single railroad related industry might be a better approach. Steel mills are a perfect example of an industry using point-to-point rail operations within the confines of the industry property. You could easily model a steel mill within your available 15 feet of space including plenty of switching, but most importantly to your sons, a real reason to move freight cars around the layout without having to imagine long distances between destinations. If you teach them about realistic operating speeds, how to think through switching maneuvers, add horn/whistle/bell and other operating rules to follow, you'll be surprised at what adept operators your sons will become. Operating the layout will become a game to them at which they will want to excel. Two or three hidden staging tracks will allow them to send and receive shipments on and off the layout and further reinforce the idea of useful production.
One of the families at my church has an eleven year-old boy who is fascinated by my layout. He has proven to be very respectful of my 10' by 19' double deck layout and can safely operate all aspects of the layout without supervision. He quickly understood realistic operating speeds and insists on performing the various whistle signals appropriate to each task he performs. I can hand him a list of train orders and he will run that train from beginning to end with few, if any, questions and will always try to solve difficult switching problems on his own. The last set of train orders took him an hour and a half to complete and he was grinning from ear to ear when he parked the final configuration of his train in the yard on the correct track. While he thoroughly enjoyed running his train, it was the satisfaction of completing all of the complicated tasks that seemed to give him the most enjoyment.
Hornblower
hornblowerBased on my own experiences, kids tend to quickly become bored with continuous running layouts. Get a kid interested in why a railroad exists and they will quickly understand what point-to-point operations are all about.
That is true, but if dad suspects his interest in the layout may be more long term than his sons, then being able to continuous run may be more important. One can certainly operate a roundy-round as point-to-point, but the reverse doesn't work.
However, if it's a shelf layout it maynot be possible to turn back at each end if it was HO. If N, then more doable. Maybe if we know the scale the OP is interested in it could help us resolve this?
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
The OP said he wants to model the Missouri Pacific -- that leaves out a lot of possible industries such as a steel mill, because I don't believe the MoPac served any steel mills.
Lots of coal mines, lead mines, and other mineral-based mining in the MoPac area, as well as coal-fired power plants along the Mississippi. I believe there used to be a steel mill in Granite City, Illinois, but don't know if that was MoPac territory.
First of all: welcome to the forums. I have some questions for you that will get your thread headed in the right direction.
What scale you are you using?
How far into the basement room are you allowed to build the layout?
What types of locomotives do you currently have?
There are track plan databases right here on Model Railroader's website under the How To tab: Model Railroading Tools: Track Plan Database.
One step I would recommend to any modeler interested in a particular railroad, especially a fallen flag, is to see if they have a historical society. Sometimes their websites have wonderful information, and often back issues of publications are available. If they have national or regional conventions so much the better -- that is where you can find a wealth of information from your fellow members. As it happens the MoPac has just such a society
http://www.mopac.org/
Dave Nelson
Scale is HO, I can come out 5 feet +/-, maybe more on each end. I have a GP 35 and a EMD F7.
The reason for continous running is my youngest is autistic and fascinated by the movement. We go to a RR museum in Poplar Bluff MO so he can watch the HO layout run. I plan to build it at his eye level about 38"- 40" above the floor. For a general shape I have noticed the Corkscrew Gulch layout on this site. Still early in the game and I've got all winter to do the benchwork
Congrats on the layout! I would say build what you want. It is about being fun first and then get into the prototypical stuff once you are up and running. My layout is a loop with several industries that I can run a section like a shelf switching layout. It is great for when I want to switch or want to let them run as do other stuff.
40" is a good comfortable height for a person that is 6' tall. The models look better at eye level, but you can always sit in a chair. My home layout track level varies from 35"- 47", with 40" being where the majority of the track is. Above 50" I start knocking things off the track, breaking trees, etc reaching over.
Not a bad plan for your space, at least a good starting place. The curves are a little tight. If you arent planning on running passenger trains, then I would try to open the curves out to at least 22". That would let you run cars out to 50' or so. See NMRA RP-11 Curvature and Rolling stock. Also 4% might be a bit steep for some locomotives.
Continuous running with some switching is a good compromise - sometimes it's nice to railfan and watch trains run. Trains running round in circles can loose interest pretty quickly so making sure you have industries to switch etc. gives you some more interesting things to do and allows the RR to have some purpose.
I suggest not going with the old 18-inch radius curves, which are quite tight and limit what you can run well. If you are using sectional track, KATO HO Unitrack offers curve radii with a base attached in many radii including nominal radii of 19, 21, 24, 26, 28 and 31 inches. I would strongly recommend going with a minimum of 24-inch radii simply because you can run longer equipment like full length passenger cars, 89' autoracks, 89' flat cars and long wheel based engines fairly reliably, even if they don't look great on those curves as they are still pretty sharp.
For grades or slopes, I would stick with 3% or less. A 3% grade rises 3 inches for every 100 as an example.
Cheers, Jim Fitch
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Since you can come out 5' plus consider a walk around for continuous running. 48" will allow you both 18" and 22" radius. If you could make it a few inches wider then you coud move up to 24" radius. The walk around should be considered also because a person's average reach is 30".
My 4' wide layout is a walk around (I move sideways against the back wall ) with a double main with two cross overs. I'm more or less limited to 4 axel diesel, small steamers and 40' to 50' cars on the 18" radius. I also have two reversing loops inside the inner main. The cross overs and the reversing loops allows me to change direction as well as mains. These loops however eat up a lot of space. My only dislike for the walk around is that if you want to take pictures from the back side you have a lot more scenicing to do such a painting the rails, etc and having a back drop is more difficult.
Take your time now as you will be living with the decisions you make for a long time.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up