TOP NOTCH TRACK PLANS ‘MODEL RAILROAD HANDBOOK NO. 38 iodel Railroader Selected by Bob Hayden Track Planning Techniques. Slightly Bigger Than 4x8. Room-Size Layouts ..... HO Track Plan Contest Winners N Track Plan Contest Winners TNOX .....cesensnseeceneneee KALMBACH] (BOOKSCover design: Lawrence Luser Editorial Intern: Jennifer Kamke Black ‘The material in this book has previously appeared as articles in MODEL RAILROADER magazine. The articles. are reproduced here in thele entirety. ©1993 by Kalmbach Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in part or in whole without written permission from the publisher, except in the case ol briet quotations used in reviews, Published by Kalmbach Publishing Co_, 21027 Crossroads Cirele, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, Wi 531.7. First printing, 1983. Second printing, 1995, Thied printing, 1998. Fourth printing, 1999. Fifth printing, 2001. Sixtn printing, 2008, Library of Congress-In-Publieation Data 48 ep notch track plans / trom Model ralroader magazine, cm, ~ (adel raioad handbook ro. 33), ISBN 0-89024-190.2 1 Rairoads-Madels. | Tile: Forty-eight top notch rack pans. I Series, SEIS7.A135 1989 625.1 9-0c20 ‘33.9081 ce‘OW do you take that first step toward designing a railroad that will make the bert use of your layout area? You never hhave as much space as you'd really like, of course, so finding the arrangement that fits the most railroading into ianning method thats orderly ‘and accurate enough to avold major disap- ‘ointments when the time comes to bresk ut the ruler and compass and attempt a ‘you to represent the area availabe piery Piste peeve eau e trata Sing aque le defined and ilatraied in a. tie bat the slam ofa square ia dter- mined by the sharpness of curve you have felacted Centaively in mang enson at tha tage) as your einimem mallioe radio Se A master track planner shows you the basics of sketching a good track plan BY JOHN ARMSTRONG Figure 1 also shows how model railroad curves can be classified as sharp, conven- tonal, or broad. The between curved parellel tracks is the minimum nec essary to prevent sideswiping. Allow a bit ‘more if you are planning on running really long. nt on really tight curves. The ‘allows enough margin to avoid rub- bing tbe corer steps off cars ax they ap- proach the walls, and locomotives are pre- ‘ented from coming too close tothe layouts ‘sige for the comfort of the feint-hearted brass owner, WHERE THE SQUARES HELP If you have nly enough room for & caf= fee-table-size railroad in N gauge or must make do with a 4 x B.foot conventional: curve railroad in HO, then you are pretty well Limited to « figure 8 or an oval and there is litle that planning by the squares an doto help. In either case you have only 8 Qaquare by d-aquare grit cteses amber of spsaoms i echlere ‘to @ amaller seale, pushing out the eciona or adopting a tighter radia am by going into traction. or narrow gauge), tranaLating your space into a framework of ‘squares within which to let your imagina- ‘ion run free may well prove worthwhile, It could help you hit upon a good arrange- fet thal lah ot thermie be obvious. fright i out titer pootiee to give ou cmtonce ‘that no radically better scheme han been overlocked. ‘A MODEL ROOM ‘Lett look at how the method works by taking a fairly common space situation, an 1x I6-foot, completely walled room as ‘shown in Big. 2, and beating a couple of rad- ically different sete of model railroading desires agninst it, Many situations aren't ‘this firmly defined, incidentally, and have ‘only two or three boundaries set by immav- fable and impenetrable walls, with other Limite being 1 matter of family political ‘eonsiderations, The "one end of the basa- ment” situation is a good example, Here ‘the squares may really come into thelr own, rf, spacing Qe Minimum radius |s—Basic square size. TYPICAL SQUARE SIZES N Hoo SHARP CURVES T Min. radius a BE Suitable for four-axle diesels, | 2 track 1 40-foot freight cars Senter spacing | 21 (2X2 [228 [Square size | vas" _| 2 ‘CONVENTIONAL CURVES [hi All diesels, 2-8-2, and shorty passenger cars operate well and don't 100k too repulsive all equipment with normal modifications and good, it not great, appearance [ax [2K track a ‘Sau: [Min.radius Genter spacing ‘Square size 16 Werk, axive| 2x2" axeFo, 2 The Srace Dovere-Hi eiitbees ef ACCESS DESIEAGLE NOT ESSENTIAL, NT pece- MAY BE REWNG Te swung ourwaRe IF TY NECESSARY they "make perfectly clear to any right ing pervon” just what wonderful pos- ies open up if ony is made available. [offer no guarantees on the outcome of such discussions, of course! For easier comparison of principles in- volved, our examples will be in HO. BROAD CURVES AND TRAINS TO MATCH First, lets imagine designing a railroad to Bit this space for a friend who wants to run passenger cars behind long-overhang Heam locomotives, He wants his equip: ment to rum freely and look good while rounding broad-radius curves. He wants scenic realism, so trackage along the walls with backdrop murals extending the ap- parent size of the modest empire is pretty ‘much a foregone conclusion. Our friend sees little Mkeliboad of having to move, 80 wwe don’t have to include features to accom medate relocation. wT Fig. ms It_boors an) ee oF ferory ote + S05 Squacts— can rr Sh worn sy 3.9 squaces—canit 4 w Doorway — ALITTLE Less, THAN ONE SQUARE wiDE $ And 0 LITLE MORE THAR Ye SQUARE FROM THE CORNER For broad curves in HO a square i 34"en 1 side, and our space works out to 3.9 x conservative (usually downward) direction to the nearest half or third of @ square, leaving us with ax 5 doorway in the lower right corner Since we're going to eyeball-in curves on the basis of what we know will go into a square, rather than use @ compass on a nicely drawn of our aketeh ‘ona paper napkin at the greasy spoon ‘comes perfectly adequate combination for trying out a sudden inspiration. WALKING IN AND AROUND We approach the trackplanning process with several goals in mind. First ofall, for any layout beyond large-table size, a prime ‘consideration is access to all the trackwork (turnouts particularly) so you cam lay and Fig, 4 Toanmg A TRAN AgounD MEGDED FoR a AISLEWAY, JT TAKES 4 Fuic SqvA@ts WOR A RETUAN LOOP AND A HORSESHOE “CURVE BINGING THE APFOCACH TRACKS BACIC Te THE OTHEE SteTions oF THE LAYOUT VIA A NARROW SHELF OF GEWeHWORK WHICH ALLOWS AISLEWAY AMD ACCESS ROOM. (») TRACK AND WINDeW No WeNbeR Accessibee You can) bo THe Jos 1) A SQUARES BY TRADING Lenern coe WIDTH — BYT. THE REVERSING Lour TAKES UP Meee SPACE AND ACCES surrees, ‘maintain the rightof.way in reasonable comfort. Medium and larger layouts are a lot more enjoyable and satisfying if they're of “walk-in design with no-stoop aisleways leading to all operationally important and scenically attractive parts of the railroad. With walkaround cabs (controls which let that a track plan allow you to move along with a train from its arigin to destination {ithout having lo double back or dak un- bench route. Though these rege attainable, parte Kiniy in snatler pikes where theyre also not quite so important, they should always boamong the most sought-after features of the “ultimate” track plan, Suecess isn't likely to just happen — the goals must be kept in rind from the start, and the mare arrangements you 7 the better the hance that something ideal will turn. up. Some Reminpegs on Wuar Whee For, Tr TEs WO FULL SQUARES TO ‘TURN AROUND... ‘A SECOND TRACIC With Fite. RE EMOUCH FoR Foe THE “Teac, AROUND IT! BUT A STANDARD (STRAIGHT) TURNOUT wontr FIT WITHIN ‘ATWO: SQUACE WIDTH Cn cuawen one wits) ONE SQUARE WAY! AN AISLE, BUT IT) STILL TAKES TwoFig, 5 Wuat Can You Do In 4*54% Dox FOR WALICIN HAY BEA Bit Ticket BUT ALTER- WATE ALIGNMENT AT (I) WILL EASE IF, IF weces- Samy, WITHOUT TO MUCH DAMAGE. #. — AISLE WAY GooD UTILIZATION OF THE PRIMG SPACE AT @ NAY Be DIFFICULT IN A PASSENGER-OQIENTED RAILROAD, Out # Bac. [AN OUT-AND-BAGK. PLAN (B) WOULD ALLew Amene ACCESS, BUT THE SNORT MAINLINE RYN BETWECN “TRAIN ~TURDI, OPceATIONS 15 NOT COMPATIOLE WITH STRACK: PLAN PRIORITIES FAVOEIG MAINLINE, OPEeaTIONS . Eatay WA Depworime oft DUCK UNDER, ALONG THE - WALL Aceceri Tas Th A HorsEsHoE- SHAPED AISLEWAY wiTHul AN ALONG =THE- WALL PLAN, can) RESULT IN A LONGER RIN LINE, A MAXIMUM ~ LENGTH YARD LOCATION, AND CoMTINUOUS -RUN OR -Te- LOOP OPTIONS. A DUCKUNOER. FOR ACCESS TOWINDOW AT LEFT, ENTIRE PLAN SHOULD BE FLIPPED, LEFT-TO- RIGHT. me Space, Moge SQuares: MAINLINE RAPIVS) = 22" SQUARES pooaway = 1K squaccs “WIE AND ABOVT ONE SQUARE FOAM THE ‘coRNER MEMGTH » Jeet 2 $7 squance ~ cau BY. woth = Wa 5 2 G SQUARES, EXACTLY One of the mast frequently needed track configurations far the walk-in pike is the return loop. Itt also something that will stubbornly take up a certain amount of space no matter how clever or determined you are. So, a first step in the by-the- ‘squares planning process is observing the number and arrangement of squares re ‘quired to do the trick. Fig. 4 shows some basic return-loop configurations 2s well as the minimum area, in squares, that should bbe allowed for thera MAINTAINING THOSE AISLES So, coming down to casos in our 4 x 54 square space, we can try a bent dogbone ‘with an opening near the doorway, as shown in fg. 5. This gives us that highly desirable walk-in plan, provided those end bends leave enough room for a minimum width sisleway leading to the interior Notice that the aisle squeezes down to about one of our broad-radius equares, or ‘about 22° wide. This width would not be ‘adequate fora long passageway but is okay ‘ara short bottloneck leading toa wider op- crating ares, particularly for a rallread ‘which will usually be operated by its owner alone er with only one or two others. It hard to tell exactly how much leeway ‘wo do have in this particular situation, Certainly the aisle would be tight, and ‘only a aingle track of the full mainline ra- ‘ius would be practical at the end-loop lo. ‘ations — toobad, since end loops are ideal places for passing tracks. Should the prove too skinny when the plan is drawn to tale, a modest modification ta the lower loop (moving it ta the left as per fig. 4b) ‘would ease the jar, so this can be consid- fred a lowsrisk plan for further develop: ‘ment. ‘The limited possibilities for efficient use of the log shaped spacoat the lower right of tthe plan pose a mare serious question as to the overall merit of this plan. Tt would make a. good diesel locomotive terminal, ‘but our generous curves are aimed at steam power, As astub passenger terminal, it has possibilities, but probably for short trains only, So, we try again, ‘The outvand-back plan of fig. 5 has no access-aisle problems, but it is again in- ‘eompatible with the basic desire to run Tong mainline traina in a pattern of fairly dense trafic. Try as you will, there ix n0 way to come up with « combination of stub terminal and an out-and:back opera: tion feeding inte a continuous-run main line that isn’t essentially the plan of fig. 5 that we've already rejected ‘STOOPING TO CONQUER ‘An alternative is some form of the Aoughnut, wherein a single duckunder (or drawbridge opening? gives entry toa suita- biy contorted “hol ‘access to the en- tire main line, ‘This is usually a second choice in comparison to a walk-in arrange- iment, but itt far saperior to eome of the “gopher prairie” pikes of yesteryear where train running meant considerable time spent scurrying about under the railroad [between seattered pop-up opening. ‘Trying the doughnut approach in our ex ample leads to a plan which preserves the Targe-radius main line, allows maxi yard length, is compatible with continu ‘er loop-to-loop operation, and in Tooks like the best compromise for lustion. IFthe railroad is built fairly high — 5fand it cam be since we have only a short mastguaveam Cate Fic.7 A ConseqveTwe Hoase soe Sonal foray au fr coffee, forgotten als, tnd the taleghone nonin be tno eipling Sometimes a wallcin design may aot be the best averall solution. In this case, ex bon amining alternatives via the sloppy 4 ‘squares has provided some confidence that <= ou A RORtESNoE- SHAPED STeUCTVEE, WELL ADAGTED Te “Toor ane avorreane NRE Now for our second example. Consider a ee ER ace noe setriaes cient ecae me Sena, cn fg athe totes ta wants to be able to take his railroad MINCIPATION him. He favors complex dispatching of nu- OF A PossiBLe Oo ee er eae okra Evia teat peal aac Set By pre ete of limber equipment (old-time, nar- xnxn a View BLOX IDEAL ACCESS luge, oF freight-only diesel, perhaps) FACE ACE are accepted ax part of th Jrepard, CCENE RIBGE OR DOUBLE-FACE BACKDHON) (155 cepees aL ARDUNt) Under these ground rales we can coer sider sharp curve standards and our square... AND Aw UN-(or WaTeEN DIATE séenapact (*Fae") Shrinks tr 22" on a wide, Our rpace now OnE ENB tt Tetelat hor Bre Os pearon nc thew fy Srbut evuple ot Haprtnt coder, aw reve ere Rote fa tence areas few take ap mote sure, ped Sey see erem mee fake sp more seuce VA 5 Siar RST Siewert eet rie sossraue to [SY ae tech ther early ig at rata fll ware () WARP THE Out § Nive e wide (a square-and-a-half, 31°, would be BAG MAIN UNE x vl Al Bw far more comfortable) and the doorway i Agouny uth A THUS SPECT] “Fer thao aired el consider Hoasesnae ‘hice KTR eI nite Gee attains Peas mewownat KOA TAN senor | aS Cau” WS Scevamantenans of Seyret’ ISESSSSSSNSA tofit in readily i not at all good, but a free: Handing railroad an be reared in Tees Devel ney tost any space that at Lert na large BACK THROUGH THE SANE SCENES, predecessor and ef the same general shape. Iv additional length or width becortes trallable there fe fot much problem nex ~ , punding ike ayeut te mate tur king FAG, SOME Moge “Sguace” EQuivaLeNTs: Rides plan thi avd fou iiyon or Ou SUN Youjun GE PLEASANTLY Sorin trying out ideas forthe situation fous, be ten sant Si llow rom between the allroad and syareacty 1 the wall on at least two sides. YARD ‘TRAG’S WILL FIT ‘A"recangulee por with one: squarewite eile ‘suroanding it would (2) THE WIDTA OF ow! ean a Camaquate reach to the center SQUARE, EVEN Wh as etill 44" ith our sharp-radius "GHARP CUBE STANDAEDS... curves — far too long reacht The area needs to be “ventilated” with notches or an internal aisleway to the central area. A juckunder to a central op- BUT DISMAYED “To FIND THAT A FNE-TRACK SKARP TURNOUT alternative, but unattrac LADDER 1S TWo WHALE SQUARES LONG! ts wuation where you'd be duck ing back and forth between trackage and . 4 Tl ‘scenes on the inside and outside edges of thew) the railroad. If'we run m single “Gord” into the inte- rior, aa shown in fig. 7, we have equaacs horseshoe. We don’t have space enough for Mifecitantng force tht you ould iciran berwaaail ins AN Ewawie Tern raha eer gels vera | a torpoint, gomneba Soop: to, ane LENGTHS APPRO- dp ran an eal would ron ou ine tate OCOMoENGS Shs tne" geen online rarer meen TL rains a ceciae scons ‘convert eur out-and-back plan to a loap-to- STANDARDS Takes $e. | Toop scheme with a resulting increased em- ABOUT 1% % 2 To 1M [ iRise oo worming ee of aie er the cqunscs teen ate Iain Line with less terminal awitching. ‘The once-around scheme on the 12 sraLs )Fig, 9 Sone Onis Gooo Shares To Tey AND Wit GooP IF WE DEETING A MOUNTAIN: CADcemy RAILROAD, (DA spiean is ALSO WoaTH TRYING = FoR A Gved LENGTH OF MAIN LING, IT HAS Loncen TANGENTS, FEWER DEGREES OF COQUATURE THAN MOST OTHER, ACRANCEMENTS. AVSLEWAYS,, MAIN LINE CAN BE DOUBLED BACK AND: Foard iW ‘seem TUNNEL’ FASHION — SCENIC AND OPERATIONAL REALICM DONT HESITATE TD 60 DOWN To Ya SQUACE OR EVEN LESS_AT Pons UKE] AND QUT DON'T CHEAT On THE TWo-SQaAtE MINIM UK AT GYAN / Fig. 10 Ur § Ovew ~ How Sree? Cvevatver Stadpago: horseshoe is scenically ideal, for thanks to ‘the wiow block, a train completes its run without visibly doubling back through the same territory. If we want to run a lot of ‘trains, though, a twice-around like the one shown in fig. Tb will increase dispatching ponaibilitios. ‘SECOND STAGE DOODLING Figure 6 looks into the next step in track doodling: estimating the ways that essen. tal secondary trackage — passing tracks, Aw. Sune 25% Convenmowae 1, 9% Broan Lar yards, engine terminals, and the ‘ean be fitted in once the general mainline arrangement has evolved. Here the news is ‘generally good. IF you've been sketching with a broad Line, you're expecially Likely to find when it comes to drawing the track plan to seale that parallel trackage i somewhat more compact than expected and that wiggling the main lines around within the squares can get away from what ‘may lock im the sketches like too much crowded spaghetti. ‘The disappointing number of yard that can be reached by ladder in a given length is an age-old problem which eripha- sizes the importance of favoring designs: that provide at least one atraightamay, tak ing advantage of whatever "Tong side” the space may provide. "The twiee-around horseshoe of fig. 7 loka feasible on this basis, with at least six or fseven places where passing tracks can be ‘ocated, With as many squares as this available, though, there are many, many alternatives. Figure 9 looks at a couple of ‘arrangements that often have particularly desirable characteristics and usually ‘should be given a try during preliminary ‘planning stages for any pike — whether Galand or around-the-wall — in the size range starting with six squares on as ‘thereabouts ‘THE THIRD DIMENSION ‘So for we've shown lines crossing over ‘each other without much consideration as ‘fe whether the rerulting gredes are likely ‘to be practical or not. Figure 10 illustrates ‘the most common situation where the amount of grade is likely tobe critical. The ‘shortest distance in which a track ean crass ‘over Itself is determined by the minimum radius we're using, and since the minimum rallheaceto-railhead clearance is deter~ mined by train height, a scale factor, the minimum grade for any ecale is the same. ‘The minimum grade is most likely to be a limitation on pikes built to sharp-curve standards; if the short trains typical of such an operation ean't cope with 2.8 per- cent, the crossing point may have to be shifted to ease the slope. "The squares automatically compensato for the scale in which the railroad is to be built so far as the track itself is concerned. People and the aisleways required to ac- cammodate them don't change correspond. of course, oo it's impartant to realize that an aisleway may vary as much as from ‘SM-aquare wide in © scale to 1% or more squares in N scale. In railroads built to broad-curve standards or in the larger ‘the proportion of the area that ean be devoted to railroad increases, but con- sidering just how access can best: be pro- vided the interior or tummback or reverse loops ‘more important. Keep in mind that you ean only reach in about 30”. The basic by-the-squares process will work with the increasingly exotic mul- vel concepts of layout design now gain {ng favor, though it retort to different ci meas intelligible. Somewhat more refined estimates of distances and grades will also bein order. In due course, doodling should lead to satisfaction that you have probably wetted upon the one or two bost candidate schemes. If you're been reasonably honest with the aquares, you are then ready 10 ‘move ahead to the more laborious drafting of a for-real plan with the ascurance that you'll be able to draw your way to a suc- ‘esaful conclusion with very Little chance of having to atart over again halfway through. ©Scenery The basics of cross-section sketches that help you leave room for scenery BY DAVID PETTY ‘T'S EASY to get the wrong idea about track planning. espe ally if you hear veteran modelers epeaking in reverent tones of "The Track Plan' as if'the track were the only important con- tideration. There's much more to m model railroad than just track, fand maybe we'd do better if we used the terra “layout planning” rather than “track planning” ‘The simple fact is that many modelers just don't put enough thought into planning their scenery. Scenery seems to be re garded by some as a magic substance to be sprinkled on the lay- ‘Dut after the track is laid, thus transforming the entire mess into ‘fantastic scene. The best scenery techniques in the world can't ‘compensate for poor planning, and poor planning is usually the rewult of trying to eram too many tracks into the space available. ‘Many of us have learned this hard lesson through disappoint- ing experiance, and Im afraid I'm no exception. Figure 1, an ex- ‘ample taken ffom 2 layout I built many years ago, will demon- strate my point. I knew I wanted a hill et the end of the layout ‘and along the back to hide the return laop mainline tracks. 1 also anted a stream, a town tucked into a mountain valley, and en- sine facilities, It looked fine on paper, and it didn't look all that ‘bad when I actually built it. It beat the heck out of bare plywood, ‘but I was never really pleased with it either. Tt took a Tong time to figure out why the scene did not satisfy, bat whem the revelation came it hit me like a ton of hot cinders — Thads't left room for the scenery! Displeased as I was with the scene, Iwas even more displeased that my track plan had not pointed: up the problems. Perhaps a more experienced eye would have detected them. The hillside behind the enginehouse was practically vertical and the stream was a steep-eided trench. | decided that you have to draw the scenery onto a track plan with a fair amount of detail. and even then the plan ean be de= ceiving. One deception resulis from using a single line to repre sent the tracks, Most of us are careful to allow for correct center= to-center track spacing and drew our curve radii accurately. ‘What we tend to overlook, however, is that the track and right-of- way extend a considerable distance beyend the track center line. The rest of the world just doesn't butt up against the rails. The unfortunate truth is that a two-dimensional plan just doesn't show forcibly some of the problems you are likely to encounter in the third dimension. 8 profiles Fig. A DISAPPOINTINGLY GeoWOED SCENE DRAWING SCENERY PROFILES Disappointments are easier to bear if they're discovered on pa. per and notin the plaster, pani, and ground foam of « Based ‘eve. That's why I'now draw sconery profiles. These require no Tore artistic ability than drawing a track plan and can be done rather quickly. They give you a very good idea of what the se. bery will Lok like at a particular point on the layout. You can draw a profile of any area on the layout you want to, but the placos where crowding is mot Likely to occur will be those places ‘where elements are cose together on the plan Téraw my profes on graph paper that is rued five squares to the inch, and T almost always allow one square to represent the layout. Here's how T go about it, using the profile in ig. 1 as an example. If had drawn this profile back when [was working 6n this layout, I could have saved myself some grief Thegin by drawing a base line which will be at Teast as low as the lowest scenic feature, in this case, the stream bed. Next 1 lor cate all the track center lines along this base line and establish how high above it I want them to be.‘added visual effect I sketch the bevel and thickness of the cork and add ties and rail for each track. ‘Then I draw in the structures in scale at their locations, as well as the roads and driveways. Last I draw in the scenery contours, or at least see if they can be drawn in. The profile drawing shown ft Big. L confirms what { had learned the hard way. I had nat left ‘enough room for the scenie effect I wanted. warding that youll want to abandon anoiher batch of teack and Feplace i with scenery. Tn getting rid of the engine facilities and excess tracks, 1 had obtained more space for slable Bills, a stream, and a tore inter. ‘sting industrial area, To me this new track plan looked good, but if youl recal, so hod the plan TW drawn earlier. Better play it safe apd draw a profile of two to check it out. I drew 1 line through B because it was the most congested spot, drew a profil, ‘and was happy with the result, ‘Next I wanted to preview the effect a visitor would get when frat stepping into the layout room, o I Grew a cromaestion at C, ‘On this one I got carried away, making my fist attempt ever at showing depth. The artist's rendering of my rough sketch Is cer tainly am improvement, bat even my original drawing proved to te that the teen had potential for the effet I wanted, In looking back itis eazy fr me to see how a itl time with a pencil. paper, and some thought. could have saved me a Tot of time, material and frustration. Try profile drawings — they can sive you a peck into the threedimensional world of a finished Thode railroad. ©Our trains are the actors; the layout's a stage BY JEFF MADDEN HIGH STEPPING eastbound North- fem, a string of hotshot reefers in tow, slows for the depot, responding to an orderboard signal. A set of orders is plucked from midair, and the caboose disappears, its reflection chasing it down the shining rails. Soon a whistle blast breaks the calm, and the west- bound Limited appears around a low rise and glides into the station. The en. Sineer eases his Pacific up to a water plug, and passengers and mail are shuffled on and of Thirty minutes later, a grimy 2-8-0 pulls in with an assortment of ears to be switched to local industries. An eastbound coal drag is being held at a signal just outside town until the pas- bengetloral departa — and the parade Amtrak, trailer jets, and grain trains replacing the trains of yore, but the ex- citement and suspense would still hold. ‘This could easily be an excerpt from the action on a typical small railroad city ona Clase 1 main Line anywhere in ‘our good ol’ USA or Canada. Or it could bea desig feature of your mode] empire. ALL THE ROAD'S A STAGE Frank Ellison described a model ral- road as the stage and the trains as actors who enter and exit. The modern of walkalong layouts follows this theme, except that as we follow a train we are using a series of stages, not just one. Many modelers I have met — espe- cially those working in the smaller scales — have said they wanted to run Jong maintine trains but didn't want to construct large layouts. Yet these same modelers would like some sort of sched- uled train sequence without the con. stant making up and breaking down of trains, In short, they would like ta watch the trains as if they were a rail- fan watehing from one location. For these modelers I offer the “Come- and-Go” design concept. It just might be the answer for the modeler who has fair amount of space for a layout, but wants something simple with only a single stretch of main line being on die play — a stage ifyou will. Figure 1 shows some possibilities for these mainline segments. These would be showpiece sections built mainly along one wal, with some open portions eury. ing around corners to reach the staging areas, which would be out of view. ‘Option F in fig. 1is sure tobe a win- ner for Pennsy four-trackers, who are often frustrated with trying to design a layout that is both seenically and op- rationally realistic, yet doesn't. re- ‘quire a gymnasium to put it in! ‘Staging options are shown in fg. 2 These areas arc meant to be out of rt and unscenicked. They eould be placed in a closet, wind around the Fur- hace, duck under stairs, go on a shelf over the laundry tubs, or whatever. ‘Note that options A and B offer con- tinuous running, whereas the others would require 0.5.0 ‘using your hand to redirect the trains after cach operating session. «The British re- fer to this as “Bddling"— see Paul J. Dolkos' article on page 82 to learn more about layout eoncepts in Great Britain) ‘These simple, dogbonelike designscan be adapted to virtually any medium- size or larger room, as shown in fig. 3. In HO scale, there should probably be at least 15 to 20 feet of visible layout be- tween the staging tracks or return loops. Sinee return loops will double as staging yards, it will be important to use as large a radius as possible, 50 that your staging tracks will be long. In HO seale, a 30° radius on the inside oop would be a preferred minimum. If tighter curves were necessary, pethaps some trains could be restricted to the sharper curves, others to the wider, ADVANTAGES ‘Here's list of good reasons for build- {ng a come-and-go layout: ‘* Easier track planning. You have none of the complexities and impoasi- ble seenicking situations often seen in bowls of epaghetti. ‘® Simpler benchvork. You could build it in take-opart, modular seetions for the scenicked portion of the design. Staging areas could be portable, knockdown, or foldaway sections, or even be folded up ‘or rolled out of the way when not in use. '* Limited seenery area. You can con- centrate your efforts while saving time and money. '* Unseenicked portions can be ran into areas that need not be finished off — a laundry or furnace room. Dovbie track subdivision pont yard = =$—a ‘Fourirack main ane junaton Fig. 1 visiete wanune seauent inens *Grades can be eliminated, which would make operation more trouble- free, Of course, gradual mainline grades can always be added for effect or to jus- tify helper districts. A winding branch or secondary main can be added, thereby making your modeled town or towns serve junction points. No duckunders. You'll probably need pop-ups in staging loops though. bvmine “supe + ‘A Loop To LOOP ‘© Control can be central, walkaround, or bath. © Cheaper prefab track and turnouts can be used in unscenicked areas. With ‘8 simpler track configuration on the ‘seenicked portion, handlaying track would be easier than on a Larger layout. ‘Full signaling would be much sim- pler than on a layout with track strung ‘ut all over the basement or train room. ‘© Tdeal opportunity for installing a mI nSee sim age sound system, since an audience would ‘be more or less captive, a3 in a theater, ‘when viewing the layout OPERATION With this type of design, dispatching trains in sequence would be the typical ‘operating scheme. The challenge would ‘come in funneling trains through your fone locale, much as a tower operator ‘ould de. ‘Most trains would be through trains appearing only briefly, but the way freight would have to be gotten out of the way. Freights would be held tempo: rarily away from the station area while waiting for passenger trains to clear. Slower-elaas trains would have to wait in the hole while hotshots passed ther on the opposite main, and 80 on. ‘Towns offer numerous operational possibilities, and most likely at least ne should be included on the visible stretch, These would provide many in- dustrial switching opportunities, de- pending on design. "Another option is for the town to be an interchange point ora junction with fa short branch. Since running long oF medium-length trains is our goal here, passing sidings should be 10 to 15 feet in HO scale. Tn addition tothe station stopping and industrial switching, you could include a yard to create such options as making up ‘and breaking down freights cing refers turning and servicing locomotives, and even passenger train switching, such 1s dropping a diner or mail car. Adding abranch or interchange with a foreign railroad to the yard location could fur- ther spice up operation. “The goal of the staging concept is to provide enough holding space for at Teast one good operating sessian of sev. tral hours. Each track in a loop is long enough to hold one long: train or sev: eral short ones. ‘One staging track at each end should be left open for eontinuous running or to receive the First train dispatched, ‘SOME NOTES ON CONTROL, ‘A staging area detection systern could be used, with indicator lights most er —— Fig. 3 some AROUND THE ROOM VARIATIONS: tas likely placed at a centralized control panel, along with the usual block and turnout controls. The builder might choose carrier control with plug-in fea- tures located along the layout edge, or hho might go with conventional throtiles, grouped near the central control panel. Since this is basically a dispatchers style of layout, the operator could have a separate CTC-style board located away from the throttle area, or he could just use the traditional layout di- ‘gram panel to handle this chore. ‘So, there you have it, a layout concept ‘you might use if you desire a stage with ‘actors (trains) corning and going — rail- fan style, if you please. Now let's look at couple of complete desigms. ‘THE GAULEY RIVER RR. I have developed two come-and-go track plans, as shown in fig. 4. Both are based’ on Semimodular construction, with portability and flexibility being the prime goals. For example, the Gauley ‘Function sections could be constructed and scenicked in an apartment. Later ‘hey could be pieced into a layout, Gauley Junetion is the only’ major townsite on either layout and would be tthe focal point, ta be viewed from a ail- fan's or dispatcher’s point of view. ‘When operating you could create intri cate switching or passing moves a Gouley Junction, or you could just let ‘emrip, timetable-fashion, T've added a short branch, which con- nects at Gauley Junction in order to permit some non-mainline variety in operation and seente treatment. ‘This branch would be the only trackage with any grade. It could just as easily remain at zero elevation and cross the ‘main line with a level crossing. Tye shown two sizes of the same ba- sic design to give you an idea how my concept would be utilized for different ‘spaces or seales. The smaller layout could be compact HO layaut or easily adapted for a larger scale. The larger design could work well for N or HO. On the smaller layout separate stag- ing yards are shown. Of course, either layout could use any combination of staging yard types—loop, stub, or Fig. 4 come-AND.GO TRACK PLANS through. ‘The larger layout shows a through staging yard serving as both ends of the railroad wrapped into one location, with continuous running as an option. The only drawback is the in- convenience ofa Lift bridge. ‘On the smaller layout about six nor- rmal-size trains could be set up for one operating session, Thats usually plenty {or any home layout. ‘One to four operators seems about right for these layouts. A lone wolf using 9 tethered throttle ean easly stp back single main panel fo view the tm nt caging ea fu asta, two or more operators ean divide the du- tes and run several trains at once. Perhaps this brainstorm of mine will sive you some ideas for a home layout that can have the appearance of an em- pire, provide plenty of mainline opera- tion, and yet be simple to construct, wire, and maintain, @ae sation “wo staging tracks on snes sige Faoubieaack trough main Stoves Gestation —_Warehouts _Lumter an eos dealar sition plan Fregnttation Mil GAULEY JcT ‘STUB YARD To Loor Prensa = 1" nou and at ope ae fo staging Cech gt Gar AgR ne ptenal gaps io Inetoabe Capacity4 Railroading for city-lovers Asmall HO scale switching layout for restricted-space operation BY LARRY FORGARD [TS finny how often certain, words ‘evoke a mood of create fantastic ace- ‘narios in our mind. Two words which ‘model railroaders respond to are “base- ment” and “spare room.” Both bring ie not. For thoee of you who live in ta ‘or condos, oF for those who have onl Ifyou intend to make thie layout por- table, ['d recommend usi fs materials: Homasote, plastic foam, and of plaster or ‘thin layers: I ales suggest that you make the build jen it comes to operation, like many r is designed to the layout. These are set off the main line 0 that many cars can be sorted or stored without interfering with switch: i ‘These tracks could also point since it creates the illusion the main line is passing through thi city to destinations somewhere If Additional modules are added at some time in the future, this layout could still be the hub of svitehing activity, even though the main line is already built in. ‘Tae perspective illustration provides some structure ideas. I had no ‘cts in mind when T designed the layout, 30 the choice of structures ig up to you this Jot of fun to build. Its a visually inter- re spaces. On that, it also offers all sorts of possibil-“Toole ei eanate recone : ia iw soresteans Samacra 1: VNtaaserrar tampa an © eee teens pee ene Fig.2 secriovAa © tawr-ve FI. 3 SECTIONS scue rv Fig. 1 TRACK PLAN AND SUBROADBED Tepivtmeven cow gray eBags nestor Serine wt nese ang ara ra Sewn nae ove eed See partonLost River District Ry. A 3x 7-foot N scale layout is Part 1 of the Big Dream BY KENNETH L. ANTHONY ra shared with lots of | railroaders—no space to ‘tart my big, dream ‘even in N agen ina 9x7 foot N layout that can be operated all by tel, yet wil be compatible with hat ian et tured wl we fllength ns running on @ Wye ft wept cb Lerma, and eu ww Ecniouie af x junction ato, ‘wanted my small sobs tment coal eventually etree no the ager pen, weld be mai enough fr me Ihave easly by myself, and that meant taht carves MPsdttes ta barns telcos teined oval of track. There went the 10 fe pacar: cates wi thet eile feng, Alor with auch fight curves, Uno final layout couldnt be part ofthe fin ai oon eer that T was king a begins rene ape to my rescue. The Santa Fe hag an interesting Line, the Gonree District, which is strkingly ci Sent tom rood perp tS Sante withthe Santa Pe. As shown in fiz {e'the Conree ‘Distr is secondary hain line thet cute off om the Second District main at Somerville and heads fast to the ‘Bevumont aren, carryingtrina through the Piney Woods of East ‘Texas, including the famed Big Thicket. ‘Calturally, the area served is the begin= ning of the “Deep South.” Thad toyed for years with the notion ‘of an East Texas layout, but the bug had never bition hard enough to make me ‘want to commit all of my layout space ad effort to it Building it as litle layout would be just fine and it would nly a million or so trees instead of ‘ahillion. The dense Piney Wooda would alsa give me a place to hide trains that supposedly have moved on down the line. LAYOUT FEATURES ‘The litle layout J ended up designing is called the Lost River District; my larger system will be called the Santa Vaca & Santa Fe Ry, Figure 2 shows how the two will Bt together e ‘schematically cet cameriee ofthe Loa River Di is ouse-square town, cf Johnston, Texas. county seat of Wa County and’named in memory of the Tate (Corpus Christi modeler, Roland Johnston, ‘Fictitious Wayne County is named after the composite Texas hero created by John Wayne. Texas has so many coun- ‘ies — 254 in fact — that we ought to be able to sneak in an extra one and fool even Texans. “ay theory fr names offre lance il Satins tntdetally, le tat, tiny should sound right region being. ‘modeled, but should not be the names of eal towns, Nabedy should be able to aay, “ve been to Johnston, Texas, and i not the way you modeled it” ‘Considering this is such a small lay- out, 1am using a lavish amount of space to model the downtown area—dating Wk to about 1910 “ao well at sn more recent strip development out the highway. ‘Johnston industries with some special East Texas flavor are the Creotex yard reussoatt = po eoua Sagat songz ance soum reas pacar sivlnaernt a ae Soe Fig. 2 Seuancor euarnen) SaTANAGA a ana FE ‘which treats wood ties, poles, and piling With that tary black stall. and the Dixie Darlin® peanut butter and salad dressing plant. Johnston also has a farm stare and a bulk oil dealer. ‘This is a two-sided layout. A dense line of trees hides the layover tracks and ‘separates them from J ‘A row of LOST RIVER 1G PINE DISTRICT Hf af a ee ee Sars eececty Seon sear “TURKEY WEEK. (sarwsTon Sy {Gin cisabunt fot cri ant 9g) einen at tae: emopyoc. Reae Soar x ‘SANTA VACA METRO AREA Ftraner tis toneanen WFig 2. The author a siready building his N neale railroad. Me likes to mack up structures to got a tenes of how they'l look together The rows of temporary ees are green painted shirt carcboard mill building fats beyond those tracks serves as a backdrop for Big Piney, a 7 ‘wide terminal on the far side L eould have made Big Piney a saw- sil, and that would have fitted in just fine’in the East Texas scene, So many modelers build saris, though, that 1 wanted to make it something else. Big Piney ba piyesed plate a EP Te won pad ing ronypacs Big Ploey i eter ap frre, ing 8 to 10 almost-unit trains a day. 1 say “almost” because the Big Piney train. also handles @ car or two a day for the gravel pit at Turkey Neck. Structure key ‘.dohnaten Stition, Seratenbut tom [MR plans (Navembor 1379. page 84) 2.Wnyne County Courtnouse. Kitbashed from three Amold Apart Houses, no. 0697 B.Bsil Bondeman Seratenbuit trom nc08 44. Greotex. Grecsote treating yard Suk oll dealer SeraienBuit trom Sealy. Tex, prototype Masonry sowntown store bulings Mainty Helan Cournouve Square T.Mee house, Heian no. 009 King Furniture Co, Based on MR plans (October 1872, page 68) Heian no. 63 S.First State Bank Scratenbult trom MB plans (hay 1874, page 24) 10. Weolworth's Heljlan no. £04 CONVERTIBLE OPERATION aint lt er tut erate vette lnyoree Cocks roprecet pints in each dzetion beyond Jabnston. rains entering Johnston running. locks wise are presumed to be coming from Old River and beyond. Traine, running coun T found the names OL! River and Lost River on an intersate highway Bridge halfway between Houston and Beau mont. When. you're traveling east, the sign reads “Old and Lost River.” The 11, First Baptist Ghuren. Seratenouin 1X2 Richarcson's Grocer. 1950's subur: Ban sive. To ft 13.Fatm supply store 14 Najorbrand service station 15 Various nomen 16-Dinie Darin’ Foods, Magnuson Mer. ‘cary Shoe Factory, MSI2. Additions rom omer Wis 17.Drnesin Hamburger Stand. Seratcin ‘bul am Corpus CWis, Tex proteryae Ye.Ingepencent gas station win beer Jounin rear 19. Parker Beetners grave pt with small ‘concrete batch plant 28. One-oor agents oie. Serachbut ‘trom wood from Sante Fe Modeler ‘lans (JuiyAugust 1960, page 18) 21.100-octall city water tower sign for westbound drivers reads “Lost fand Old River {t seems the confluence of the two waterways is right under the bridge and the signs tell you which river Lon River founded forth ot River ‘appropriate for the name of a hidden layover—a never: never land that doesn't quite exist. At the same time, Lost River sounds like the name of a town built on @ lazy south- fern river that later changed its channel, ‘place Like that eventually might do- ‘eap into a refining and shipp ping sant you're m ‘can't quite tell where the Old River i fas dd the Let River part bins. "The Same is true for my layover tea Obviously, the nf lime run on the ‘Lost River District is not long, but several Apes of operating events can be staged "Through trains running in opposite directions can meet at Jc Locals can switch at Johnston, keep- ‘an eye on the clock to clear the main for through trains. ‘A'Big Piney Turn could ran from Old River through Johnston and out the branch to Big Piney. How do the trains get tumed when there's no reverse Teop on the layout? Barring giant hand action, theres no ‘way to change the direction a locomative ted, But the layout is set ater the ‘Santa Fe has entirely dieselized. We can Just run the Geeps around their sraing and run the engines backwards some of the time. LINKING WITH THE BIG LAYOUT ‘The track running off the edge of the selfeontained layout. will: become the connection with the bigger layout once it i built. What justification is there for one track being the main line this year, and another track, already built, becoming the main line a few yeara from now? ‘Once the big layout is built I'm going imagine that offstage on the old line is a bridge and approaches that have been torn out, perhaps in conjunction arith building ‘the first automobile ex- pressway in East Texas — that would be Appropriate to the mid-50s, ‘The old line has been abandoned be- onthe tort bridge, and a new line been opened. The old line is now used to store old cars that are used only seasonally, or we can imagine that it Has Uenaes apr onrving one lene be HT seenining oo te ab of cas oid ine ity would be setting out lies and work-train equipment eventually needed to build the ing a name for this new route, I lcoked in the Official Guide under "New" and “Neo,” and came up with “Neola.” ‘Thore's a Neola, lows; a Neola, Kansas; and a Neola, Saskatchewan; but po Neola, ‘Texas. Sounds just right. have a good ‘As fig. 3 shows, I alrea start on building the Last ‘Twas big areas re nice, Dut tobe ae tually butlding something while waiting makes them even nicer. @The Third Street Industrial District Track plan for an HO switching layout BY BILL BAUMANN: HE THIRD St, Industrial District is @ small (2x 10 feet (THO sae tayot designe wih oo goals in mind: ste ing operation new, ond expencien laters ‘The "Distrct™ was formed by a group of industries that banded together, took over some track, and purchased a scc- tndhand engine to da their switehing. Cars bound for District industries are brought in by a. traniter run from the down town yard of the Burlington Northern — your favorite rail ‘oad would da just as well, ‘The transfer ties up an the siding along the BN main, and its motiye power lage over on the ding tn vat. of the rounded caboose that serves an the District's yard office ‘while the switching road's crew makes the sctouts and pick- Ups. Then the transfer returns to ius home terminal with out- bound ears from the District, ‘Te arian scenery, street trackage, graden, and the BN main line running serose the layout all make the District interesting to build and operate. Life canbe made more interesting fr the Dini’ sich erm by ong ft clack and ach Hine mens napiey BOT atta ar la awe 9A have io Seat the natn from ties te te, ‘The industries suggerted on the plan are intended to pro vide destinations for most types of freight cars, but others could be substituted to suit your own tast same is true of other structures on the Dare! Putting a small coal dock fret tothe Districts yard office iatond of the of tank Would Siete ralload in thy Flamm ort, While the grade down Third and Commerce Streets is siep Jat er puven, andthe Serve lading to Mle ‘sharp (20° radius), a small engine moving a few tanta tine ahold have at toabla, All aiags vite cock Srl be spated are level, ‘The district would be easy to expand. There’s,room for a turnout under the bridge over Commerce Street. Track could txtend Eom Cherg to reach sdtonal iedustric, aking ot Lhaped logout, The mainline could be extended in cher or tah recone ta make the Third St, tnduvtral Ditie part of langer layout 8 19TRACK COMPONENTS NEEDED eS Buzzard’s 2509 track assortment, 2 pkg it sights ; ; 4 ie sbaights, 8 ae eas § An N scale layout to fit on a door 10 eons. 2511 tae carves, 2 BY JIM KELLY 2526 19 cuves.6 2539 terminal joiner, 1 ‘2EAO track nalts, { pkg 2566 90° crossing. 1 eet ee a, ‘Sroom corturs win Sepa nak vejonm. ‘25851. right-hand Standard Turnout, & . ipa Miswost J8014. 36" cork roadbed, 16, (aston) canbe Datupwinoem rolcm com nero soar Wate — pan murtace of oot black, vie gous mean ERE'S A PLAN for any of you ‘The railroad runs along the shore ‘who'd like to build a first iay- so you need a way to establish some ore mario out in N scale. You won't need much land. This can be done easily with a nea. 8 room, as N scale trains are small— sheet of extruded foam insulation, ‘diesel locomotive Vim of full size is also available at building. supply about 4" long — yet these little stores. A 2x 8-foot sheet 1° thick trains run quite reliably. Lots of lo- will do nicely. Just tack it on tempo- comotives, cars, and other products rarily with a few drops of white glue are currently available, and more until you've testit the track to- are on the horizon, gether and know exactly where you 'N sealers like to point out that want to cut the foam. this is ascale in which you can have Mark the edges of the track, then allot of layout in a small space, with cut the foam with a sharp knife ~ a plenty of room for scenery. This steak knife with a serrated edge track plan bears them out. It all fits works fine — and cement it on por- on a hollow-core door only 28° wide, manently, I recommend using a la- These are available at building sup- tex-based contact cement that won't ply stores everywhere, The standard attack the foam, You can use this length is 6'-8", but the widths vary, same cement toattach cork rondbed starting at 12"and stepping up 2’ at This is a layout for the modeler a time to 36°. Such a door will cost who likes big bridges and lots of wa- you about $20. If you eall around, ter. I think of it as being located you may even find a damaged one along the East Coast somewhere, for much less. but you could just as easily scenick Atlas N scale sectional track is it for a river sét in the Midwest or a readily available and easy to work lake in the mountains. The stra with, so that's what we're recom: ture kits listed here are only sugar: mending here. On a small layout tions. Feel free to substitute any- like Buzzard's Cove, manual turn- thing you want. outs (switches) work just fine and Your hobby dealer can help with save you the job of wiring remote- recommendations on a locomative, oontril switch machines If you should rolling stock, power pack and 80 on. ever wish, you could add the electric Good luck and we hope you enjoy switch machines later, building Buzzard's Cove. @Smatitown sont alias oS ‘zag Bay Toe At Ascites Dear bear Aiaye beers {xaos rose Bicamoen nas fen pr tide 2The Morgan Valley RR a This 4 x 6-foot track plan could become your first HO model railroad BY RICK HENDERSON Wigsaisemer tan utes feet? The HO scale Morgen Valley RR Sian ane not normally found in such a limited ‘space. It's an ideal layout for beginners, nected to your power pack with a 6 or7- fot cable. That would let. you move around the layout while you run a train, {o follow the action and throw the turn: outs manually. Many. people prefer to ‘can hold the interest of more ite this way becaus find that Znced modelers as well The Gesign al. ie more lie the way a rvitching crew lows for easy expansion, even as works on a real railroad. it is the MV can keep you busy for a time. It may not be Large, but as youll ece it can lfer ax much to do a2 8 A ae sana Hi 7H! cline Pues! ae Up atiie pied Grlizteds suis ei aie] tel be28 a fH t Tat 8 BMIE Hl i Fae Hi ne ie SWITCHING AND RUNNING Look carefully at the track plan and youll se how operating the (MV can Id your interest. You'll see that the Wholesale when you have Getty Oil, youll have to make several extra moves. You must frst move the ‘car at Hegert's, spot the tanker at Getty, land then return the car to Hegert Again, just like real railroading. ‘Now, with just alittle imagination, we will make the MV operate as if it were five times its actual site. Follow along with this ‘and concentrate on just one industrial siding at a time. Starting at the pessing siding, uncou- ple the engine from your train and pick aear at the Amhurst loading fext, deliver a boxear to Bill's Hard. 'Piek up your train and make another lap. Arriving at the next town (in fact, the same passing. siding), drop your train and service the Evergreen Furni- ture and Daggett Electrical siding. Pick sr ral a tine Ble ot town, one or more laps away, then off a car at Community Lumber. ‘As you're making the next lap or two consider how you will complete switeh- ing at your last stop. You may make several laps betare youre ready, because ‘you have a tank ear to deliver to Getty Oil and need to pick up a flatear from i Buile Modet Raltroad Benchwark, is Mis pusher, the Kalmbech ‘Co, explains benchyrork in de- ‘many useful ideas. Homasote, a paper wallboard, makes a ood tp surface because(ee. como Tomrenntarirat Boss sowninng 1 SF! Fig. 2. oPnoNAL BLOCK WIRING will be the 2°” and 3° sections between the two no. 4 left-hand turnouts an the right side of the plan. You could make moother transition between these tra: outs by using a short length of Atlas no. aaa == Fig. 4 sieir extension 168 flextrack. If you'd rather stick with, the short straigit sections, they'll still he smoath enough for good operation, Before you tack down the track, run the engine around with a few cars to be mure everything is okay. The Atlas Track Assortment packs have some very short straight sections you can use if you find that farther adjostments are neces sary. When you're satistied with the alignment and operation of your track, fo ahead and tack it to the Homasote. IE you want to use cork roadbed to model a raised ballast roadbed, frst ae semble and check out the Layout as I've described. Then mark the center lines of all track sections on the Homasote and remove the track. Now you ean lay the cork roadbed following ihe center lines and nail it in place with no. 18 x's" flat- head nails, Finally, tack the track in place on the cork, Once the track is secure, drill holew through the roadbed and tabletop for all the wires. Locate the power pack and other remote controls near the passing siding, the most convenient operating position, and run the wires to them n= fer the table. If you won't be using ‘walkaround control you may want to power the turnouts with Atlas remote controlled switch machines, but that's not absolutely necessary. BUILDINGS AND EXPANSION ‘The buildings listed in fig. 1 are popus Ap sata secre i hat wl festions, and you should feel fee to ue als, that will be perfect! ‘at home on the Morgan Valley RR. elements as roads and vegetation to give the youll be able to have that many more Aisferent trains ready to operno. T know you'll enjoy bulding and o ersing your own Morgen Valley RRB 23.An extra foot makes a y world of difference BY ED SUMNER HE standard size for small HO railroads is the good-old 4%8, basically because that's the standard size plywood comes in. Lats of modelers get their start by buying a sheet of plywood and tacking their loop of train-set track to it. You fan doa Jot in 4x3, but you ean do so much mare with even just another foot of length. And after all, if you have room for ‘8.438, the chances are excellent that you have room for the 438+ 1 presented here. “edie rant 300 can sill start with single piece of py 1k may be hard to find in your area, but plywood is also Uifered in ¢& 10 sheets, Another posablliy youd be to buy a Airc e'the dire, Youll have sonagh plywood Tek to it to the 4x8. You'll have A make a control panel and some ather odds and ends. LOOKING AT THE PLAN ‘The plan is simple, It's a figure 8 with a branch line wind- ing way op the she of gunn, Mont of She atin wl lace on the branch. | have it serving three separate eur thing i ogring, this Inyeut wou slo make ing pike. mines If for a 1 no. 695% 18-rachus cure ‘510. 260 wye tumout 4 no. 261 Iefthand turnout “po. 262 nghenane tornout 1 9, 173 99 crossing Medel Power no, 181 curved rghtcnana urneut ‘The main line isn't much as far as rth a lite ingenuity this pike could ‘two-train operation. oro tain around and exound ‘8 second train could be switching the mining sy oo ‘and dropping off « cut of hoppers on the reversing section to be picked up bythe branchline switcher, When the jo i done ran the mainline train into the tunnel nearest the ‘and cut the power, using the hidden block as a holding track. ‘Another operating possibility for this layout is mixed gasselectric tacking a shorty coach or combine onto the end of a branchline ‘train, the miners have to their work and back. ‘Small steam locamotives would look great on this layout. It ‘would make a perfect home for an MDC Shay, a Rivarossi Heisler, ot perhaps a brass 2-8-0 or 2.8-2. The railroad could also be built as a narrow gauge line, oF even electrified for an interurban operation with steeplecabe and combines, Mines are interesting structures to begin with, and on a ‘gmall layout like this you ean add detail to your hearts content. In a year oF two this small layout could shine like a jewel. @ 11 na. 168 oot lengths texbiea A short connecting HO railroad in Pennsylvania BY ED SUMNER HIS TRACK FLAN for an HO: scale layout is similar to the arrangement I used for my own pike. The topogray of the Laurel Highland RR. as I've named it, resembles the mountain areas of eastern Pennayivania. Beginning at fan upper level, the main line works its way downto an. int with a Claas 1 railroad. Among other features the Laurel Highland has a brewing oper- ation in Highland, Pa, where a master ‘brewer uses natural springwater in his brewing, ‘Since Pennaylvania has ‘oal minkng, I threw in three coal mines fe, Loring cape could be exchanged nue. Logging camps could be exc for the mines because there were sizable locxing operations in that state as re cently as 60 years ago. Tihs plan ean be set in any number of periods, but the one that comes to. my find is 1920 to 1940, the days when billboard-side private reefer cars were still being used. In addition to hopper cars full of coal. you would see boxcars carrying bagged grain, flatears loaded vet mine timbers or machinery, sundo- carting away mine refuse, and a spe- al boxcar or two of explosives for the mines, There would also be a short old passenger car for transporting the brew- ery and mine workers BENCHWORK AND TRACK ‘The benchwork is a box grid con: structed of 1x4 lumber with 2x2 legs te ik 2 ee Fm te tm tase Ye lywood #4 1x2 und 14 riser. The are levation Portions of the plywood at Laurel are Serewed directly to the top of the 1x4 grid. Only the track elevations for other {oui the fade. Note that the plywood to suit ote for one leg of the wye (piece A) and for the supports for mines numbered 2 and 3 (pieces B and C) are ct from scraps and iced to the main section. Pieces D ‘as well as the streambed are cut from an extra %4" x 24" x 48° piece of ‘wood. Notch five of the grid members ane end, one side, and three intermedi sate 1x44 pieces) about 84° deep to acco ‘modate the stream. Both Reco and Model Power make code 100 rail curved switches with 18° and 22° ‘radii. Other curved switches are available ‘with different radii, and the traek ar- ‘rangement would have to be adjusted to ‘suit, Wye switches come in different sizes ‘too, The ones shown are no. 4s, ‘OPERATION Now here's the part I like best about the layout —operation. Early in the morning, long around suarise, the crew takes the motive power and backs it out of the Laurel enginehouse: | envision the locomotive to be a Shay or other geared type, bul a 280, 460, or 260 would ttork just as welll After fueling up with Coal and water its turned of te furmta bie for the trip up the hill. To extend the running time, train take the left track at Woods and return to Laurel Junction, traverse the tracks between Laurel June: Hon and Weods again, and then take the Fight track at the Woods switch its a long and hard_climb to, High- land, with the train winding up the side of the mountain, passing through tus: tela, and thea crossing the stream that furnishes water for the brewery. On the ee Oe to his and ace the brewery sitting maja. tically on the mountainside, supported by-a stone relaining wall. Speeds are restricted ta 20 scale mph across the bridge on the high line. De- ‘Botings, the bridge has washed out several times, and it groans 4nd protests every (ime it's crossed ‘Highland Mine No. 1 at the grade, the train heads For the left leg of the wye, slowing to 5 mph 0 a crew member can a to‘the country” ind first, although inia veral ‘be considered. BENCHWORK PLYWOOD CUTTINGChoose from four dozen terrific track plans in HO, O, S, N, and Z. Build them as designed or modify them to fit your available space or scale. Most fit in modest-size rooms and occupy no more than 5x8 feet. ‘Track plans included are among the best layout ideas ever published in Mopet RattroapEr Magazine. They include 13 award-winning layouts from the magazine’s track- planning contests.