2nd Layout design competition

[AstroKnight187]

For the first layout design competition, I challenged you guys to make an HO 4x8 foot (Tabletop) layout with 22' radius curves.



For this competition, I'm going to loosen the limits for the plans:

Table top size is either Around the Walls or Island (Any size)

- Can be HO or N scale
- Layout can use any radius of curves
- Any radius of turnout
- Incorporate at least one reverse loop
- Maybe try using a no helix? *
- The mainline can be double or single track
- Incorporate at least two tunnels
- As realistic as possible

Really, these guidelines are only suggestions, so feel free to follow none of them. The sky is the limit! (They are just there as a challenge )
Of course, you may choose any era you want. Have fun!

* A no helix is when a track goes from one elevation to another without the use of a helix. These can take up a lot of space.

 

[Don Z1029]

There are 2 tunnels where the mainline cross on the lower right corner of the table. (Edit) I added photos of the tunnel portals.

 

[SoCal Chris]

Really great looking rockwork Don! Are you using plaster castings or sculpting right in place?

 

[Don Z1029]

Really great looking rockwork Don! Are you using plaster castings or sculpting right in place?

Chris, I used white art plaster in homemade latex molds and some Bragdon Enterprises molds. The plaster was mixed a little thinner than peanut butter, then poured into the mold on a table. After the plaster set for a little bit, the mold was lifted and pressed into place on the substructure. After about 5 minutes, the molds were peeled away from the plaster and then we used a small wood chisel (tool abuse) to chip out blobs of unwanted plaster to help blend the different molds together. Thanks for the kind words regarding the rock work!

Regards,
Don Z.

 

[Rico]

I don’t have a track schematic but you’ll be able to follow it.
This was an N scale layout I did years back, about 36” X 72” I believe.
Basically the old folded dog bone with a twist, a crossover to reverse the inner bottom loop without having a reverse loop at all! It was a lot of fun to operate with two or more trains running at a time.

 

[AstroKnight187]

I'm loving all the submissions so far! I'm going to let this competition last a little longer and maybe get some more submissions, and I'll let you know who the winner was

 

[AstroKnight187]

I don’t have a track schematic but you’ll be able to follow it.
This was an N scale layout I did years back, about 36” X 72” I believe.
Basically the old folded dog bone with a twist, a crossover to reverse the inner bottom loop without having a reverse loop at all! It was a lot of fun to operate with two or more trains running at a time.

View attachment 194826

That looks amazing! Love the track plan

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

This is my Colorado Midland, Midland Terminal, & Short Line. It is HO scale, and is a walk-in partial around the wall with a peninsula. The footprint is about 9'x12' with a roughly 6"x2' spur extension. The layout can be run either in DC mode or DCC mode. Most of my locos are DC, so that's what it runs in most of the time. The mainline radius is 24", with 15" radius on the mill spur. I also have 8 tunnels and one cut. Most of the photos almost show the layout in it's current state of construction. I've made a little more progress since these were taken.

 

[grande man]

CMM, still loving your track plan! Maybe you could humor me by answering a few questions. What is the elevation difference between Old Colorado City and Victor? Also wondering what the ruling grade is. One last question (for now, lol), what is the isle width?

I am considering track plans for a future layout and your track plan would fit in my space well. Because I love to "railfan" when running trains it is important for me to have trains coming onto the layout and thru the scenes and then back to staging. I could envision a wye between North Pole Park and Divide with the tail track leading to a hidden staging shelf. Also, if there's enough elevation change between OCC and Victor, I could envision a switch in the Rosemont area that lead to hidden staging under Waters Tunnel. I'd have access to that side and space down the adjacent wall for the staging shelf.

Just dreaming for now. At some point I'll likely get it in gear.

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

CMM, still loving your track plan! Maybe you could humor me by answering a few questions. What is the elevation difference between Old Colorado City and Victor? Also wondering what the ruling grade is. One last question (for now, lol), what is the isle width?

I am considering track plans for a future layout and your track plan would fit in my space well. Because I love to "railfan" when running trains it is important for me to have trains coming onto the layout and thru the scenes and then back to staging. I could envision a wye between North Pole Park and Divide with the tail track leading to a hidden staging shelf. Also, if there's enough elevation change between OCC and Victor, I could envision a switch in the Rosemont area that lead to hidden staging under Waters Tunnel. I'd have access to that side and space down the adjacent wall for the staging shelf.

Just dreaming for now. At some point I'll likely get it in gear.

Also wondering

Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I would be happy to answer your questions. I'd also consider it an honor if you adapted my track plan. OK, now for the elevation difference between OCC and Victor. The entire layout has a deck of 3/4" OSB, and the base deck height is the same throughout the layout. The elevation change, as you've no doubt seen, was accomplished with built up styrofoam, so it's pretty easy to get a measurement. The OCC yards and Golden Cycle spur are laid directly onto the deck. So, all that being said, Victor is 4" above the OCC yards at its highest, but the average is about 3 3/4". The ruling grade is true to the real CM, CS&CCDRY (Short Line) and parts of the MT, and is about 4%. As you can no doubt imagine, just like the real thing, heavy engines or double heading as well as short trains are a must. The isle width where the controls are is 26 1/2", the narrowest area near the Manitou Springs area is 23 1/2". I think your hidden staging ideas are good ones. I don't have the room for permanent hidden staging due to the size of the room and my workbench running along the side wall, but I plan to build a cart that has tracks and can hold premade trains that can "dock" with the working interchange at 21st St. on the OCC end. Here's slightly older picture of the interchange at 21st St.

 

[grande man]

Thanks for the quick answers. I like 4% grades on a mountain railroad! It occurred to me that a wye between North Pole and Divide would be good enough as it would allow staged trains to head any direction on the layout. The only remaining part of the old Platte Canyon Sub is the west staging yard. It is situated appropriately for a connection to the wye... Its only four tracks though (the PCS had 3 hidden staging yards, each with four tracks). It would likely get rebuilt to eight tracks.

Some quick measurements have me thinking that I've got about 14 x 10 feet I could use. The area represented on your layout as Cripple Creek could use a short double sided backdrop and allow a scene on the back side since there would access there (gotta leave room to work on the furnace and water heater).

Some ideas I'd like to incorporate would be an N scale mine above a main mine scene for some forced perspective. Also, it would be great if the main mine had a subterranean "cut away" view in the fascia board.

I guess my most important question would be if you were doing it over, is there anything you would you do different?

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

Thanks for the quick answers. I like 4% grades on a mountain railroad! It occurred to me that a wye between North Pole and Divide would be good enough as it would allow staged trains to head any direction on the layout. The only remaining part of the old Platte Canyon Sub is the west staging yard. It is situated appropriately for a connection to the wye... Its only four tracks though (the PCS had 3 hidden staging yards, each with four tracks). It would likely get rebuilt to eight tracks.

Some quick measurements have me thinking that I've got about 14 x 10 feet I could use. The area represented on your layout as Cripple Creek could use a short double sided backdrop and allow a scene on the back side since there would access there (gotta leave room to work on the furnace and water heater).

Some ideas I'd like to incorporate would be an N scale mine above a main mine scene for some forced perspective. Also, it would be great if the main mine had a subterranean "cut away" view in the fascia board.

I guess my most important question would be if you were doing it over, is there anything you would you do different?

Its funny you should mention a mine cut away in the facia, I plan to put one in once I choose a suitable location. Don't want to mess up any tracks above it. I'm thinking in the Victor area, since I built a small mill building from a kit and put it in that area, and I plan to put in some mining buildings as well. Stuff like the headhouse, etc. I've actually been working on a mural on the wall that your back would face when looking at Cripple Creek. I plan to paint the downtown area into it once I'm done detailing the mountains. There will also be a few mines painted in. If I were doing it over, given the space I have, I probably wouldn't change very much other than some small modifications that I may install on the layout I have sometime in the future. They would be installing another entrance/exit track for the OCC turntable, and maybe making a functional wye/interchange at Divide.

Here's the in progress mural.

 

[grande man]

The mural is looking good!

A cut away mine will be an ambitious project, depending on how far you want to go with it. One idea would be to paint the underground workings on the fascia like a mine map and do cutaways of certain sections like maybe a main haulage and a work heading. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[AstroKnight187]

Wow! I think I’ve given the challenge enough time, so I’ll decide the winner very soon, so stay tuned for that. Loving the submissions!

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

The mural is looking good!

A cut away mine will be an ambitious project, depending on how far you want to go with it. One idea would be to paint the underground workings on the fascia like a mine map and do cutaways of certain sections like maybe a main haulage and a work heading. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Thank you! I'm actually thinking about doing two or three mine tunnel cross sections. The idea is to make it look like they originate off of the layout by making the tunnels take a turn to the left or right, or by making it look like exploratory tunnels that just reached a given spot. I'd probably make them no more than an inch or two deep.

 

[AstroKnight187]

Alright, guys! this post has been up long enough! time to announce the WINNER!!!

In FIRST PLACE, is @Don Z1029 with his layout (Shown below).

Don was picked for first place because his layout incorporated many operations , as well as plenty of space to have an operations session. He included a large yard to the right of the layout, as well as several different industries it could serve, such as on the left side of the layout, where an industrial park resides, consisting of Glacier (assumed to take Reefers) and Medusa Cement. A little further down, and you find an entire ore dock to add to the operational value. Trains could run from staging all the way around, drop of their cars at the dock, and take empties back to staging. Switcher locomotives could form trains of reefers, cement hoppers, and other commodities to be taken away to staging. Plenty of action here! It also includes a built in loop for simply running trains around. I didn't find any serious downsides to the plan, so you're all good!

In SECOND PLACE, is @Colorado Midland Modeler with his Colorado Midland, Midland Terminal, & Short Line.

CMM has a very interesting plan set up for his layout. A large roundhouse takes up most of Old Calarado City, with a small mill behind it. The mainline continues through a series of short tunnels before rounding a bend to the other area of the layout. The town of Victor holds the three-track yard, with the town of Cripple-Creek just across the tracks, boasting a second turntable. Although the layout is very nicely done, there are a couple downsides, only one is major. Trains don't really have anywhere to go in terms of operations. The three track yard really only serves one business, the small mill, and maybe the roundhouse's coal, water, and sand storage. The layout does make up for this in a very scenic loop run through. My only other complaint is that the area where the crossover is (Top-middle) is a crossover, rather than a bridge. I understand adding a bridge would be pretty hard because then the mainline has to be on a grade, but this could be solved with a small change of track plan. But hey, I'm just a nit-picking jerk, it's your railroad, so your rules!

And in last but not least, @Rico takes THIRD PLACE with his amazing N scale layout.

In just 36” X 72”, Rico managed to fit a double track folded dog-bone, without the hassle of a reverse loop. With only one industry, this layout isn't really meant for operations, rather for rail fanning. Several trains can run at once, which Rico has a loaded coal train, a mixed freight train, and a short passenger train all running on the same layout, and, with a bit of juggling, it can work flawlessly. A bridge brings trains across one another. I don't have any gripes, as long as you don't count the fact that the trains have to be kept on the short side, which you would have to do anyway on a layout of that size.

If you have any complaints, please remember this is based on my opinion, as well as the fact that the guidelines weren't really guidelines, just suggestions to mix things up a bit.

You guys all did very well on your layout! The winner's submission is shown below.

 

[Rico]

All cool plans, good variety each with their own merits!

 

[Don Z1029]

Alright, guys! this post has been up long enough! time to announce the WINNER!!!

In FIRST PLACE, is @Don Z1029 with his layout (Shown below).

Don was picked for first place because his layout incorporated many operations , as well as plenty of space to have an operations session. He included a large yard to the right of the layout, as well as several different industries it could serve, such as on the left side of the layout, where an industrial park resides, consisting of Glacier (assumed to take Reefers) and Medusa Cement. A little further down, and you find an entire ore dock to add to the operational value. Trains could run from staging all the way around, drop of their cars at the dock, and take empties back to staging. Switcher locomotives could form trains of reefers, cement hoppers, and other commodities to be taken away to staging. Plenty of action here! It also includes a built in loop for simply running trains around. I didn't find any serious downsides to the plan, so you're all good!

In SECOND PLACE, is @Colorado Midland Modeler with his Colorado Midland, Midland Terminal, & Short Line.

CMM has a very interesting plan set up for his layout. A large roundhouse takes up most of Old Calarado City, with a small mill behind it. The mainline continues through a series of short tunnels before rounding a bend to the other area of the layout. The town of Victor holds the three-track yard, with the town of Cripple-Creek just across the tracks, boasting a second turntable. Although the layout is very nicely done, there is only downsides, only one is major. Trains don't really have anywhere to go in terms of operations. The three track yard really only serves one business, the small mill, and maybe the roundhouse's coal, water, and sand storage. The layout does make up for this in a very scenic loop run through. My only other complaint is that the area where the crossover is (Top-middle) is a crossover, rather than a bridge. I understand adding a bridge would be pretty hard because then the mainline has to be on a grade, but this could be solved with a small change of track plan. But hey, I'm just a nit-picking jerk, it's your railroad, so your rules!

And in last but not least, @Rico takes THIRD PLACE with his amazing N scale layout.

In just 36” X 72”, Rico managed to fit a double track folded dog-bone, without the hassle of a reverse loop. With only one industry, this layout isn't really meant for operations, rather for rail fanning. Several trains can run at once, which Rico has a loaded coal train, a mixed freight train, and a short passenger train all running on the same layout, and, with a bit of juggling, it can work flawlessly. A bridge brings trains across one another. I don't have any gripes, as long as you don't count the fact that the trains have to be kept on the short side, which you would have to do anyway on a layout of that size.

If you have any complaints, please remember this is based on my opinion, as well as the fact that the guidelines weren't really guidelines, just suggestions to mix things up a bit.

You guys all did very well on your layout! The winner's submission is shown below.

Thanks! I also had a reversing loop in the bottom right corner of the layout.

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

In SECOND PLACE, is @Colorado Midland Modeler with his Colorado Midland, Midland Terminal, & Short Line.

CMM has a very interesting plan set up for his layout. A large roundhouse takes up most of Old Calarado City, with a small mill behind it. The mainline continues through a series of short tunnels before rounding a bend to the other area of the layout. The town of Victor holds the three-track yard, with the town of Cripple-Creek just across the tracks, boasting a second turntable. Although the layout is very nicely done, there is only downsides, only one is major. Trains don't really have anywhere to go in terms of operations. The three track yard really only serves one business, the small mill, and maybe the roundhouse's coal, water, and sand storage. The layout does make up for this in a very scenic loop run through. My only other complaint is that the area where the crossover is (Top-middle) is a crossover, rather than a bridge. I understand adding a bridge would be pretty hard because then the mainline has to be on a grade, but this could be solved with a small change of track plan. But hey, I'm just a nit-picking jerk, it's your railroad, so your rules!

Thank you for including me, second place is nothing to scoff at. You're NOT a "nit-picking jerk" at all, you pointed out some valid downsides if prototypical operations are a must. I mostly run it as a tourist/heritage railroad that runs a loop and sometimes stops at the various depots, so most of them don't bother me that much. I would like to make a correction that's my fault because I neglected to post photos of the area. If the area I have circled in red is the crossover you're referring to, it actually is a bridge disguised as a mountain with tunnels going through it, both top and bottom.

This is it viewed from several different angles.

I'm not offended or anything, I just forgot to post these in this thread. Also, while I don't have much in the way of industries at the moment, I do have plans to squeeze a few small ones, such as gold mines, in eventually. Once again, thank you very much for including me, and for your kind words about my scenery. I like scenic and rural scenes, so it's nice to know that it looks good.

 

[AstroKnight187]

Thank you for including me, second place is nothing to scoff at. You're NOT a "nit-picking jerk" at all, you pointed out some valid downsides if prototypical operations are a must. I mostly run it as a tourist/heritage railroad that runs a loop and sometimes stops at the various depots, so most of them don't bother me that much. I would like to make a correction that's my fault because I neglected to post photos of the area. If the area I have circled in red is the crossover you're referring to, it actually is a bridge disguised as a mountain with tunnels going through it, both top and bottom.View attachment 199696

This is it viewed from several different angles.View attachment 199697View attachment 199698View attachment 199699View attachment 199700View attachment 199701

I'm not offended or anything, I just forgot to post these in this thread. Also, while I don't have much in the way of industries at the moment, I do have plans to squeeze a few small ones, such as gold mines, in eventually. Once again, thank you very much for including me, and for your kind words about my scenery. I like scenic and rural scenes, so it's nice to know that it looks good.

Whatever floats your boat is ok for you! Or, I should say, whatever runs your trains