The original question got me to thinking again, in conjunction with a layout article in a recent issue of Railmodel Journal. In a nutshell, I've been revisiting my SuperMegaGinormous Layout. This is the layout which I plan to build after I win the SuperMegaGinormous Lotto. Given the odds, I don't think about this layout much....
The RMJ article was about the N&W Shenandoah Div (I think it was); it's in a basement that's 90-something feet by 50-something feet. He's been working on the layout for 20 years. But, the point is that those dimensions would be a good starting point for the SuperMegaGinormous layout.
This line would be the current BNSF Inside Gateway, from the Keddie Wye to Wishram, Wa. Originally, I was thinking three levels, but recently, I started contemplating only two levels. Three levels would need two helixes. And this is where this post starts to join with my other post.
I plan to carve this line into three sections: Keddie to Klamath Falls, Klamath Falls to Bend, OR., Bend to Wishram. The shortest section would be Bend to Klamath Falls. The three sections were once owned by Western Pacific, GN, and SP&S.
The two helixes would serve as the break points between the sections. In essence, if the train is hidden in the helix long enough, when it exits it will give the illusion the train is now in a different part of the Inside Gateway. Not to mention that there are two-three different types of terrain; the WP part is mountainous foresty, the KF to Bend is High Desert type of Central Oregon, and north of Bend is the same until you get to the Deschutes River canyon, when you go downhill to the Columbia.
I've never really put any kind of track plan down on paper; it's almost a function of the size of house/basement I'd end up having after winning the SuperMegaGinormous Lotto. But, I've visualized it in my mind; most of the time, I start at the Keddie Wye. But, lately I've started visualizing from Wishram, which seems to have gotten me a lot further as far as going southbound is concerned. Mainly because I'm a SP&S Oregon Trunk fan, and I 'm sorta familiar with the line down to Bend. The Bend to Klamath Falls is less familiar, but I have a Pentrex video of the route from Keddie to south of Klamath Falls.
Again, with all of the open areas, there's no need to recreate all of it. Just enough to get the flavor, and fill the space between the main points (Keddie, Klamath Falls, Bend, and Wishram).
Oh, I'd cut a chunk out of the overall space to serve as staging. In a different room. One end would be the other end of the Keddie tunnel down the Feather River. The other end would be two endpoints. One would be Vancouver WA, the other would be Spokane.
Also, the other leg of the Keddie Wye could go around a small peninsula, where you could put in the town of Keddie, then run the line along the long wall all the way to the other end where it could enter staging, which would be like Flanagan NV.
Kennedy
You will obviously have to do some selective compression. How much space do you have available? What are the most interesting points of the line you want to model? We need a little more information before we tell you to go out and start looking for a building that's a mile and a half long. 