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I've completed my benchwork and I've been toying with a few different plans now for about a month. I'm feeling pretty close but I've decided to open the floor.
I am modelling in N Scale, and my theme is a secondary mainline that could be located somewhere like Missouri or Illinois. My prototypes are BNSF, NS and Amtrak in the present day, and benchwork is a shelf design with shelves 45cm (18in) deep.
Please find the original XTrackCAD file attached, and a picture of the layout plan below.
To me, it seems a bit odd that you would build your benchwork before deciding on a track plan! Nevertheless, I envy the generous space you have, especially in N-scale. I am limited to a small portion of my office.
Whenever I see an around-the-walls arrangement, the popular Heart of Georgia track plan comes to mind. The original HOG is HO scale, of course, but there is no reason not to build a N-scale variant of it. A s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d HOG would give you some nice, long mainline running, and there would be plenty of room to add more scenery, switching opportunities, or even some grades to the original plan, depending on your preferences.
I hope you'll keep us up to date on your progress and include lots of photos.
This layout's a bit of a "rebuild" in a lot of ways, and I'm on a budget. The shelf brackets were already in place from my previous layout, so given that, the benchwork was decided before the track plan was...
I'll check out the Heart of Georgia plan. Thanks for that information!!
I've seen a couple of variations on the Heart of Georgia track plan but not one in N-scale. You have the space for quite a nice layout. Your trains will look like they are really going somewhere instead of chasing their own tails.
Will you have a duckunder to get inside the layout or some sort of removable section?
I haven't actually designed a track plan yet. The attachment was just the XTrackCAD files for those who wanted to open the layout in the program itself.
Heart of Georgia looks really good!! I've also found a plan that I look the look of. I like the idea of a twice-around design given my prototype (BNSF and NS in the Midwest - WB Junction to Henrietta, MO maybe?) To me, diamonds highlight a typical Midwestern railroad scene, and could also introduce the prospect of a 'working' interchange.
I was going to ask if you were open to a twice around design. That plan has a bunch of hidden track. Not a bad thing, but one needs to remember to make it human accessible for derailments, cleaning, and the like. A working interchange is a very operationally active feature of any layout. One piece of track serving twice the action.
I don't think I'd want to conceal that much track, Iron Horseman. I've drawn a lot of inspiration from the BNSF's Transcon in Missouri, around Henrietta or Carrollton where the NS parallels and the two single tracks are operated as double track. I've decided to adapt this into the secondary mainline theme... same scenery and characteristics, just much less traffic.
Staging is a big stress though. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in that regard - a lot of shelf layouts either don't have staging, or are fortunately located in rooms where walls and the likes allow for hidden yard space.
An idea I was tossing around though... What if my staging tracks were on the inside of the shelves, mounted to the fascia, about an inch or so below the rest of the shelves? They'd be accessible, the sidings would be lengthy, and given the difference in height and the presence of the fascia, they'd be 'separate' from the rest of the layout. And because it's N Scale, the staging shelves would only need to be 5in or so wide.
For the room you have available, I do like the track plan you posted above. It looks like you can get a lot of operation into a rather small space. For the most part, my layout is all along the wall but with the use of a drop down bridge I was able to get continuous running by running through one of the staging tracks. The only thing I don't care for in the diagram is the access to the staging tracks. They could be difficult to get to.
