Choosing an idea for a layout


C

chessplayer

New Member
Hi all, I am brand new to the hobby (but fairly expierenced in moddeling in general), I decided to get into trains mostly because my son loves them and although he's far too young to really participate at this point I figure it will be something for us to do in the future and give him some fun stuff to look at now. I've decided to start with a very small layout so I can get the hang of everything. I've made a few decisions so far:

I'd like to model in N scale
I'm going to start with a 2x4 layout
I'm thinking about going with a point to point layout
I want to do prototype moddeling

I've almost completed the benchwork but that's as far as I've gotten so far. I'm having trouble coming up with an actual idea for the layout itself, time period/region etc... There's just so many options, I was wondering how you guys go through the choosing process when beginning your layouts?

Thanks in advance,
Kyle
 
chessplayer said:
Hi all, I am brand new to the hobby (but fairly expierenced in moddeling in general), I decided to get into trains mostly because my son loves them and although he's far too young to really participate at this point I figure it will be something for us to do in the future and give him some fun stuff to look at now. I've decided to start with a very small layout so I can get the hang of everything. I've made a few decisions so far:

I'd like to model in N scale
I'm going to start with a 2x4 layout
I'm thinking about going with a point to point layout
I want to do prototype moddeling

I've almost completed the benchwork but that's as far as I've gotten so far. I'm having trouble coming up with an actual idea for the layout itself, time period/region etc... There's just so many options, I was wondering how you guys go through the choosing process when beginning your layouts?

Thanks in advance,
Kyle
Click to expand...

I will be starting a new layout hopefully in the spring. I currently model 1956 simply because I liked the look and details of the intricate moving parts on a steam loco, but about a year ago it occurred to me how fondly I remember the summer of 74. So I decided to create that look/scene of 1974. I've been collecting cars, autos, and now have two diesels for that era.

My new layout will be a branch line that will be able to accommodate both eras I model. Since the area I will be modelling doesn't look much different from 1956 to 1974, I will be able to get away with it even though it will be a fun challenge. I think it will be fun to have the layout depict a specific era one week and another week another simply by hiding the era I don't want to play with at the time in a staging area.
 
Thanks ratled, very helpful site. That sounds very cool zoegraf, are you going to be moddeling a specfic region and railroad company as well? Or just the time period?
 
Welcome to the boards & the hobby, Kyle. :)

I'm modelling in N too, mainly due to size constraints. If you want point-to-point simply because you like that style of operations then fair enough, but don't think for a second that a 2x4' space can't fit a loop in N scale. This website has a fantastic selection of 2x4 layouts that you could build or use as a template.

As for choosing what to do, I'll run through my thought process seeing as I've only recently started modelling again.

-I wanted to model an alpine region so northern North America was an obvious choice for setting.
-I live in Australia and therefore didn't have any attachment to any particular railroad like many here do, so I had no real preference as to which one I would model.
-I knew though that I really want to get sound happening eventually, but this can be difficult in N due to space limitations, so I looked up trains with wide bodies. The F45 stood out and of course there's the E & F-units. Of the railroads that used F45s, the Burlington Northern stood out because green is my favorite colour. :D
-I didn't want to limit myself to just BN though, so I chose the early 70s for my time period as pre-merger GN, CB&Q, etc. liveries were still in use.
-MRRing should be fun, so rather than complete realism & rivet counting I am modelling the BN with a healthy dose of creative license (as I think many do). For example the California Zephyr didn't stop in 1970, CB&Q took it over and it came to BN in the merger. Sorry, what is this "Amtrak" you speak of? Never heard of it! :D Give me a Big Boy and I'll think up some reason for my version of the BN to have it. ;)

Ratled's link is really good too (going to give that a good read myself later).
 
chessplayer said:
Thanks ratled, very helpful site. That sounds very cool zoegraf, are you going to be moddeling a specfic region and railroad company as well? Or just the time period?
Click to expand...


I'll be modelling Canadian National Railways in the Maritime province of New Brunswick, but in an economically depressed area that didn't look much different than it did in the 1950's - dirt roads, wooden structures, etc hence I will be modelling both 1956 and 1974. Structures will be very limited on my new layout or at least removable. Automobiles, signs, posts, etc will also be removable and exchanged accordingly to the appropriate date perhaps even some structures.

Here are shots of my trains - one is a 1956 train the other a 1974 train; it's a older shot before I put the ACI labels/plates on them.
 
Kyle, It took me 6 months to figure out my track layout and I'm sure that was minimal compared to others. I went through a million rail joiners. My 4x8 layout is all but finished and now I'm dreaming up my next "bigger" project. You can do an awful lot with N guage. Beauty of this hobby is your always working on bigger and better.
 
I chose the mid west for my n scale layout because I live in Chicago, like the scenery, and can easily get pics or ideas by walking out my door. I chose the 1970s for the variety of rolling stock plus the variety of buildings and vehicles. The railroad scene was rapidly changing in the 70s so it gave me a lot of options to model different roads, pre or post merger. Good luck


Sent from the past
 
chessplayer said:
I'd like to model in N scale
I'm going to start with a 2x4 layout
I'm thinking about going with a point to point layout
I want to do prototype moddeling

I've almost completed the benchwork but that's as far as I've gotten so far.
Click to expand...
Well, I think a point-to-point in the space of a 2x4 is going to be tricky at best. In 2.5 x 5 might be more reasonable. 2x8 would be much better. Then you might want to consider an out and back type. Those are kind of nice because it can be operated like a point-to-point and still have a continous run. One just has to pretend like the train is going to a different place instead of back to where it came from. My son's HO layout is an out and back in 4x8.

Atlas has an HO plan #18 posted on their web site. It is a point-to-point that could be adapted to N-scale to fit into the space you indicated. It is called the Rahway Valley Railroad. http://www.atlasrr.com/Code100web/pages/10018.htm



I'm having trouble coming up with an actual idea for the layout itself, time period/region etc... There's just so many options, I was wondering how you guys go through the choosing process when beginning your layouts?
Click to expand...
I have a work sheet that I give to the Youth In Model Railroading members when they are making such decisions.
First I recommend reducing all those choices into a more reasonable number. For example, you have stated your space is 2x4. That means the maximum radius curve you can have is 11". Practicality says you don't want to choose an region/railroad etc. that has massive equipment because it won't fit around those corners. Also is the length of the equipment. If you go with the modern times railroad cars are generally 50' and larger. Contrast that with the 1940s when equipment was generally 40' long. Think of how many cars of each type will fit into the limited space of a 2x4. Another option would be to choose and area where the short 26' iron ore cars dominate (Lake Superior).

Then consider your other stated preferences. An excellent prototype for a point-to-point are short lines. One of my favorite is the Petticoat Junction type railroad the Lousiville & Wadley. It was a 10 mile railroad, that serviced the textile mills in Louisville from the Central of Georgia main in Wadley. Point-to-Point. If the era choosen is pre 1970s the equipment would be a single locomotive of the 4-6-0 type, after that time a single GP or SW1. Perfect for a tiny layout.

Another example of a slightly larger short line would be the Belfast and Moosehead Lake in Maine. There have to be 100s of such short lines to choose from. It just takes a bit of time to research them out. Much easier today than it was in pre-internet days. My problem is every time I find a new one I want to model it!
 
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