Design Help


A

ajroland

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Ok, here is my story. About a year ago after becoming frustrated with my own efforts I hired a designer to design a layout in my space. I was put on his waiting list and after 10 months he still had not gotten to me. So, he refunded my deposit and here I am back at square one. I see that there are many talented designers on this forum. So, anyone that is willing to help me, I would appreciate it. I really don't want to wait anymore. I going to start something plan or no plan. My room is 115"x90" with a 28" door in one corner. I 'll try to post a sketch of the room. I want to have a model somewhat based on modern day Norfolk Southern. The layout will run modern loco's and an Amtrack passenger train (my son insist on a passenger train) Our idea is to have the passenger train run through the wall into our office where there will be a passenger station. We want the layout to have continuous run, we are willing to live with a duck under at the door. We want a fair amount of switching on the layout, like working small one or two track industries. I have some prototype sketches if that would help. But, it can be simply made up. Also, I plan to attach the bench work to the walls. Any help or advice is appreciated. I am having problems posting my sketch, I will keep trying.
 
More INformation

Did I mention that the layout will be N scale and DCC.
 
Welcome aboard!!

Have you decided on Scale? N scale might be good in you space. I'm in the same position as you, building a new layout in a similar space but I have a heap of HO already.

Ken.
 
drawings

Rough sketch of a branch line near my home with a few of the industries that are worked. Also, a sketch of Millen yard located in Millen, GA and Tennille Yard hand drawn. I would like to maybe incorporate some of this into the layout or something similar. At the Tennille Yard a interchange takes place with another railroad, they bring cars over and the NS switcher takes the cars off of them. The Millen yard also has an exchange but both are NS trains. We just want our model to be a working railroad as well as having some through trains at the same time. Anyway, my problem has always been trying to come up with a plan that works. Help me if you can.
 
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Ok, here is my story. About a year ago after becoming frustrated with my own efforts I hired a designer to design a layout in my space. I was put on his waiting list and after 10 months he still had not gotten to me. So, he refunded my deposit and here I am back at square one. I see that there are many talented designers on this forum. So, anyone that is willing to help me, I would appreciate it. I really don't want to wait anymore. I going to start something plan or no plan. My room is 115"x90" with a 28" door in one corner. I 'll try to post a sketch of the room. I want to have a model somewhat based on modern day Norfolk Southern. The layout will run modern loco's and an Amtrack passenger train (my son insist on a passenger train) Our idea is to have the passenger train run through the wall into our office where there will be a passenger station. We want the layout to have continuous run, we are willing to live with a duck under at the door. We want a fair amount of switching on the layout, like working small one or two track industries. I have some prototype sketches if that would help. But, it can be simply made up. Also, I plan to attach the bench work to the walls. Any help or advice is appreciated. I am having problems posting my sketch, I will keep trying.

The question before is critical. What scale? I had a hard time reading the sketches. What is the location?

You say you can punch the wall for a passenger station. What about for staging? How about staging and a passenger station? If you don't know or don't think you want staging, read this? What is Staging and Why do I Need It?

Which wall would you poke through and what is the layout of that room?

How high is the window?

What do you want to see in the way of scenery?

Take as much writing space as you want but tell us, when you close your eyes and visualize your layout, what do you see? The more descriptivve you are the better we can fill your vision. The less descriptive you are, the less likely we are to come close.

I may have more questions.
 
by the end of the week you should have something great. If I had time (hint hint, wasn't working on stuff myself), I'd draw one up. If nothing comes in the next week, I'll draw one up anyways.
 
The window is 24" high. The window does not really matter that much because it can be covered. To answer some of your other questions. I invision a simulation of a working railroad. I would like to have an interchange point such as a freight yard. I see a small local train working several small industires, like a cement plant, grain elevator, maybe a furniture plant, anything that fits. This local comes into the freight yard and yards its cars where they are picked up by a main line train. What I enjoy is building the models, structures, doing the painting that kind of thing. My son enjoys operating the railroad he is 12. Yes, staging would be nice to have. I don't know if I have room for it other than having it on the layout somewhere. Maybe a lower level if that were possible. In my room sketch you will see an x''d out portion in the other room. I had envisioned having a shelf in that room with a passenger station would be. This would kind of be a neat show piece I think. I don't want to take up a lot of room in my office though. Maybe, this could double as a staging area. In my home area of Georgia most of the railroads are single track mainline. However, for my layout I would consider a double track mainline simply to allow for more traffic. Secondly, if possible it would be nice to have some area of the layout with a country woodland scence where the train crosses a river or some body of water. A duck under is fine with me or maybe a swinging gate. I would have knocked out the entire wall between my office and the train room. The problem is it is a load bearing wall. Well, these are some of my thoughts. Feel free to ask me anything you need.
 
N Scale

The scale is N. The location is Georgia. I plan to model scenery from my home state of Georgia. I am most familar with the Central of GA territory on Norfolk Southern.
 
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The scale is N. The location is Georgia. I plan to model scenery from my home state of Georgia. I am most familar with the Central of GA territory on Norfolk Southern.

I'm not familiar with Georgia other than flying into the Atlanta, getting lost and driving clear around on the beltway. How would you characterize the topography you are modeling--flat, hilly, mountains, lakes, rivers, forests, farms, plantations, swamps? A picture or two would be cool.
 
I would characterize this area by part forest with lots of creeks and small rivers, some small hills, mostly rural towns. In fact the city or town scene on my layout will probably be a small rural town with a grain elevator. The trees next to the tracks is mostly hardwoods with some pine trees. Some areas are covered in Kudzu. As far as the towns if you can picture a crossroads with a caution light and rr track running right down the middle of town with a few small shops next to the tracks, nothing like Atlanta. I would like to put some type of overhead bridge for traffic somewhere on the layout if I figure out where to put it.
 
Georgia Area

A couple of photos of a typical scene on a Georgia RR.
 
Okay, I have a few ideas, but I probably won't get to anything for a few days.

As a side note: Kudzu has some unique healing properties that few people know about, especially people from the areas where it grows for some reason.

It is used to reduce cravings for people trying to break alcohol addiction.
 
I never knew that. The stuff grows around here everywhere. You can almost hear it growing it grows so fast. Let me say I appreciate you taking an interest in my rr project. I can't wait to see what you come up with.
 
Ajroland: I"llgive it a try ,too!
N scale is also my favorite...
To start we've got enough information to make a " rough scetch" and just like Chip writes: it will take some (2-3) days...
Hop we can give you a good start!!!

Jos
 
Sounds good

Sounds good. I've been tinkering with 3rd Planit the last few days myself. It will be interesting to see some fresh ideas.
 



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