Layout In The Planning Stages

[quakers1]

I have just fell in love with the former SP Cascade Sub in Oregon. I am Drawing plans for two of the portions. I might do the segment from Eugene to Oakridge or Chiloquin to Klamath Falls. The Chiloquin-Klamath Falls will probably be final. I don't know much about the UP era on the line. All the info I know is Southern Pacific era. So I'm gonna probably do it in the mid-90s. The info I know is from that time period. I am still deciding which scale to do it in. Here's my preferences: I like to have locals from 10-20 cars. For longer trains I like 35 cars upwards. In N scale, 40-50 cars seems pretty reasonable to me. Which scale would fit me? I'm not sure. And if you have any tips for a nice layout, I'll be thrilled to hear them!

-quakers1

 

[UP2CSX]

Check over at the Model Railroading magazine site. If you are already a subscriber to MR, you can access hundreds fo plans. If you're not, it's probably worth it to get to see so many plans.

The big issue is how much space do you have available. That will dictate your scale more than the length of trains you want. You can easily run 50 car trains in HO - you just need about twice the space. The advantage of HO is that there's way more SP/UP equipment available than N gauge. N gauge is really nice because you can have way more scenery so the train doesn't dominate the layout. But, first, we need to determine how space you have and what shape the space is in.

 

[quakers1]

I might be able to have a 20x30 room to work with. It seems that would be able to house a monterous layout. It is under construction at the time.

-quakers1

 

[grande man]

20x30 feet = HO, IMHO.

 

[jbaakko]

I dunno, if you can handle the small size, N scale in 20x30 would mean one MASSIVE layout, you could get ALLOT in that space.

 

[quakers1]

I seems like a room around 15x25 would work. But I might do the NS Pittsburgh Line(the section from Altoona to Johnstown) in HO scale. How much room will I need for a decent sized HO route?

-quakers1

 

[UP2CSX]

My rule of thumb is that you need about 40 square feet for a decent HO layout and 100 square feet will get you a nice empire. A lot depends on how the space is arranged. You'll get a lot more layout if you can go along the walls with some extensions at the end for loops that you will from a 10'x10' square space.

 

[quakers1]

I'm trying to get the most space I can get so I can do the NS Pittsburgh Line. And who would forget to model the Horseshoe Curve? I just love to see NS locos lugging a long train up a steep grade. I found some old Conrail Track Charts online that has alot of stuff on the Pittsburgh Line. I'm going to draw different track plans today.

-quakers1

 

[SpaceMouse]

Instead of starting with your space, start with your vision. When you imagine your layout, what do you see? Then see how your space fits your vision.

Take a look at my beginner's guide to layout design--clickable in my signature. Takes about 5 minutes.

 

[quakers1]

When I imagine an N scale layout, I see a good-sized shelf layout with a backdrop, several industries, a few grades, spectacular scenery, and realistic operation. When I picture a HO scale layout, I seem to picture a walk around layout for some reason. I have heard two levels can double the operation oppurtunities. Is that true?

-quakers1

 

[HaggisKennedy]

I've seen a couple-three Horseshoe Curve layouts in person, and a couple more in the magazine articles with trackplans, and I have to say that doing the Curve area realistically is hard to do. Usually, it's either the approach or the tail end that's wrong or doesn't look right. The owner tried to put the Curve somewhere, and the remaining parts are curved the wrong way, or curved period where there wasn't any curves, and then Bingo! you're in Gallitzin.

The one that I thought was done the best was the one that was on the upper level of a barn. The only problem was that when you got to MG tower, the part after that was missing and it was hard to follow to get to the entrance of the tunnels.

All they layouts I'm talking about are HO, btw. We're also talking about large basements, around the walls with peninsulas everywhere. I have a 22x11 space, and I can't see doing Altoona to Johnstown in it. Not in HO, anyway. Remember, a 60' boxcar in HO scale is about 8" long (60'x12"/87). 35 cars is 25' long. And that's not even counting the Dash 9s you're using to pull, and the 2xSD40-2s as pushers.

The main issue I see is that if you're going to run a train 35+ cars long, you're going to run into issues where the head end is next to the Park while the pushers are just passing Alto Tower. Selective compression and all. You're probably going to have to do some scenic blocks or hidden areas so you can't tell it's all one big train.

Kennedy

 

[quakers1]

I've read in some track plan books that you can run 12 foot trains on some of the larger layouts. How long is 12 feet in HO? I know that 12-13 foot long trains in N are very long.

-quakers1

 

[HaggisKennedy]

A 12' long HO train would be about 17 60' boxcars. You're talking a scale 1044' train. In N scale, that'd be about 32 60' boxcars; it's a scale 1920' train.

You have to remember that if you're running modern stuff, it'll be the 60' boxcars, 32,000 gallon tank cars, 53' mill gons, covered hoppers, etc., etc. All them cars are long! And, we're not even talking about the 89' TOFC flats or the intermodal well cars.

Kennedy

 

[quakers1]

N scale would be better with long equipment. I am space limited so N scale would be my scale to do. I might do the Tehachapi Pass in N Scale, but if I do HO some kind of way, I might do the PRR Middle Division(Altoona-Lewistown). It seems like transition era equipment is not as long as modern era equipment. The longest transition era equipment is larger steam locos(2-10-4s,4-8-4s,2-6-6-2s, and 4-8-4s). My favorite transition era rail carriers are the PRR and the Reading.

-quakers1