Possibly getting back into model trains, any comments or suggestions on this layout?

[lappdawg27]

So way back when I was a kid I had a few HO trains. Then in the early 2000s I built a 4x8 HO layout, got the track done and wired up to dcc w/ turnout control. I then bought my first house and after I moved the layout, I did start the scenery but never got very far. I ended up selling the layout locally and a lot of the trains and buildings on eBay.

Fast forward to the other day. For some reason I got the itch to try trains again but I want to go pretty small. I am considering going to N scale and doing the famous "layout in a coffee table" idea. I would like to do a 3x5 layout inside a table. After looking at some ideas online and on Youtube I came up with a pretty interesting scenario that would allow a complete prototypical shortline operation in this size.

The Columbia & Reading Railway was started a few years ago to serve a small scrap dealer in Columbia, PA. At first they received and shipped cars of scrap metal but it seems lately that they are buying old railcars to scrap themselves (and even a few locomotives here and there). The line is an old Reading branch, of which they operate the first 2 miles or so (probably less than that). The scrap yard is the only customer. They have a single Alco S2 locomotive.

I downloaded the trial version of AnyRail and came up with this trackplan, which includes the connection to NS, and is almost spot-on as far as track layout (albeit in a smaller space and constrained a little). The locomotive is stored at the scrap yard, which is completely fenced-in (the red line on the layout). Cars to be scrapped are often sitting at the two tracks outside the yard, on the siding at the right corner, and on the interchange track.

My big question is this: Since the layout is going to be inside a table, and sometimes I would prefer to just watch the trains go, should I make a loop somehow to allow continuous running? I thought of maybe extending the track at the bottom around to the back and maybe under the layout to hide it...or maybe do a scenic divider to hide a tunnel going under the layout. Another consideration I thought of is having the entire layout able to be raised out of the table to allow you to do a prototypical switching run.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

 

[jdetray]

Welcome back to the hobby! I left it for more than 40 years before returning a few years ago.

It seems to me that only YOU can answer your "big question." If you want continuous running, then yes, you'll need a loop. If you don't, you won't! We can not make that decision for you.

If you construct the layout with any hidden track, be sure you will have access to the hidden portion(s) after the layout is installed in the table. If you do not have access, Murphy's Law guarantees that you'll have a derailment on the hidden trackage.

- Jeff

 

[Iron Horseman]

Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

What is "EY"? Does the NS track terminate here or does it pass on through? If the NS is passing through it seems to me the crossover in the bottom would be the opposite direction to give it easier access to the interchange.

I would make the rightmost turnout on the run-around track to be a left handed one so there is less of an s-curve.

The big question is always the big question, especially with point-to-point designs. Having an NS loop and a hidden place to park the NS train would be a great addition. However I would not let that ruin the existing plan. As a prior posted noted if you do this make certain the "hidden" areas are easily accessible from the side or back due to derailments and the like.

 

[lappdawg27]

EY stands for East Yard, which is the old Pennsy name, there is no yard here now. The NS line is the bottom track and does continue on both ends in real life. The track layout at the interchange is exactly how it is in real life. The NS local that drops the cars off often has a locomotive on both ends to facilitate switching moves.

I actually thought about looping the NS track and have the NS local freight deliver the cars...or when I am in the mood just have it run around in circles. So many decisions to make!!