I posted this on RR-line too, but I thought I might as well get some more opinions.
As some of you know I've been in the planning stages of a layout for quite some time. First in the basement, where dampness and comfort are issues, and now upstairs in a room that currently holds the book cases and whatever we can't find place for elsewhere.
One of the design problems I'm encountering is that I can only fit a hand-ful of industries and I'd like more, both for building enjoyment and for operating interest. I can pretty much fit one large industry, one medium, and a couple of small industries, the small ones strung along one siding.
I had a thought this morning (my wife would reply "Uh oh!"), would it be feasible to make the industries removable and interchangeable? For instance, a large industry would be a coal-fired power plant, but if I build it in such a way that the whole plot could be removed (leaving the track in place), I could take it out and put in, say, a foundry. Take out the (medium) coal and oil dealer, drop in a scrap yard. Voila, twice the industries (although only half of them in use during any one op session), and twice the traffic.
Has anyone tried anything like this? If it's practical, I might actually be able to start building! It seems to me that blending the edges of the industry "modules" would be the hard part, but no harder than for an access lift-out.
Thanks in advance!
As some of you know I've been in the planning stages of a layout for quite some time. First in the basement, where dampness and comfort are issues, and now upstairs in a room that currently holds the book cases and whatever we can't find place for elsewhere.
One of the design problems I'm encountering is that I can only fit a hand-ful of industries and I'd like more, both for building enjoyment and for operating interest. I can pretty much fit one large industry, one medium, and a couple of small industries, the small ones strung along one siding.
I had a thought this morning (my wife would reply "Uh oh!"), would it be feasible to make the industries removable and interchangeable? For instance, a large industry would be a coal-fired power plant, but if I build it in such a way that the whole plot could be removed (leaving the track in place), I could take it out and put in, say, a foundry. Take out the (medium) coal and oil dealer, drop in a scrap yard. Voila, twice the industries (although only half of them in use during any one op session), and twice the traffic.
Has anyone tried anything like this? If it's practical, I might actually be able to start building! It seems to me that blending the edges of the industry "modules" would be the hard part, but no harder than for an access lift-out.
Thanks in advance!