What to put on my layout

How do you decide what your railroad will do for you. What I mean is what kind of industries, city life. I have a plan but know ideal what to put on it.

Its HO, L-shape 11 by 6.

10007.jpg


Thanks, Andy
 

LIRR

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Dec 19, 2004
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Looks like it could be a shortline that serves a carfloat. (the siding at the top right) Or if you want to get interesting, an innercity commuter line.
 

shortliner

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Dec 23, 2004
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Andy -You need to know what you want to do - as it standsYou can have 3 trains -
#1 in the single siding on the right hand side, #2 in the run-round loop, and#3 running round the circuit. Of course, you can't do anything with the one in the siding , unless you are running DCC. That's going to get "old" very quickly!......
So, what are you interested in? Do you want to do switching - you'll need some more customers sidings and, if possible, a small yard to sort out the cars for switching. You could put a passenger station alongside that run round - but if you put a Passenger train in one side, you can't run round your freight cars, and if the Freight is out on the main, where do you put the Passenger train? Do you need to add a loco service facility? Icing platforms? Freight house? Stockyard? Port? What era? - steam or diesel? 40' cars? 50' cars? modern 86' cars? What sort of locos?
I think you need to have a good think about where your interests lie, what you want to do, and then start thinking about the trackplan and how much space you have to fit it in to. 11 x 6 sounds great - BUT - is it going to have it's long edge against a wall? if so you are going to have to reach across 4 feet or so to reach the train that just derailed on that rear track!
Sorry to sound negative, but until you can answer those questions, the question of what to put in it scenery-wise is a no-brainer.
Shortliner(Jack) away up here in the Highlands
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Oct 31, 2002
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Hi Andy,

My advice would be to scrap the plan until you decide what you are interested in doing with your trains. If you like running trains through scenery, that would be one type of layout. If you like the inner-city industrial switching, that is entirely different. Think about what sorts of things you want your trains to do, and then go from there.

An example - my modules that I am building for the local club will be rural southern Ontario in the 1920s and 30s. Most towns had a coal dealer, ice dealer, maybe a grain elevator, a small team track with a stock pen, and so on. The railroad was not interested in giving each of these litle industries a siding, so my track plan is a single main line, with a double ended siding on one side, and a stub ended siding on the other. The stub ended siding serves the coal and ice dealers, and will run around the back of the small station/freight shed as a house track.

Andrew