Monday 10-9 and Where Did It Come From?

TomPM

Another Fried Egg Fan
Oct 15, 2002
3,335
0
36
62
Drexel Hill, PA
www.trainweb.org
Good morning folks

Not much modeling this weekend. I did weather the wheels and trucks for an Atlas two-bay hopper and a Kadee PS-1 covered hopper.

Where did your track plan originate? (Self design, Book, someone else's design etc)

For me it started with a book. It was one of Model Railroader’s books. Off the top of my head I can’t remember which one and it is buried under a pile of stuff right now. It was the one that feature a lot of 4x8 layouts. I used one of the plans from that to get the basic concept and from there I have been adding and modifying ever since. I don’t have a plan drawn. I am making it up as I go along. I lay track down and change things as I need. I use the various buildings to spot sidings and roads and go from there.
 
Even though everyone keeps telling me not to, that sounds like the same plan I have in mind. I even have a modification to the books plan in mind, using a 2x4ft area for a staging yard for my equipment. Only problem I have, is it uses a lot of 18" curves, which wouldn't give me much room to use bigger equipment, especially since I want to model modern. Maybe I can modify it to use 22" and 24", instead of 18" and 22". Would that work out the same?
 
The original half of my layout came from Atlas. I think it was the N-11. I flipped it and made a few mods, but mostly stuck with the plan. The newer half of my layout came by trial and error. I designed it on the computer with a large yard and a large industrial area, but after having the track down for a few months I realized it wasn't what I wanted. I recently modified it and I think this new configuration is going to work. Hey, I may get it right yet.:rolleyes: :D :rolleyes: :D
 
i'm still working on mine, but it is partially freelanced, partially from prototypical sites with a smidgen of Iian Rices's and other's ideas and expertise. It's basically a loop, so it's not too complicated, although it has been in previous design deviations. I have a feeling that it will change again once I install the benchwork and start laying out the trackplan.
 
Two of my stations came from Peco track plan books, although one was turned end-for-end (and I think introduced some operating problems.) The rest of the plan came out as what fitted around the walls. I designed the third station myself and it probably breaks all the prototype rules.
 
Self designed. I started with a sketch of the room, drew in what looked like feasible benchwork, then added a rough track design. I made modifications as I test-fit the track using some buildings from a previous layout. So far (it's incomplete) I am happy with what I've done, although I started in the middle and am working toward the staging yards at each end. Should have started on the end.
 
i used the atlas track planner i got off the website. i think its pretty rad. saves a lot of trial error, plus it gives you a idea on how much your gunna spend. mines gunna be a three times around with a nice switch yard, a dead end yard for rolling stock and a nice size industrial area. its a 5X10 table with ply-wood top right now, but here comes the winter
 
First layout was from Model Railroad/Kalmbach books, based largely on the Beaver Creek or something like that...

New modules are inspired by various prototype locations, more or less. My town is fictional, but the track plan follows railway practice.

Andrew