I have a purpose built 14' x 18' room in the basement of our new house. It is independently wired as my layout/modeling room. I am 61 years old and am going with N scale. I know exactly what industries, cities, yards, etc. I am planning to model. I have several track planning software programs, but have not been able to get my mind around a layout. What I am looking for is the best place to look at track plans, not for plagiarist reasons, but to jump start my brain. (That's hard at my age). Any advice would be appreciated.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...cale+track+plans&aq=f&aqi=g4g-m6&aql=&oq=good a place to start, good luck with the layout :thumbs_up:
A couple examples: Appalachian Railroad Modeling - Home Trackplans | Modelrailroader.ca Always remember, don't just look at plans for your scale, your space, or your prototype/era. All sorts of plans contain useful ideas.
well Well jeez there are quite a few guys here that like to plan and doodle. Write up what you want with those cities, yards, and industries you are talking about and lets see what we come up with. I can lay straight pieces and curves with xtrakcad and then liven it up a bit with paint for quick examples. There are others on here who can lay the whole thing out in an evening while watching Castle and White collar. let us know an we can throw you some ideas.
Some more: Evolution of a N Gauge - 3' x 5' Layout for the absolute beginner The yard on this plan is the most inspiring I've ever seen; it warrants study. More useful than the often-posted Yard Design I keep a file of inspiring layouts. I've dumped it before, but wow, most of the links don't work anymore. So here are some that still do: Modeling Photos of the Week, 07 May 2008 - TrainBoard.com 93 x 114 Layout With Yard Extension - RailImages.com 93x113 Track Plan - RailImages.com Track Plan - Revised - Version 3 - RailImages.com Track Plan - RailImages.com The original - RailImages.com http://www.lwmweb.com/sw&sf/plan6b.gif The Mountain Scenic Railway: N Scale 4X8 Interacting with Miniature Railroading http://www.pegnsean.net/pics/trains/TBA_SAC/tbasac4.jpg http://gustafson.home.westpa.net/Trackplan_top_level2.jpg Lostock Junction and the Likely Lads What I like about this one is its all-curves design. Don't make your layout with as poor of access as this one. http://www.sdsons.org/images/pdl-layout.gif Tehachapi, Cajon, and More! http://www.moba-trickkiste.de/images/stories/gleisplaene/jnes-f1.jpg http://www.gleisplan.ch/bin/plaene09/plan_09.17_illu.png http://www.majhost.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=106323 Chattanooga Choo Choo Model Railroad - Modelling - Gallery - Photos of Narrow Gauge Railways Talmun Valley RR Trackplan - RailImages.com http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/585/Junction.jpg Show me your track plan - Page 2 - TrainBoard.com http://www.chinarail.be/FENGSHAMODEL.jpg http://www.katousa.com/images/unitrack/3-0680.jpg lower middle levels on my SVPR layout - RailImages.com Middle upper levels on my SVPR layout - RailImages.com Unitrack Layout Help/Ideas ??? - Page 2 - TrainBoard.com Miscellaneous Märklin Even catalog layouts can be inspiring. (most under "Dutch" section) bogobit - my mrklin layout on 1.5 m² http://www.mini-things.com/layout.html Layout Railz Miniworld - The largest modelrailroad layout of the Netherlands Be cautious of duplicating these too closely; they do look rather abstracted, to put it nicely (and I do like the look of some of them). A reminder of what happens if you go overboard on track: http://homepage3.nifty.com/paul_hi-speedrailway/RAIOUT0A.htm Common on display layouts, particularly in Japan. But if you know what you want, the best thing to do is ask for help. Possibly more important than the prototype, though, are your constraints and requirements.
