Designing My HO-Scale Room Layout

[steinjr]

And Here is my latest design...


I will be using a 4x6 for the main section of the layout( A 4x8 would be much to cumbersome to work on), there are 5 2x4 sections and one 2x6 section with is based on a design by Bryon Henderson:http://www.layoutvision.com/gallery/id22.html

Many of the 2x4's are scenery only, these will be useful in making the layout seem bigger than it really is, and they should be really easy to build

In my opinion, for whatever it may be worth, a worse design than your previous design with the big turn-back loops.

Some more specific comments:

4x6 in corner: reach issues at top and upper left hand corner (especially if layout is high), 18" radius inner loop with little straight track for couple or uncoupling cars.

Small loop for continuous run - short train can just run around and around and around in the same direction all the time, with half the loop hidden in a tunnel and half visible.

When you want to come out again from inner loop, you either have to back up all the way to the yard or to staging, or "cheat" by uncoupling engine, run around loop and couple to other end of train.

Yard at left end - very little yard capacity (8 -9 cars at max), and few places for trains to work at the layout, yet still a turntable with tracks for three engines.

Trains heading counterclockwise into the yard will get their engine trapped. To pull cars of engines and free up engine, inbound train must either be very short (if you plan for an engine to come out of the roundtable area yard to pull the cars off the trapped engine) , or you need to have a switcher hidden in that small, pretty inaccessible spur in far upper left corner of 4x6.

If you do, don't ever forget to throw that turnout up there in the upper left hand corner of the 4x6 - a derailment up in that corner will be pretty inconvenient to fix.

Industries on far right of layout : short runaround - you can run around perhaps 4 cars.

Except when there are cars parked at the industry in the siding on the siding, of course. If the runaround cannot be used, you will have to back up all around the layout when you return. The "runaround used for industry" was also there on the Lance Mindheim plan I showed you. But there the distance to back up was far less, and there were room for more cars on the runaround.

To switch two aisle side industries at far right of layout, you need to bring out outbound cars one at a time through a shortish switchback lead, and then bring in new cars one at a time through the same short switchback lead.

I would recommend stepping away from the CAD program and instead coming up with a clear list of givens and druthers.

Stein