09-03-2010, 05:11 PM
Great link, Stein! It's been a while since I read those pages and I remember the impact they had on my planning.
Here's another thought for you, Justin (not to muddy the waters, hopefully :oops: ). Remember that most rolling stock in On30 is short stuff so a 4 car train can look more complete in that scale than a similar train in HO. Not sure why that is, but perhaps it has to do with expectations of what a train should be?
Ditto to what biL said about a loop plan edging out other aspects of a plan. And other functions of a room, too.
And one more thought. On a small plan you can probably get most, if not all of the track laid in a reasonable amount of time, even by hand. But if your plan is track-heavy (not necessarily bad for an ISL or yard design) then consider building it in stages. My own plan can be operated once what I'm calling 'phase 1' is complete, from staging up a branch to a town and back. The next phase or two can then be completed as time and funds allow (the funding is a bigger slow-down factor at this time) and I can work on scenery/structures/rolling stock for phase 1 while waiting on the dough to accrue to build phase 2.
So if you're going to need or want to build in stages, be sure to plan it that way! The mining line looks nice, but perhaps limited in scope. Still, it could be fun if you like making trees!
Galen
Here's another thought for you, Justin (not to muddy the waters, hopefully :oops: ). Remember that most rolling stock in On30 is short stuff so a 4 car train can look more complete in that scale than a similar train in HO. Not sure why that is, but perhaps it has to do with expectations of what a train should be?
Ditto to what biL said about a loop plan edging out other aspects of a plan. And other functions of a room, too.
And one more thought. On a small plan you can probably get most, if not all of the track laid in a reasonable amount of time, even by hand. But if your plan is track-heavy (not necessarily bad for an ISL or yard design) then consider building it in stages. My own plan can be operated once what I'm calling 'phase 1' is complete, from staging up a branch to a town and back. The next phase or two can then be completed as time and funds allow (the funding is a bigger slow-down factor at this time) and I can work on scenery/structures/rolling stock for phase 1 while waiting on the dough to accrue to build phase 2.
So if you're going to need or want to build in stages, be sure to plan it that way! The mining line looks nice, but perhaps limited in scope. Still, it could be fun if you like making trees!
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!