It has been almost a year since I did anything Model Railroad related, but a trip to Seattle via Amtrak back in January has rekindled my interest in Model Railroading. I figure that this challenge may be the perfect thing to get me back into the hobby.

The project that I have chosen to adopt is simply to build a layout, or at least get started on one. I want this layout to be portable since I will most likely be moving out of my parent's house by the end of the year and I want something that I can take with me, this means I will be building something small such as an N-scale 2x4.

I promise this won't be a repeat of my last layout attempts where I dove into projects without a clear idea of what I wanted to do.

"I promise this won't be a repeat of my last layout attempts where I dove into projects without a clear idea of what I wanted to do."

We will hold you to that Justin !

Hey Justin,
It's good to see you back. I'm sorry to see that you gave up on the $500 layout. I was looking forward to your progress.

Justinmiller171 Wrote:I promise this won't be a repeat of my last layout attempts where I dove into projects without a clear idea of what I wanted to do.

:?: and I would have thought that anything would be possible in "paradise"

Post progress photos as often as possible.

Hey, how was your ride on the Empire Builder?
Ralph

Ralph Wrote:Hey, how was your ride on the Empire Builder?
Ralph

It wasn't the Empire Builder, it was the Coast Starlight. The trip was really great, I got to see some really amazing trains along the way, I even got to see a train with a caboose being used in the Portland Yard.

Mike, I was looking forward to building that layout also, but I realized that I won't even have room for a layout that small, I think the biggest I can go would be an n-scale 2x4 or an ho-scale 1x6.

D'OH! I didn't notice you are in California. For some reason I thought you were on the East Coast. Just assumed you'd take the Empire Builder since it runs past me here in St. Paul.

Justin,

Take a look at a portable layout that I designed. Just because you don't have an entire room doesn't mean that you can't have a layout. This one is made with Atlas Code 85 track and 3 snap switches. It comes apart into 3 40x20 inch sections. The locomotive is parked on the lead for the ready mix company. It's still a Lance Mindheim type ISL, just wrapped around into a loop.

Mike, trust me, I would Love to build an ho-scale layout similar to that design, but in my room I would have to put it in the center of the room to be able to reach all of the layout.

I am leaning towards building a layout based of this design that Stein made:


I imagine it being the end of an industrial spur somewhere in Portland, Oregon served by the Southern Pacific, or in Seattle, Washington served by a shortline.

Justin if you converted that to N scale you could have a run around track an interchange track a siding for a dedicated switcher a lot more scenery a, well you get the idea . Walthers N Scale Proto SW9/1200 is a sweet runner BTW. Also the N scale loco, freight cars, buildings and what have you are less exspensive as well.

Tyson Rayles Wrote:Justin if you converted that to N scale you could have a run around track an interchange track a siding for a dedicated switcher a lot more scenery a, well you get the idea . Walthers N Scale Proto SW9/1200 is a sweet runner BTW. Also the N scale loco, freight cars, buildings and what have you are less exspensive as well.

How could anyone fault that logic??????

How could anyone fault that logic??????


Don I could fault it....







...Oh yeah! I can't see it.

If I did go n-scale, I would probably build something similar to railohio's "work-in-progress" Milwaukee Road layout described here: http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic...=16&t=3365

Over the weekend I was able to get a hold of a piece of plywood to use as the benchwork for this layout. I want this layout to very easily portable, so I chose to go with a 1ft x 4ft board. 4 square feet isn't much in Ho-scale, but awhile back Mike Kieran drew up a good design for an inglenook on a 1x4 that I thought would make a great layout.

Here is my version of his plan:



As you can see it is a 3-2-2 or reduced-size Inglenook switching puzzle, but I think that this layout will also be capable of prototypical operation.

There are two industries that will be on the layout, one is a warehouse with two car-spots and a team track with one spot.

I imagine that the typical operation session would begin with the train positioned at the right end of the layout where the engine crew will speak to the warehouse manager about which cars need to switched, the engine crew would then pull into the lower-left spur and then begin switching the industries.

There most likely never be more than 5 cars on the layout at a time so there should be enough room to prevent switching from becoming too frustrating. I plan on operating it so if there are 3 cars already on the layout then the incoming train will only have 2 cars, and if there are only 2 cars on the layout then the incoming train will have 3 cars. I hope this will prevent the layout from becoming too repetitive.

Hey Justin, Thanks for the shout out. You flatter me . You can even make it a 3 for 3 switch. If you flip a coin (Heads=two cars, Tails=three cars) or roll a dice (Odds=3, Evens=2), you can have a random number of cars plus room to switch. You have a great operating Scheme planned regardless.