Island layouts

[steinjr]

What about a layout that is shaped like a + sign? The center portion could be the peak of a large mountain. The "arms" of the "plus" could be about 5 feet wide, and since you can access both sides you can easily reach the center. The shape could lead so some interesting, winding track plans. Perhaps one of the "arms" could be a stub-ended yard used for staging.

Actually, this concept could offer some real options: for instance, how about a fixed centre portion, with each "arm" of the plus sign being modular? As long as you have space to store additional modules, you could create totally differently-themed layouts - urban, branchline, logging - whatever appeals to your personal interests. Or mainline continuous running (for entertaining non-modeller visitors or as a Christmas display), or a switching district, with a waterfront scene on one arm, a steel plant on the next, etc., etc.

The modules could be done as self-contained units, complete with legs, (this would use a lot of storage space if you had too many modules, though), or with only the layout portion modular, with the support legs as a permanent or semi-permanent part of the centre section.

Sure, modular can be flexible. But what would be the specific advantage of having a hub-and-spoke (or "plus" or "star") shape layout with a fixed center and a fixed number of flexible arms, compared with just putting together flexible modules in whatever pattern happened to fit the desired purpose at any given time - long and narrow, doughnut-shaped or generic "octopus" shaped or whatever ?

Anyways - what MountainMan actually does have room for in his layout room without blocking access to all the doors etc he needs access to (unless he has changed layouts rooms since the last time this was discussed, in March 2009) is an L-shaped N scale layout where one part is about 5 x 7 foot and the other part is about 2.5 x 6.5 feet, fit into the room in such a way that two adjoining sides of the 2.5 x 6.5 part is up against walls.

Charlie drew it like this back in March 2009:

http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/download/...hp?id=1758

Seems like a reasonable footprint for a room that size and shape.

Best route forward from there is probably to try to identify three scenes he want.

One possible rough idea would be:
Scene 1 (2.5 x 6.5 foot wing): junction town with interchange and small yard
Scene 2 (lower left hand corner of main 5x7 part): some kind of en-route location
Scene 3 (upper right hand corner of main 5x7 part): some kind of end-of-line location

Then work on placing a sensible sized mountain (possibly up against a center backdrop) in an arc from the upper left hand corner across to the middle of the right side of the 5x7 and along the upper wall of the 2.5 x 6.5 part.

And then start tweaking track plans, scenery plans and possibly benchwork.

Grin,
Stein