09-20-2009, 09:35 PM
Just a quick sketch of one possible conceptual way to get fit in three reasonably sized scenes and double ended staging (representing both east and west staging) in the area you have:
![[Image: wiredup.jpg]](http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp124/steinjr_1965/forum3/wiredup.jpg)
Scene B (which would be the station scene) could be about 18-24" deep and 12 feet long, from about 1/3rd of the way up the left wall to about 2/3rds of the way across the the top wall, while scene A and B each could be about 24" deep and 7 feet long, with about 2 feet for a transition area between each scene.
Should be possible to fit in a passenger depot w/platform for an 8 car trains (about 4 1/2 feet long, including the engine), a couple of station sidings, including perhaps a team track where freight cars of any kind could be dropped off (and unloaded into the customer's truck in some way), and some basic en route engine service facilities - like a coaling tower & water.
Even though I have drawn staging as being "behind" the mainline (ie closer to the walls), it obviously should be as far out towards the aisle as you can make it, so you can see and reach okay. 6" from track level to track level may seem a lot, but once you figure in the thickness of the layout above (at least 2"), it is not a lot of space. Might be that a using a couple of helixes at the ends instead of a nolix (continuous grade) would work better here, to allow you a full 4" between the top of the trains in staging and the bottom of the shelf above, to comfortably see and reach in.
I probably also would have put the main level at 48-52" off the floor, which would put the tracks at the staging level at about 42-46" off the floor. That should be a decent height for operating the layout sitting on an office chair with wheels under, and standing up to fix things or work on the layout. As I mentioned before, the helicopter viewing perspective is hard to carry off in a convincing way.
To get an idea about what kind of stuff could potensially fit into a 12 foot station scene in N scale, I tried to work up a medium sized RR station with engine change/engine service tracks, a couple of passing sidings, a passenger depot, some storage/yard tracks and two/three industries:
![[Image: wiredup02b.jpg]](http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp124/steinjr_1965/forum3/wiredup02b.jpg)
I used Peco code 80 medium turnouts and flextrack, so it would not be a drop-in design using sectional track, but it may still give you some rough ideas about things you potentially could do with such a station.
I am not familiar with Canadian Railroading in the Rockies, so it may very well be that the elevator scene is severely misplaced - feel free to replace it with a lumber mill or some kind of mine related industry or whatever seems appropriate for the type of scene you are trying to create.
Smile,
Stein
Scene B (which would be the station scene) could be about 18-24" deep and 12 feet long, from about 1/3rd of the way up the left wall to about 2/3rds of the way across the the top wall, while scene A and B each could be about 24" deep and 7 feet long, with about 2 feet for a transition area between each scene.
Should be possible to fit in a passenger depot w/platform for an 8 car trains (about 4 1/2 feet long, including the engine), a couple of station sidings, including perhaps a team track where freight cars of any kind could be dropped off (and unloaded into the customer's truck in some way), and some basic en route engine service facilities - like a coaling tower & water.
Even though I have drawn staging as being "behind" the mainline (ie closer to the walls), it obviously should be as far out towards the aisle as you can make it, so you can see and reach okay. 6" from track level to track level may seem a lot, but once you figure in the thickness of the layout above (at least 2"), it is not a lot of space. Might be that a using a couple of helixes at the ends instead of a nolix (continuous grade) would work better here, to allow you a full 4" between the top of the trains in staging and the bottom of the shelf above, to comfortably see and reach in.
I probably also would have put the main level at 48-52" off the floor, which would put the tracks at the staging level at about 42-46" off the floor. That should be a decent height for operating the layout sitting on an office chair with wheels under, and standing up to fix things or work on the layout. As I mentioned before, the helicopter viewing perspective is hard to carry off in a convincing way.
To get an idea about what kind of stuff could potensially fit into a 12 foot station scene in N scale, I tried to work up a medium sized RR station with engine change/engine service tracks, a couple of passing sidings, a passenger depot, some storage/yard tracks and two/three industries:
I used Peco code 80 medium turnouts and flextrack, so it would not be a drop-in design using sectional track, but it may still give you some rough ideas about things you potentially could do with such a station.
I am not familiar with Canadian Railroading in the Rockies, so it may very well be that the elevator scene is severely misplaced - feel free to replace it with a lumber mill or some kind of mine related industry or whatever seems appropriate for the type of scene you are trying to create.
Smile,
Stein