Inspiration Required

[Old Steamer]

Hi Everybody
I am finally moving to a new house where I will have the room to build a layout in 2 weeks, after much negotiations with upper management, (ok grovelling) I have been given permission to have 1 of the spare rooms for my very own domain, so lots of questions will no doubt be asked in the weeks to follow.

So far I have decided to go with N Scale and DCC, that was the easy part. As I have only been living here for the last few years i'm not to sure as to what part of the country would be best to model and what RR?

I think I would like to model somewhere that has mountains as I think you can do them real justice in N Scale. As for the period in time i'm thinking maybe somewhere between the 60's & 80's.

I would like a layout that would be good for railfaning, but also has operational potential.

I have attatched a copy of the room so was hopeing somebody had a few suggestions to the above and also how many industries should I try to incorporate into this space.

Thanks Paul

[RhB_HJ]

Hi Paul,

Any number of ideas and suggestions but it won't happen today. BTW I like that staging portion! One less item to consider!

[Old Steamer]

Thanks HJ
Glad you liked the staging, if only I could get my head around the rest of the room, was thinking maybe using the island for an industrial area of some description, hopefully will have more time at the weekend to get creative or crazy (Probably Crazy).
Paul

[Old Steamer]

Ok Had another play before bed and started the yard.

[BritsTukker]

Paul, the crossing you've put coming out of the staging into the yard needs to be a single slip to be of any use.

[Old Steamer]

Thanks Brits Tucker
Atlas dont seem to do a slip I presume it is ok to use peco code 55 and mix the rails, just getting ready for work so will take a look when I get home tonight.
Paul

[Old Steamer]

Ok
I had another try at my track plan and it still does not look right, but not quite sure where to go next?
It's 2.30 am so maybe get some sleep and try again tommorow, any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks Paul

[RhB_HJ]

Hi Paul,

Attached is my mod. A scenic divider down the blurb peninsula, which ends in a high rock face. I did a lot of assuming on what is on that peninsula. Since that is mountainous territory i decided on two mines with two load outs but a lot of shared trackage. And the third mine (across the valley to the South) shares that same trackage except they have to use the branchline for their switching moves.
Yes, the crossing on the mainline should make switching interesting.
On the Yard I added a drill track, but that could be tuned a bit more so that it won't interfer with arriving or departing trains (west side), but it will work fine for traffic coming out of staging. And BTW, since Staging is the big wide world that should also solve the loads/empties problem.   

[Old Steamer]

Hi HJ
That looks a lot better, I was at the stage I could not see the wood for the trees. The only thing that concerns me is should I keep the center of the peninsula free from trackage, ie move the lower track south a little so there will be enough room for some upright supports if I do choose to install a second level at a later time, just trying to think ahead so I don't have to remove track later.
Thanks Paul

[BritsTukker]

Hi, Paul.

I just tweaked HJ's plan ever so slightly at the top of the yard....

[RhB_HJ]

Paul,

If you use a centilever system you could us the backdrop line as the positions for the uprights.

[Old Steamer]

Hi, Guy's

Now we are getting somewhere.

@ BT That makes a lot more sense than what I had.

@ HJ If I cantilever the second level will that be ok to have the uprights offset, as this will in reality be supporting 2 more levels, 1 will be the upper deck and the other would be the lighting and fascia above that.

Also the small table that takes the track from the closet to the lift out bridge, would that be better used for a town or just left rural?

Thankyou both
Paul

[RhB_HJ]

Yes it will be, provided you are able to anchor to the floor and ceiling.

[Old Steamer]

Anchoring to the floor and ceiling is not really possible, as their is a ceiling fan above the peninsula and I was going to put a laminate floor in the room before I start construction, so really don't want to screw through it otherwise it will leave holes in the floor if I ever decide to sell the house, but now you have me thinking that maybe just for the peninsula I could use a steel upright and weld cross braces to it, 1 at floor level to keep it balanced in the upright position and then 3 above for the benchwork and lighting, obviously this would be more expensive but may do the job.
Open to suggestions.
Paul

[Old Steamer]

Ok

After a lot of thought I have decide to stick with just one level, after resurching benchwork heights for 2 deck layouts I think I would prefer to keep the main level at about 50" - 52" which would make a second level too high. The good side to that is that I get to save a lot of cash (not that I have any to save but it's a nice thought).

Paul