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about 18 inches. In N scale a “long” turnout crossover will be almost 13 inches long and a medium about 10.7 inches. Set-track will offer even shorter distances. Again, a compromise may need to be made between looks and functionality. Loose-lay the track you have and get an idea of where turnouts will go – beware baseboard joints if building a modular/portable layout. Also look out for cross-members where you might want to site a point and attach a point motor below the board.
Two more rules for you:
project. I incorporated a number of LDEs – a lumber mill, a scrap yard, a fruit-packing warehouse and some low-relief warehouse buildings to take freight cars of varying descriptions. I have also incorporated a hidden siding inside the lumber mill (at far right on the photo).
Your dream is now hopefully but a few sheets of paper away from starting to become a reality.
Good references and resources
Books
• 8 Realistic Track Plans for Small Switching Layouts • 8 Realistic Track Plans for a Spare Room
• How to Design a Small Switching Layout
• How to Build a Switching Layout
• How to Operate a Modern Era Switching Layout
All the above are by Lance Mindheim and are available in the UK through The Titfield Thunderbolt in Bath (Simon Casten) where I got mine.
• Great Model Railroads (published annually)
• Model Railroad Planning (published annually)
Both are published by Kalmbach/Model Railroader annually and are sometimes on the shelves in WH Smith and other newsagents.
Add to the above a good few more layout planning books from the Kalmbach stable. Look out for these when next in your local hobby shop.
Online Resources
Layout Design Special Interest Group (LDSIG) – http://ldsig.org
Byron Henderson’s website (LDSIG member) – http://mrsvc.blogspot.
co.uk
Lance Mindheim’s website and blog – www.lancemindheim.com/ the_model_railroad.htm
Pelle Soeborg’s website – www.soeeborg.dk/hobbyeng.html
Flickriver Industry Spurs – www.flickriver.com/groups/1408456@N24/
pool/interesting
NMRA BR HO Modules Specification – www.nmrabr.org.uk/nmra-ho- modules-spec
Snake Bend website – www.worcsngauge.co.uk (go to ‘Our Standards’ button in left margin for the standards used in the UK by them and Black Diamonds)
Kalmbach website – www.kalmbachstore.com/modeltrains-railroading. html
The Titfield Thunderbolt Bookshop – www.titfield.co.uk sharing know-how
1) Less can be more. What this means is, do not be tempted to squeeze too much in and make the layout look too busy and crammed; and
2) Make sure you can reach comfortably everywhere on your layout.
Making the dream a reality
Over the coming issues of Roundhouse we hope to bring you all of the components that you might need to draw upon to build your dream layout and operate in the way you want. The individual parts will always only be that particular author’s ideas and suggestions – there are probably many ways of doing everything at each stage. We can only share our know-how with you.
There are already many guides out there for you to read and follow. For example, Tom Winlow has been a leading light in designing and building modules in HO, and his articles on this can be found on the Members’ Area of the Region website. Please click this link (you will need to log in): www.nmrabr.org.uk/roundhouse-extras
Below you will find a list of other reading resources. I would not recommend them if I had not used them in some measure as inspiration in making my dreams come true. However, please bear in mind that I model the fairly modern era of the 1990s to the present day, which does flavour what I am looking for.
Making a start is the most nerve-racking time, but if you have a good plan that is well thought through, you should have the confidence to build that first baseboard or stretch of benchwork. I was fortunate that I was a member of an NMRA group building a sectional/modular layout that had a standard we could all work to. I committed to build a whole series of modules that could be added to the setup. My first project was to build what amounted to a whole half of the setup, based on
a real location, that could be added to the front or back of the Essex Belt Lines. It is still under construction some 8 years later, but it will probably never leave my cabin – it is 36 feet long by 10 feet deep at the outer ends. It is not that I bit off too much to chew – I now realise that lugging all those boards up and down the garden to a lorry to transport it is way too much hard work. That was one reality check for me.
The second project did reach a conclusion and has been exhibited within the Essex Belt Lines setup – it is called Dillon and is very much a self-contained layout with an emphasis on switching. It too is in my railroad cabin, very much part of my model railroad. It is a lot smaller and can be manhandled far better. I learnt my lesson from the first
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