I wasn’t sure where to post this, because I’m a long way from being a beginner when it comes to model railways - I’ve had a number of layouts over the years; all of them small and portable, in typically British style (I am British; I live in Lancaster - the original one, with a castle, rather than the upstart version in Pennsylvania!). But I think this forum will do, because this is the first time I’ve tried seriously to model North American trains.

I’ve been away from the hobby for a few years - ‘real life’ (TM) became all-consuming for a while; I'm suffering from burn-out, and am trying to take life easy for a while to recover... I’m back and in need of what I might term ‘relaxation therapy’ - a proper project, which isn’t related to ‘real life’, to get my teeth into. I don’t really want to build yet another Japanese proto layout. I currently have two Japanese layouts, both quite different from each other, and both ‘finished’ insofar as they’re ever likely to be - both have appeared at several MR exhibitions here in the UK, and I’ve had invitations to take them to continental Europe, though the logistics of that made it unappealing.

I have a moderate collection of N Scale Canadian railway stuff, mostly modern(ish) Canadian National diesels, plus some freight. For a variety of reasons, lack of space being the primary one, I can't build a layout which would really do the stuff justice, but my current thinking is to build a very small layout which may well take the form of a loco service facility. It'll probably be highly unrealistic, but I'm hoping will be fairly simple to build (and may be able to use two baseboards I made some time ago and didn't use), and have enough 'operational interest' (= play value) once done that it'll be fun to run and serve ot take my mind off ‘real life’ instead of vegetating in front of the TV. It should fit on my workbench when done, so that absolves me of any guilt for taking up space that others in the household need - and should also mean that I can leave it set up (which I can't currently do with my other layouts) between 'operating sessions'.

My first task was to 'survey' and draw a plan of the 'real estate' (i.e. the corner where my workbench resides) and to draw up a list of things it 'must have', things which are 'desirable', and things that would drive me nuts if they were to happen/be built in. 

Okay, here's my workbench 'corner', and the 'available' space. The working surface of the bench is 4' x 2' (1220 x 610 mm), to give you an idea of scale. The 'object' on the workbench is my test-track, used for testing locos and rolling stock to make sure they're compatible with my pointwork, and ensuring that Micro-trains couplers work 'as intended'.

And here is a diagram, to give a more precise idea of the space I have available.

Now that that's done, I need to think about an 'interesting' track plan. I have a short list of ‘givens’ and ‘druthers’, and a ‘something to ponder’ too.

Givens 

Layout to fit on workbench;

Peco Fine Streamline code 55 (it's a good compromise between sturdiness and looking good, even though it doesn’t really match any prototype);

Absolute minimum radius 12”;

Point blades/frogs to be powered by ‘break before make’ auxiliary switches on point motors (to mitigate against the otherwise almost inevitable poor contact between stock rails and blades);

Canadian National;

Some opportunity for shunting/switching (hands-free, using Micro-Trains couplers) - maybe fuel tank cars or something.

Druthers

Loco servicing terminal;

A ‘blank’ siding (i.e. not connected to layout, but part of ‘off scene’) to display/store some of my rolling stock - things like box-cars, etc;

Have both baseboards the same size, so the layout can easily be stored by bolting the two boards together, face-to-face, forming a sort of ‘crate’. That makes it easy to store and transport. 4’ long is a sensible maximum.

Things to Ponder

Track plan

No idea yet, really. Modern railways tend to be terribly 'efficient' in their track plans - so 'operating' them as model railways can be pretty tedious - do I go against this to build in some sort of 'difficulty', or stick with 'realistic'? It needs to have enough 'operational interest'/play value to be worth building, and interesting enough to run as well as (possibly) exhibit.

Control system - DC or DCC? 

DC is simple; I understand it, even though wiring isn’t simple - and in this case, for a loco depot, could get seriously complex! No ‘hidden’ costs. You run the railway in ‘blocks’, so it’s rather like acting as signalman, instead of engine driver.

DCC isn’t so simple, but not beyond me. Wiring is simpler (but I think a bit less simple than the adverts would have one believe). Expensive to start, and there is the ‘hidden’ cost of a decoder for each loco... Mostly ‘drop in’ fits to the locos I own. I don't have all that many locos, so it's not a huge cost, but not insignificant.

The biggest advantage of DCC, for this application, is that one can ‘park’ locos really close together without needing to resort to breaking up the sidings into lots of tiny electrical blocks, each controlled by its own switch.

In conclusion

What I need now is some inspiration - either for a free-lance track-plan, or for a real place which can be 'modified to fit' my available space. 

Thanks for reading,
Phil