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Starting a layout design with the structures? Dream and design
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Frequent poster 649 posts DougL Frequent poster 649 posts
DougL

Has anyone developed a track plan specifically to feature structures?

There are several interesting buildings in the area.  The local station is unique. Nearby not serviced by rail is a small, complicated rock crusher.  Crossing a skewed Howe truss bridge,  the next town over has an elaborate passenger station.  A nearby city has a very tall cold storage building.  Another town has a curved building served by a sharply curved spur.

I'm creating the current plan as a series of vignettes. Each area features a building with others that seems to match. Somewhere along the line for each industry there is a source and customer.  I'm not sure about staging. Perhaps a couple of cassettes will serve.

--  Doug -- Modeling the Norwottuck Railroad, returning trails to rails.
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doc-in-ct Regular poster 268 posts
doc-in-ct

Sounds like a good approach to YOUR model railroad

Sounds like using Layout Design Elements (popularized by Tony Koester among others.  I might suggest reading some of the articles in http://www.ldsig.org/sites/default/files/ldj_47_sampler.pdf  which discuss blending dominos and LDEs plus Operation Design Elements should you wish your railroad to do something.

Alan T.
Co-Owner of the CT River Valley RR - a contemporary HO scale layout of Western & Northern CT, and Western Mass.  In the design stage; Waterbury CT.
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rsn48 Frequent poster 565 posts
rsn48

Well if Rod Stewart would

Well if Rod Stewart would reply...... I believe his layout was designed for railfanning structures.
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DougL Frequent poster 649 posts
DougL

LDEs and dominoes

Yes, it is similar to Layout Design Elements (LDEs) and the dominoes you mentioned.  The dominoes sound similar to the larger modular clubs that have several module to make one scene.  So I guess the answer is, yes, some people have started with several structures or scenes.

i have tried to design with a grand plan, and the plan has always fallen apart somewhere.  i can manage it chunk-by-chunk.  It is not a big room, only 13x13, so several smaller scenes can make the run seem longer.

Alan, do you have a trackplan online?

Thanks,

Doug

--  Doug -- Modeling the Norwottuck Railroad, returning trails to rails.
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