Looks interesting

Seems like you can spend some enjoyable modeling time with that. Packs a good bit into a small space and the detail level with On30 is going to be nice. I'm not much of a track planning guy, I'll leave that to others with more experience but I like the idea so far.

Ben

I and probably some others would like to know how many inches a square equals.

One thought I have is the 2 sidings along the top center and to the left of it for your Pin factory? and your power plant, I would make that a single siding. Save you a bit of money on a turnout and make for a bit more interest in switching by having to possibly move the car at the factory to do work at the power plant.

Jack

Knew I forgot to mention something

Appreciate the thoughts Michael!

and Jack,

Each square is 3". I'll edit that into the original post to prevent future confusion too.

I like the idea of using minimal turnouts, for both realism and the budget's sake, but I wasn't sure if having a pin mill, team track, and power plant all sharing a single spur would add interest or unnatural complexity. On the bright side each industry will have one to two cars, so it wouldn't be cramped either way.

I really like the idea of a single spur stacked with industries though...

Get yourself some templates

Your turnouts as drawn are nowhere near as large as they need to be.  The non-CAD solution is to print out some turnout templates or make your own by tracing around some commercial turnouts.  Then arrange them on the table top and see what fits.

Customers hate to share sidings with other customers, but it happened in big cities, especially if the railroad wasn't there first.  But I'd avoid it as much as possible.

A power plant is going to need more space for inbound coal cars than that, but a power _house_ for a single industry like that pin mill might be that size.  And more likely to share a spur.  Move the team track and its dock over to the "yard track".  And remember that most cars spotted at a team track are not spotted at a dock, but just at a spot where a wagon or truck can back up to the car's door.  Many team tracks didn't even have docks.

Scott Chatfield

Track planning with software

 As I said, I'm no expert but I planned most of my railroad on the fly with turnouts and flex track. It started with a plan online and grew from there but I did eventually get it committed to track planning software using SCARM. I am now planning my dreamed of expansion directly with that same software. It's really easy to learn and basically free with lots of track libraries available including Peco. There are also other freebies out there.

Factory

A thought for the factory might be a turpentine plant.  Receives stumps and ships turps.  Very common among narrow gauge logging lines in upstate PA (where clothespin mills are also common).

While talking about those industries, the switches are too close together and right on the break in modules.

The classic commodity for canal boats is coal,   Many times the loading facilities looked like a bridge over the canal and they would dump directly down through the bridge into the canal boat.

Appreciating the Feedback

Scott, I think you're right, power house is a better term for what I had in mind.

And to combine ideas with Dave, eliminating the spur would eliminate one of the switches near that joint. First draft had a low angle crossing between the mill and factory like the original MR plan, and when I redrew it I just didn't pay attention. Good catch.

Speaking of that module joint though, is it really necessary? I've been told 3'x11' would be easy to move with two people, but I have my doubts.

I agree though, computer drawings would be great. I just haven't made it that far yet. 

As far as canal traffic goes, coal definitely was king, but I managed to stumble across a turning basin in Williamsport, MD that handled about every commodity you could think of. It's a pretty cool little facility and I figured the extra variety would be helpful on a (currently) small switching layout.

-Ben

Ben, I would say it depends

Ben, I would say it depends as to the joint. How strong are you? Can you easily lift 200lbs. It is possible to build with light weight materials but they are generally not as strong, all other things being equal. One sheet of plywood is 4x8 and typically goes between 70 to 90 pounds in the size often used by model railroaders. That is 32 square feet. 3x11 is 33 square feet so it would be a bit heavier. Also that does not count any of the support framing, wiring, switch machines, road bed, track, non removable scenery, etc. As you can see it will gain weight quite rapidly.

In addition to the weight there is also the difficulty in moving the item out of the house and through door ways. A large door now is a 36 inch wide by 80 inch door and those are nominal sizes. That translates to the usable opening being a bit smaller.

If your layout is in two sections 36 x 66 it will be much easier to get out of the room and house with out damage and be much easier on you as well. It is likely to still be heavy but will be lots easier to manage.

Hope this is helpful.

size ?

Three feet is pretty wide if you plan a backdrop and front only access. Would be okay for a table top layout with walk around access though. I wouldn't build an eleven foot long single setion, it would be hard to handle. Most of my layout sections are around six feet long which is about the most I' d want to handle. It's no big deal to reassemble a two section layout after a move. You don't need software to draw a layout plan but you do need to know how long the turnouts will be and draw them in to scale length. Also keep in mind that On30 is HO gauge but needs O scale scenery and buildings so be sure to allow sufficient clearances between tracks and anything close to the line. You could model it in HO scale standard gauge instead if you want to model a larger area acreage wise....DaveB 

size of sections

Hi,

just looking at your track plan, I'd think you might be better off by planning for three sections instead of two.

Putting one joint just to the left of the Pin mill and the other to the right of the runaround track, you'd not have any complicated track work actually split across the joint.

At the same time, each of the smaller sections will be easier to handle, too. My layout is just 1,5m x 0,9m (~5ft x 3ft) and comes in two sections (front and back). Just navigating one of the sections upstairs is quite uncomfortable and that is not due to weight... I wouldn't want them to be any bigger...

Have fun and stay healthy