Need a bit more info

space, time, and money

I don't know what your previous model railroad experience may be but if you are not sure what to build - as it seems - I suggest you go through model RR magazines (MRH would be a good one) and look just at the pictures of other layouts.  Collect pictures of scenes that you would like to have on your layout.  If you can not collect pictures from the internet then write a brief description. 

You will probably have a great variety but they might show a preference one way or another - long trains in country scenes?  Busy terminals in urban scenes? mountains? bridges? rivers? steam? diesel? single track or double? etc.  When you get evidence of what you  like it will be easier to design a layout - sadly, you can't do it all.

When you start to draw a layout you will discover what scale you want to build in.  If you like running lots of long trains you will probably end up with N.  If you like great detail and lots of switching in might be HO - they are all good - it's just what you can do and want to do.

There are three dimensions to model railroading: space, time, and money. This combination will determine what you end up with.

This forum will help you - we are lucky to have MRH.

Art 

Is this you room or a house Trailer?

First Don't type everything in all Capital letters. In forums all cap are seen as you screaming at us and you will not receive any help.

Second no one will draw you a complete layout except for companies that do it for money. The only thing we can do or are willing to do is help you layout areas once we have an idea of what you want to build and what type Railroad you are wanting to build and where your railroad interests lie.

The best way to design your Room layout is a section at a time.

You Need to draw the table top area you want to use so we can give you ideas as to where to place industries, Engine service areas, Train Yards, Stock yards, Coal Mines, Gold Mines, Grain silos, Logging areas, Lumber yards and the hundreds of other types of industries you can put on a model Railroad. all these I have mentioned are 100% up to you as which industries you want on your Railroad.

Before you start any designing you need to decide The Scale your going to use, "O" scale, "S" scale "HO" scale "N" scale or "Z" scale and what gauge are you building your railroad in (Gauge is the space between the rails on your track) and they are Standard gauge, 3 foot Narrow Gauge, 30 inch Narrow Gauge, or 2 foot Narrow Gauge. these 4 gauges are the most common used in model Railroading with Standard Gauge being the #1 most common.

The hardest part of Model Railroading is figuring out the track plan that will best fit the area you have to build in. Myself I drew close to 700 different track plans before I made my final choice as to which one I wanted to build. It also took 4 years of drawing and redrawing before I got everything just right and started building anything and then I made changes as I built.

So what Railroad Company do you want to model your layout after? What Era are you wanting to model? Steam ERA, Diesel ERA, or Transition ERA with both steam and Diesel used. Where is your Railroad located? The East Coast,West Coast, Central District, Northern or Southern Districts? All these decisions have to be made by you before you can even start to draw a track plan let alone ask us to figure it out for you, we don't know what you want or have the slightest Idea from the drawing you submitted.

The Best thing you can do is get yourself a pile of blank paper and start sketching track plans. Once you have drawn a plan you like redraw it to exact scale dimensions to make sure it will fit your area.

And most of all Don't post your question and answers in all Capital Letters or nobody will help or answer you.

Dan

I HAVE HO SCALE, I want to

I HAVE HO SCALE, I want to make a switching layout and i  want a continuous looping run  too, i have dcc too it Will be modern and  steam era it will be call 

Trains Across America

Start Up Module

Bill,

I think you should lay a few ground rules  and write down a few goals for the railroad. Accept the fact that the ground rules and goals will change as you gain experience, Do some research, before you start, but don't make a career of it. A little knowledge can prevent a lot of heartache.

Some ground rule examples
    1. Minimum radius for main line
    2. Minimum turnout size
    3. Length of trains and thus sidings
Some goal examples
    1. Switching areas
    2. Continuous loop running
    3. Steam and diesel locomotives

My suggestion for getting started is to form a general plan for the the over all layout, then select a section to build as a learning module. This module can be a industrial  area, a small loop with sidings, a small yard, or any other subject you chose. this will allow you to start building, with out being overwhelmed. It will allow you to gain experience and improve your skills. Any mistakes will be on a small scale and can be corrected with out rebuilding a giant layout. It will also allow you to run trains at an early stage of the project. A existing design could be used, but it needs to meet your design ground rules

After this initial phase you will have a better grasp of what you want and a good idea on how to design and build the rest of the layout.

This project could be the bases for the $500.00 contest being discussed on this site.

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/entering-model-railroading-with-500-12190692

Good Luck

John

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A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education,
he may steal the whole railroad. Theodore Roosevelt

Some more help

@BillyB - Use of this web site (FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions section - available from Help dropdown menu):

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/faq/11

Help with posting a drawing or a picture (1st item on above page):

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/help/how-to-post-an-image

(Your original Post of a drawing was cropped (clipped) on the right. When posting a drawing or picture, try to minimize margins - this allows for more resolution in the picture.)

How about this?

This layout can be built mostly with atlas sectional track, but I did use some flextrack in the plan.  Minimum radius is 22 inches, and it uses mostly #4 switches.  You end up with a continuous loop in this "folded dogbone" configuration.  There is a small yard at "Chicago" with room for a 2 stall engine house.  There is a wye off the mainline to provide access to the "Pittsburg" (yep, I spelled it incorrectly, sorry!) switching area.  The right hand side of the room has an area where you could model the Rocky Mountains.  Aisles are a minimum of 24".

I figured with the cities and mountain range you could model in your idea of "Trains Across America".

- murf

i like that design thank you

i like that design thank you very much 

Two rules

First do not make any track more than 30" inches from front of the layout.  Number 2 no working aisle less than three feet.  Use lift out sections for Doors not duck unders. These sections are only in place when operating layout. May sound funny that is only a small part of the time you will be in contact with the layout.   Put in bench work on paper first and then layout track.  Try and keep to min radius of 33, 36 is better for main line.   No switch less than number 6 on main.  With a 9 ft wide room.  Consider 30" on each side.  That is 5ft.  That leaves you a four foot Aisle.  If you are going to operate I do not see how else you can do it that will keep aisle space wide enough.  You can double deck without putting in Helix.  Make seperation 16" between levels.  Go to Office Depot and buy some Grid Paper 1" Squares.  Thus 1' equals a foot. Easy way to play with plan without becoming a computer cad program expert which may take longer than building a layout..  Good Luck.