Layout Designs

Archive for the 'Micro' Category

Layouts with a maximum dimension of no more than 3 feet

"Staggers Yard" by Michael Denny

Posted on January 21st, 2002

Staggers Yard © Michael Denny

Another clever plan by Michael Denny gives you a lot of switching to be done in a very small area.

Filed in Standard Gauge / Micro / Shelf / Light Industry

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Browse by gauge

Standard Gauge (11 plans)

Layouts featuring only standard gauge equipment - generally 4 feet 8½ inches, but in some countries the standard gauge is narrow or wider than this. Most newcomers to railway modelling start off in standard gauge because more equipment is available ‘ready-to-run’ than for narrow gauge prototypes.

Narrow Gauge (14 plans)

Most countries have had narrow gauge railways at one time or another and these railways have their own charm and style. If you’re pressed for space, then a narrow gauge model may be of interest to you as the locos and rolling stock can usually handle much sharper curves and gradients than the standard gauge models in the same scale.

Dual Gauge (2 plans)

Usually showing a standard gauge and narrow gauge interchange of some sort, this category would also include two narrow gauge operations using different gauges.

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Micro (6 plans)

Layouts with a maximum dimension of no more than 3 feet

Mini (13 plans)

Layouts with a maximum dimension of no more than 6 feet

Small (2 plans)

Layouts that fit onto the ’standard’ 8 by 4 foot sheet of plywood.

Medium (4 plans)

Layouts that will fit into a 10 foot square room.

Large (2 plans)

Layouts that won’t fit into a 10 foot square room.

Browse by style

Shelf (15 plans)

Layouts no wider than 2 feet, eminently suitable for a shelf.

Point-to-point (6 plans)

Prototypically correct layouts - no going round in circles here!

Out and back (3 plans)

Trains leave and return to the same point.

Continuous (7 plans)

Round and round and round we go.

Browse by theme

Heavy Industry (1 plan)

Layouts where a large industry - coal, steel, etc. - influences the make up of most (if not all) trains.

Light Industry (17 plans)

This could be a switching layout featuring a number of separate businesses, a shortline with a variety of freight or a layout based around a small industry (e.g. a logging line).

Port (5 plans)

Ports and Harbours are popular themes for layouts, so they get a category of their own.

Urban (8 plans)

Big city railroading (though not necessarily in a big space), these layouts will have plenty of architecture for you to build.

Suburban (5 plans)

Some buildings, but not as many as in an urban layout - these plans probably feature part of a smallish town.

Rural (10 plans)

Buildings? There’ll be very few on these layouts as they’re mostly lovely countryside.

Mountains (2 plans)

If this icon’s next to a layout plan you can be sure that there’ll be some spectacular scenery - and a good chance that the trains will have to climb over it somehow!