Layout Designs

Archive for the 'Continuous' Category

Round and round and round we go.

"Caledonia Junction"

Posted on March 10th, 2002

Apologies for the poor quality of the plan - I’ll re-post it when I get around to drawing up a better version.

Caledonia Junction © Emrys Hopkins

This plan was been inspired by the gift of a ‘00′ gauge train set to go with my 009 rolling stock. I felt that I would be struggling to build a station at which the Caledonian would have stopped, but I could put together a fictitious station through which the train may have been diverted due to engineering works …. I know it’s a bit thin - can you think of a better justification?

Anyway, the layout is simple an oval with hidden storage tracks, a looped though station with a couple of goods sidings and headshunts and a narrow gauge feeder line bringing down passengers and goods to the standard gauge. Minimum radii are 18″ on the standard gauge and 11″ for the narrow gauge line (surprisingly generous for me!).

Possible improvements: The next version of the plan will have a straighter standard gauge station. I’ll probably drop the narrow gauge line nearest the standard gauge station so that the NG station faces “north” rather than facing the standard gauge station building. Overall, though, I’m fairly happy with the plan.

Filed in Dual Gauge / Medium / Point-to-point / Continuous / Rural

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"Llanddewi"

Posted on March 10th, 2002

Llanddewi © Emrys Hopkins

This is another narrow gauge offering and is based on the Gravetts’ 0-16.5 layout, ‘Llandydref’. This layout was 8′ by 2′ overall so I wondered what I could squeeze into half that length in (roughly) half the scale. The minimum radius on the plan is 6″ which will severely restrict the rolling stock which could be used (but what would you expect in 4′?!).

Possible improvements: More length would allow for wider curves.

Filed in Narrow Gauge / Mini / Continuous / Suburban

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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.

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

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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.

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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!