Critique my 6.5' x 10' trackplan

[Skammer]

After several rounds of hard negotiating with my landlord... I mean, my wife... I've negotiated a 6.5' x 10' area of our bonus room for a layout. I've come up with the plan below but I'm looking for feedback.

Here are the limitations of the space:
1. In this diagram, the left side and the top side are up against the wall. The other two sides are accessible.
2. The lower left corner - 44" x 48" - is not floorspace. I will have a few inches beneath the layout for turnout mechanisms and wiring, but the operating pit cannot extend into this area.

Here is what I want to accomplish:
1. My primary goal is shortline operations (point to point). With that in mind, one end of the mainline is a small interchange track with a fictional big-time railroad. Rolling stock will be left at the interchange for me to pick up and distribute to my industries, while picking up empties and loads to leave back at the interchange.
2. My kids like to see the trains run in circles, so there is a semi-hidden cutoff to allow for continuous running.
3. The duckunder (right side) is not ideal but I can live with it.
4. Mainline turnouts are #6, with #4s in the interchange yard. Minimum turn radius is 22"

The thick red lines are the benchwork edges, and the think blue line is a backdrop/view block. 12" grid.

This is my first real layout (I've built several 4' modules before) so please give me any advice/feedback you have. Thanks!

 

[Will_annand]

Looks good Skammer. If you are modelingin N Scale you have left enough room for structures, if this is HO, your structures may have to be small or compressed, this may put them out of proporation.

 

[Skammer]

It's HO - but an older era (1930s) - so smaller buildings & rolling stock will be the rule. Thanks for taking a look!

 

[MasonJar]

Couple of comments...

I would change the interchange track to come off the other end of the "yard" - this would allow a good number of cars to be spotted for pick-up by the interchanging road. Acts more like an industry you can operate.

The duckunder will become old fast if you must continually negotiate it for operating.

It is an interesting design - I like the hidden connection to allow continuous running.

18" width of the pit at the left end is a bit narrow. If you angle the siding back along the lead track, you might be able to get a bit more room there - if buildings allow.

What is the 44" x 48" space? Are there any other solutions to putting the 6.5' x 10' into the bonus room? What are the dimensions of the room?

Andrew

 

[Skammer]

Thanks for the comments so far!

The small yard is for spotting the interchanging cars - the small curved section of track in the lower left corner is just 'dummy' track to represent the other road's mainline. I think the two 45" sidings will be plenty of room to hold the cars I will need - especially if it's mostly 40' cars.

I agree about the duckunder; it's unfortunate but I wasn't able to come up with a satisfactory plan without one. This layout only needs to last a few years until we move into a larger house, so I'll deal with it for now. I also plan on making the track level fairly high - over 50" - so that will make it a little easier to get under.

Bending the siding back to widen the 18" access area is a good idea if I can think of a really narrow industry to put there... maybe the industry can be off-view, in the pit. I'll play around with that when I start building. I'll make sure I have a remote switch for the far-left turnout so after the construction/scenery is done I won't have to go back there unless their are problems.

As far as the space, the room is built over our garage and the 44" x 48" space is a sort of an inclosed shelf (36" high) that gives headroom to the stairs going down from the main floor of the house into the garage. The stairs from the main floor to this room come up next to my layout space, so I can't go wider than 6.5' without blocking the entrance to the room. This is really the only part of the room I can use without blocking doors or windows, for which I cannot acquire right-of-way.

 

[Will_annand]

It's HO - but an older era (1930s) - so smaller buildings & rolling stock will be the rule. Thanks for taking a look!

No problems Skammer, I just did not want you to get all the track down and start on buildings only to find them not look right. :cry:

To my way of thinking, half a layout is train operations, the other half is "Looking Good".

But it seems like you have that already under control. :thumb: