hello everyone, i originally posted this in the HO railroad section, but i thought i would try here. the bench work is open grid and measures 10'2" x 16'. it is a shelf style and the shelves are 2' wide. i wanted to use the free form style for my sub road bed if possible, it's open for opinions. the type of equipment im useing is 4 & 6 axle GP's and SD's, not the new ones but the old ones such as GP18's 30 35, asd SD7's & 9's. my era is around when the last steam engines were retired. my location is the Appalachin Mountains of West Virginia and Western Maryland. my favorite roads are the B&O, C&O, WM. the theme for my layout would probably be coal mining and steel as well as mixed freight, and dry bulk.the industries i have as of now are: golden valley canning - O.L King & sons coal yard - walthers 90' TT - Walthers 3 stall round house - 3 stall service garage - Walthers coaling tower - disel service facility consisting of a (2) sanding towers, drying house, -3 bay coal mine - as well as a couple of small industries. the TT & round house arent a sure thing, as i dont have any steamers yet, so its not a big concern yet. i would like a through yard with a team track and also a seperate piece of track for programming my loco's. i would really like to have one track crossing over another one if possible with the room i have. as far as how many lines i want, well, i would like a double main or even a tripple, with a single branch line comeing off of it and crossing over the mains. i plan on sceniceing with lots of rolling hills and steep, rocky cliffs along the lines. i am useing NCE DCC to control my layout and i have already made preperations for the wireing of signals and turnouts and such. as far as the radius of my curves, i measured and i can accomodate up to a 36" radius, but im not sure if i would need that big or not so thats open for suggestions also. i guess the type of layout operations i would like to have are continious running with switching and sideings. i also want to concentrate on beautiful scenery. i know im asking a lot, but i was wondering if someone with my information could help me get started on a track plan? i can picture it in my head, but thats as far as i can get with it. i would also be willing to pay someone a small fee to help me, at this point im really desperate to get something started. i will include a drawing of my bench work at the bottom of this post also. if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, or would like to download my bench work picture and see what they can come up with, i would really appreciate it. if there is something i forgot to include in my layout needs, please let me know as i will be monitoring this thread closely. many thanks to all!
steve
steve
