Need some input please!

[trainsteve2435]

Hello everyone, im going to post some over all general pictures of what my layout looks like as of right now. I need some input on some things i can do or things i might need to do in order to make this a good layout. I never had a track plan to start out with, so any recomendations are appreciated. I dont care to change track work now before i go into ballasting and so forth. Also, the picture that shows the un painted back drop with the building flats on it, does it look stupid like that or do you think it is ok? Please feel free to suggest any improvements you might see. Im going for a operational type layout here, so please keep that in mind. Also, the picture that shows a white cut out on the benchwork, thats where my ADM grain elevator is going. Thanks!

 

[trainsteve2435]

And a couple more......

 

[trainsteve2435]

And finally....

 

[Ralph]

Looks to me like you know what you're doing! Your track looks neatly laid and sound, you've left plenty of room for scenary, your use of backdrops seems to effectively divide scenes.... Keep up the good work!
Ralph

 

[MasonJar]

Ditto what Ralph said - looks great!

Andrew

 

[JAyers]

The track, the buildings and the backdrops look great! I would think about adding some more spurs in the middle section of the sixth photo. Looks like good real estate for a few more industries.

Is this a modular or sectional? I'm worried about you accessing your breaker panel, or your crutch should you sprain your ankle. Looks a little tight along that wall and i'm wondering about the clearance.

 

[nolatron]

That spot in the first pic might make a good a depot stop for a passenger trains.

 

[trainsteve2435]

Thanks for the input everyone, i appreciate it. As far as the space getting to the breaker box, there is 2.5' from the benchwork to the wall. Do you think i should add another back drop to the back side of the benchwork in order to hide the wall? Also, could someone recomend a structure to put in the availiable space in picture #6? Thanks!
steve

 

[MasonJar]

Your local building code will tell you how close you can come to blocking that breaker box. You may find the info at your municipality's web site...

As for picture #6 (is that the same spot as pic #10 & 11?), I think a grain elevator would be great there, but you have plans for that already - looks like the footprint for modern cement silos is already there... Certainly fits will your "bulk loading" theme. So what other space in #6 are you looking to fill? Is it the space inside the return loop (visible in #9 and 10)?

If that's the case, I might put in a loco servicing area, as I am partial to MOW/servicing (although in the steam era for me... ). Something along the lines of a furniture factory or something that fits with the "urban" flavour might be good, since it looks like there is a town planned there.

Andrew

 

[CCT70]

For that much real estate, *I* would use up a lot of it for a modern city, but that's just me. Sprinkle in some spurs for various warehouses, maybe a cannery or something, that sort of thing. This is why I LOVE DPM and Walthers for city buildings. I'm hard at work planning my new downtown on the new layout right now and am going for a city area.

A large team track could be good, maybe even an equipment yard for large tractors and such since you're modeling the midwest and Norscot and Ertl make all that cool Caterpillar, IH, and John Deere stuff. Some loading tracks with ramps to load/unload them on flatcars. That may be something a little different but cool


That reminds me, I need to find my Preiser downtown hooker figures, where did I put them??

 

[nkp174]

I'd recommend trying to build the scenery and structures in such a way that you can vary the period of your railroad. Several famous model railroads have shifted their time period before, and having flexibility in your layout is a good thing.

Take for instance that you're looking to model the modern era, but after looking at the Virginia and Ohio in MR, and suddenly you want that 70's railroad. Or perhaps a trip to Cheyenne, Wy suddenly leaves you itching to replace that string of cars with Challengers, Big Boys, and Union Pacific types (4-12-2s).