Help with a WNYP track plan

Thanks for all the advise. Like I said, I'm not out to accuratly model the WNYP. But if I put Turner's Mill on one side of a viewblock, and Lord Corporation on the other, it'll instantly say WNYP between Seagertown and Cambridge Springs, PA. The wall will not be an issue. Only four feet of the layout would be against a wall. The other three sides would be easy to access.

I did have a 4x16 foot plan that was quite accurate. It had Cambridge Springs on one side. On the other side, half of it was the first French Creek crossing North of town, and the other half was a staging yard. I just need to find a 4x16 foot area. What if I built 1/2 of the layout, then when I get room for the other half, build that? Would that be a possible solution?

You may want to try a smaller scale than HO guage. You can show more ground coverage that way in a smaller space. But, as Otto said, Start small and build up.

No matter how you end up, your heart is in the right place!

Greg

I'm actually looking into joining our local N scale club. My problem with N scale, is that I don't have enough room to get what I want out of it. In N scale, I want to see long, mainline freights. In HO, I want to model WNYP, a regional line. Thanks for all the good advise you've all given me so far.

No one said you have to have long mainline freights in N scale. In N scale you could do your WNYP and cover more territory. One other thought is maybe just build a smaller along the walls point to point set up.You could mount it on shelveing brackets with the layout built out of the pink foam. Just another option to think about.

It's just a personal thing. I don't want to put time and money into a layout I don't really want, and won't be satisfied with. I want to model mainline CSX coal drags and intermodal trains in N scale, and WNYP in HO. That way I can use each scale in their best use to my needs. In N scale, I need the ability of long trains and little detail. In HO scale, I want the opposite.

OK so you're looking to do both then. May I suggest joining the club to run your long trains and model the HO layout at home. Or the crazy idea. Do both at home you build your HO layout with a N scale loop up along a ridge. Kind of a forced perspective if you will. Just my thoughts take em as you will

Thanks for all the advise. I have decided what I'm going to model. The Turtle Creek Central layout from MR. Theme will be Conrail in the late 70's. Motive power will be a single RS-27.

Thanks for all the advise. Wish me luck!

In a house with no basement I was forsed to use a bedroom for my B&S layout. I found that in building a point to point and using a helix to get two levels, I can get a hell of alot of railroading in in a smaller space. The WNY&P would be a an interesting challenge. Paul P

RCpullerdude wrote:No, this will be my first, but I don't want to have a generic layout. I want something that screams western PA/NY area.....
I did have a good trackplan that quite accuratly modeled from the French Creek, just North of Cambridge Springs, to the South side of the town. Only problem was that it was 4X16.......

OK, you want "Someting that screams western PA/NY"? Fine. Forget the size of the layout, forget the track plan, forget the wiring and the benchwork carpentry. The only thing that's going to give you what you want is;

1) Equipment from the railroad you're attempting to replicate.

2) YOU must select the CORRECT style of structures making up the homes, businesses and RR support facilities for this railroad and this region.

3) YOU have to replicate to the best of your abilities the SCENERY as it exists in the area you wish to model.

We all use the same products, but I can take a Santa Fe trackplan, toss it into a layout filled with mountains, valleys and rivers and POW, we're suddenly and by no miracle, running coal drags on a C&O layout.

A yard is a yard, a siding is a siding regardless if it's in Ohio or Russia. Yes, there are things in some cases which make each line unique, but if you want to replicate a REGION, then YOU have to get your hands dirty with Sculptamold, Permascene, Mountains In Minutes, Plaster and ground foam and make that happen. In the end, no matter what you read in a book or magazine, no matter what anybody here tells you, it's all up to YOU.

D/

Actually, a real good idea is trying around the walls. I know several layouts have been featured in MR with that type of design. Here, i am kind of a busy guy, but i could probably cook you up a design for an around walls idea.
Just give me a specific location and i'll see what i can make up.
Im pretty good with drawing layouts (since i do that alot in my science class.. )
Also, dont worry about the Door. I can figure alot of things out. I'll try my best to get it so you can Run the M630s if you ever get one
Cheers.
Sean

Wow, I haven't been around in a long, long time. I have a lot on my plate right now. Between a truck, many R/C's, and school, I've kind of forgotten about model railroading. I've come to the conclusion that I don't have enough room. There just isn't enough avaiable to me. Thanks for all the tips and advise, I will be sure to use it when I do finally build a railroad.

I'd suggest a shelf layout, around the room, high enough that you would not obliterate access to your furnature. This way you could emulate a better track plan and you would have built in scene blocks to give you a feeling of going from one place to another.

umtrr-author wrote:All good advice thus far...

My only incremental thought is that, as has been done with some project railroads, you could build a 4x8 with a central view block of some sort and then build two good small scenes which scream WNY&P. The fact that the view block could and should be hilly terrain a la the Southern Tier will help you.

But there is a major obstacle I see, namely, how do you reach the scene in the back of the layout, that would be against the wall? Even if you were to skew the view block somehow so that the majority of the space were taken by the front scene, I'm not sure you'd be able to reach over it. That might mean having to make it removable, which, while not insurmountable, would lead to different headaches... possibly literally so.

I would also be careful about using the traditional approach and long legs. Have you thought about building something lightweight and then suspending it from the ceiling? (Or have I had too much caffeine today...)

My dad had the same idea for mine! suspend from the ceiling, and attach to pulleys or something so I could lower it to use it, then lift it back close to the ceiling when i am done..lol