pugdog
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Oct 18, 2005, 3:30 PM
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Planning your first layout.
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Planning your first layout can be a daunting task. For some, it might seem like climbing a mountain.
For some, it may just be a matter of opening the box, connecting the track segments, and powering up the the throttles.
For others, it starts with years of planning and dreaming, and cutting the first piece of wood for the framework.
Many started with the "open the box" layout, then found a [semi] permanent location and began nailing down or adhereing the track to a board. Scenery was added, and slowly it began to evolve.
The lucky few were able to start with a pre-plan, and bring it to fruition in one set of efforts. Maybe adding to it, or changing parts over the years.
No matter how it began or evolved, planning your first layout _IS_ a major event, and hurdle.
There is a lot of information out there, much of it the same regurgitated generic advice.
There are also a lot of books on layout planning and design. Most of the books are simply examples of layouts with a little description of how it came about.
John Allen's books are pretty great. But they too suffer from the one problem that never gets answered. John was an intuitive designer, and planner. He had what ever it takes to understand the aspects that make for a great model railroad. But, he was unable to pass on the "gift" he had. Like most gifted artists or artisans, they innately understand their gift, and can show it off, help you improve your own art or crafts, but they can't pass it on because it is a part of them. It's not something they learned, but something they had, and honed.
John tried to pass it on -- in his books, his plans, his discussions with others, but the magic he had, like that of all artisans, died with him. Only the effects of it remain -- his plans, his insights, the enthusiasm he passed on.
The rest of us have to study, work and plod to get our ideas to work.
Planning a layout starts with two equally important parameters.
1) your interest and hopes for your railroad.
2) the space you have available.
The first parameter is space. The more you have, the better off you are to create your dream. But space available may change over time with moves, family, and other non-hobby issues. This is a "fixed" parameter, that is very hard to change, especially after you start your railroad.
The other parameter is your interest. Why do you want to start a model railroad? Some of us remember the rains of our youth. Others of us like the idea of trains, and what they represent, and how they can bring a diorama to life. Modeling unique structures, or creating new and interesting ones may be what you want to do. A railroad (model train) is one of the few "realistic" ways of adding action and motion to a modeling scene. The rails contain the trains, as part of the whole effect. Unlike slot cars, or other options, trains on rails makes "sense".
Interest and space interact to lead you to your first layout, whether it's a room-sized layout or simple book-shelf module.
The new interest and examples of modular railroading have done much more to allow people to realize their dreams of a full-sized working model railroad than anything else. When space is tight, you can work on a module along one wall, or at a table, developing scenry and such. If you have a basement or large room, you can start on a 4x8, or larger. But the advantages of a 4x8 in the middle of a 10x12 room, is far less than running a 24" shelf around that room with maybe a yard or staging penninsula. The effective use of space is far greater, and ability to create modules for later reuse is also greater.
We are used to suspending disbelief when we go to the movies, or see a play, so too we can suspend disbelief when we work with a railroad. We can imagine huge expanses of track between industries that are actually only a few feet away from each other.
Thinking about that 10x12 room, we can have 4 different views of our model, one on each wall. With care and planning, we can also put another scene in each corner. Maybe two scenes on each wall, depending on size. Each can be housed on a module, and moved around, and reused later on in another layout.
So, if you start by thinking modularly, and in pieces, or segments, then you can start to build your railroad even if space, or your whole "theme" is not available. There is no reason to wait, because your modules are reusable.
Also, if you think and build in terms of modules, if one configuration does not work, you can change it by redesigning a single module, or splitting the layout apart along module borders, and inserting new ones. Expansion is also easily accomplished in the same way.
But, back to the original question, the one that is never answered in books, and can only be taught by example (it seems).
"What is a great model railroad?"
For the beginner, what is it that makes a great railroad -- one that you can stick with, and grow with? This is not an easy answer, since everyone has a different amount and size/shape of space, and different interests. The two "first" parameters again.
Most texts concentrate on "operations." Not everyone wants to have 5 or 10 people over to run their trains. Some people want to be able to set up several trains in motion, and watch them go around, interacting with them only randomly or occasionally. The "action" they plan for is in the yards, or at the industries they model. It's a puzzle for them, and not a club activity.
With space and interest as "set" parameters, the scale between operations and scenery or detailing slides back and forth. The more operations-oriented the railroad, the less room or area for scenery there is.
Operations take up a lot of space, to allow trains to move back and forth, couple and uncouple, and to make up consists.
When scenery or detailing, or some other idea like simple FUN is the purpose of the railroad, the amount of scenery and detailing you can squeeze into the the space increases, at the expense of operations-oriented trackage.
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