Is this layout 2.0?

[ednadolski]

i stayed up late working on this for you Ed, i think you'll find there is plenty of running and switching...



-steve

LOL -- you had me choke on my coffee with that one  (gotta find a towel...)

I guess the red things are the locations for the track magnets?     

[Mark5]

Ed - what is that? Your dining room table? 

Think hard about 2.0 ...

[up1950s]

Deleted

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Lol, this thread is the best.

I love tossing hand grenades like that!!

I had thought about this, actually, as exactly the opposite of what I've been doing lately, and also to see the reactions.

Lee's wins. Hands down. He ripped out MS Paint to lampoon it. 5 points to him.

I'm not really sure what I want to do with the next one, and this was really just to get the brain churning.

I figured that if the current layout was a touch too spartan, then I'd go for something too busy as a counterpoint. I think this definitely achieved that.

I don't think this would ever get built, but this was the thought process:

"I want a yard". Most model yards seem silly to me, since they often seem to exist just to "be a yard", with 3 short classification tracks, and 2 engine servicing tracks (complete with roundhouse complex), and not enough room for ten cars in the whole thing. They seem like they're more supposed to "look like a yard" than "function like a yard".

Working at Lee's though, I realized that a yard doesn't have to be big to work like one. A few class tracks, somewhere to toss power, and that's all you need. So that was my starting point (it's on the bottom side). But then I realized I'd need staging (and then the top right "yard" came about). But then i realized that if the real yard was more linear, I'd have lots of room for industries on the other side, and a place to switch with a local that's based out of the yard. That was the thought, anyway.

But it IS too much railroad to stuff into that space. There's no way to really make it all visually work without looking completely stupid, which is something I realized even as I drew it.

[wm3798]

Have a lookie...  I stumbled across this over at Scale Rails On Line...
http://www.homefry.com/mrr/image/whitefieldR1.jpg

This might be what you're looking for.  The cut off on the lower right could be a lead to a distant yard, or it could suffice as interchange tracks.
Lee

[ednadolski]

Hi Ed, here is a plan featuring long, linear yard tracks, plus some "roundhouses" and "tunnels"....

[asciibaron]

Have a lookie...  I stumbled across this over at Scale Rails On Line...
http://www.homefry.com/mrr/image/whitefieldR1.jpg

This might be what you're looking for.  The cut off on the lower right could be a lead to a distant yard, or it could suffice as interchange tracks.
Lee

you know something - that little trackplan just threw a switch in my noodle (pun intended).  Ed - i've got a serious idea for you - i'll work it up tonight - i think it has merit and might be something that someone builds.

look for it around 10:30 tonight.

-steve

[asciibaron]

i don't have time to modify this plan, but i was thinking that the concept of this plan (not this exact plan) could be used to add length to the main while giving a switching challenge.  combine the minimal idea of plan Lee provided using the loop to a stub idea and you might have something.  i have a few plans on my work computer but don't have access to them at the moment.



i went thru a dozen ideas for 3x7 or 3x8 plans and several of them almost got built.  i decided on the shelf idea simply as a matter of conserving space and because i already had some of the bench work completed.

i'll dig those plans up on Friday.

-steve

[Black Diamond]

Didn't the railroads sometimes have really simple yards that were essentially a couple classification tracks and a run around? Something simple and out of the way that may just service a couple factories a mile away or something.

You could always do something similar to my deal, but squish it down a little. It sorta meets your requirements, save for that one switch (it's staying by the way).

Longer is better. A dogbone of some sort would be neat.

[John]

I think you guys are all too focused on sheet of plywood shaped layouts .. think out of the box .. L shaped noodles ..

[Chris333]

The original of that plan:
http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/images/41YearsMR/Great4x8.jpg
Lilliput logger

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow, all that vertical elevation changes are a bit of a non-starter for me.

And BD, that's pretty much what I was thinking (the industry support yard, I mean).

[asciibaron]

I think you guys are all too focused on sheet of plywood shaped layouts .. think out of the box .. L shaped noodles ..

you mean like this...




 ;D ;D ;D

[SquirrelHollow]

I'm too tired at the moment for a proper response.  I can say, however, that you just can't stuff that much track into a space that small.  It looks horribly toyish.  This is the precise reason my 25"x46" bechwork has been converted into a dirty clothes shelf.

Unfold it, stretch it... do something to it.  It simply cannot remain crammed into a 3'x6.5' space.  If you want some roundy-roundy, work the elevation and go subterranean for your return to the yard.

[Train Nutz]

With all the layout suggestions......
        I think I like Happy Ed the best!
And I can just imagine him looking just like that when he gets around to building that new layout he wants to do. Though with that great big blue pair of pants he's wearing makes me wonder if Happy Ed & Homer Simson both shop at the same store. Killer pants! Were can I find me a pair like that??!!
Train Nutzzzzzzzzzzz