I'd do what I'm doing now. I've got a 12' X 30' room, with one window in it and no closets, but, I'd like to have about 40' X 60' and, I plan on either a home purchase or building a "facility" sometime in the next couple of years. Right now, I've developed a modular layout system that incorporates a minimum of 12' long LDE's...actually, most of the planned ones are considerably longer than that and the "modules" (which I call "units" are mostly 6' long X 3' wide on the ends with common hardware to make setting them up and tearing them down easy, with integral folding legs. The 3' wide measurement with the "standard" track positioning and double track 1.5" apart mainlines is only necessary on the ends of the LDE's which have dedicated profiles and trackage within their individual scenes. All LDE's occupy a length that is in 6' increments.
That's the basics...oh...and the base railhead to floor height is 52", each LDE has at least one Digitrax Loconet panel, the skyboard is 18" above railhead height and there are at least two (sometimes three) white 36" drafting lamps with 5,000 K compact fluorescent 25 watt bulbs illuminating the scenery. Flowing front fascias are mandatory as is non-plywood-plains benchwork, using laminated Masonite subroadbed for automatic track easements and the best sound-deadening available. Did I mention that it's also very cheap?
I am working on two dedicated LDE's for my present space. They are: Echo Junction in Utah in 1951 that is 24' long, and Devil's Slide Utah, with the twin bridges, Wilhemina Pass, and the Ideal Concrete Factory and the center siding there...it's also 24' long. These barely fit in my present space, but, I am able to run trains NOW. When the layout is in its final configuration these two scenes will be at least 24' apart with Henefer between them.
I have other units that I am also working on which are specific scenes in both Echo and Weber canyons. Those scenes won't fit into my present train room, but when I take the whole shebang to a show, they will fit. Those two scenes are Curvo Utah (where the U.P. crosses over itself and goes Westward with left hand running, and the signature twin Warren Truss Bridges on both sides of the Taggarts tunnels which was a favorite photo spot for U.P. photographers from the 1869 beginning.
Eventually, I will be building most of the run from the Ogden Yard, including the Ogden Union Station's operations (over 40 passenger trains a day) and interchanges with the SP, D&RGW and the Bamberger there...through Wahsatch where helpers were cut off and ran back to Ogden. Trains left for all four directions of the compass out of Ogden every day and in 1951 through 1956 (my generous time period for trains, motive power and cars) trains were pulled by Big Boys, F-3's, GP7's and 9's (with the ubiquitous cabless "B" units), all the E units, PA's, FA & FB's, Fairbanks Morse Units, FEF's, Baby Turbines and Verandas (no tenders) with some freights being helped by 3700 class oil-fired Challengers to Wahsatch...Oh..and one train being pulled by either a Consolidated or Light Mike...the Park City Local. Various other engines and trains from the SP and D&RGW arrived and left Ogden. Other engines which I'll eventually have to scratchbuild went and arrived northward and southward. LOTS of operation potential!
This section of the U.P. was very busy every day and it was ABS controlled with small sections near "rock fences" being under CTC control, so no major dispatching panel will be needed. I have a photo of the actual panel used to control those sections...and it is small.
It's about a 60 mile section of double track between Ogden and Wahsatch with the typical U.P. center sidings at Peterson, Morgan, Henefer, Devil's Slide, Echo and Wahsatch, with several trailing point sidings servicing stock pens and minerals along the way. The one major industry was the Ideal Concrete plant at Devils Slide with a complex pick-up, set-out procedure that involved non-priority freights and the Park City Local moving cars between Echo and Devils Slide.
I'm also leaving room for modeling the Park City Branch which branches off the U.P. mainline at Echo Junction and was run every day in my time period.
The point in this long-winded epistle is that a lot of research can be done to really make a "railroad" and the use of LDE's (Layout Design Elements) with prototype track arrangements takes away much of the possibility of goofing up the sidings and industries...because you're modeling (copying) a prototype! Using an adequate modular concept as a layout platform makes you able to run trains before you have the whole thing built. AND, you can take sections of it to shows if you are ambitious enough!
If you've got enough space...no need for double decking...which puts the kibosh on ideal scenery-to-track ratios and ideal railhead to floor height.
A lot of room means you can build it big...but not too big. I still limit my passing sidings to a length that will accept a train being pulled by a Big Boy, 35 40' cars and a caboose. These trains are plenty long and look great snaking through the canyon scenes, tunnels and bridges. 9' 8" center passing sidings are also plenty long and frankly will barely fit in a 12' LDE length unless I use #6 turnouts instead of my preferred #8's.
My philosophy (and the philosophy of the N scale Division of the Hostlers Model Railroad Club out of Ogden Utah) is that we build big scenes for little trains....to maximize N scale's fabulous scenery to track ratio. And the time period I've chosen runs some of the largest, most spectacular engines ever made, through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Western USA.
DCC with sound is easy to put in steam engines with big tenders like Big Boys, Challengers, FEF's, and MacArthurs. It also fits easily in E's PA's, F's, FA's and B's as well as the Fairbanks Morse units. Geeps are not too difficult either, but involve me machining their frames. And they sound great on the near silent laminated Masonite subroadbed. It makes a HUGE difference as opposed to running on Styrofoam or plywood subroadbed.
Anyway...just some thoughts and the above is what I am actually doing after several years of planning and thinking about it. It's great fun!!
Cheers!
Bob Gilmore
