Do you have any track planning books? I recommend those from John Armstrong like "track planning for realistic operation" or "Creative Model Railroad Design". There you will find many ideas for your space too. And for dreaming! :angel: Wolfgang
Here is a couple of layout plans from me in that size (no, I didn't draw them just now - I already had them): "Federal Street Overpass" - an urban layout - it's 8 1/2, but it should be easy enough to shave it down 6" in length: "Climax, SC": "Fergus Falls, MN": These three are all built on the same basic principle - they could work as a module on a larger layout, or could be switched on it's own, starting an operating session with a "train having just arrived" and ending it with the train "about to depart". Technically, they are all built around a central runaround, with tracks branching off from the center area towards the right and left edge, to maximize switching lead space (instead of branching in spurs from the edges, where you need a switchback lead on the main to switch the industry). They all have the mainline on a diagonal to maximize length, and to avoid having everything running parallel to the edge of the layout. And there is very little wasted space. 8 feet is not a lot of space - remember that a spur that can hold 3 1/2 cars is worth no more than one that can hold 3 cars - and those extra 3" could probably better be spent elsewhere. So I do all drawing while using a representation of 40 foot cars as the yardstick for how long tracks should be. Don't know if any of these will give you any ideas for making your plan of your desired prototype, but it probably won't hurt, anyways. Smile, Stein
Hi, Check out http://www.cke1st.com/m_train2.htm About 1/2 down the page starts some shelf plans, but most could be untwisted and made into one. Here is another thread with some interesting plans http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=114672 Gary
