Hello People Starting layout with alot of Kato products. I got some equipment as a gift,loved it and bought more. I now own all available Kato passenger trains(can't find GN Empire grrrr). I designed a nice passenger,lets call it area, don't know if it will be terminal or through. I also know how to end my run, smaller station to staging. Here my problem:the middle. I would like a long mainline run or as long as possible. The area, is my loft in the condo, a dogbone with a spiral staircase in the middle. Its my "mancave". My high def tv,surround(one speaker will be disquised as yard tower!!!!!),playstation,etc. That leaves the rest for trains. The layout will be L-shaped, 14ft long end, then to a open 7ft by10ft area(middle). My goal is to show off the passenger trains (no plans for freight,right now). I have been told to pick an "era", pick a "location", pick a "scenery"(city,rural, or combo) be specfic. Also follow prototype railroads, no roundy-rounds. Ok I guess but that does not help me,like I said I own alot of passenger lines, where does The Broadway Limited, The Super Chief, The morning Daylight, the Acela and my Amtrak lines for Northeast service, and the rest ALL MEET AND RUN. It has to be all freelance. So in closing I guess i'm looking for ideas and thoughts that are NOT STRICTLY PROTOTYPE Thanks Zephead (Mike)
With passenger train running only I'd suggest a continuous mainline and one big station or terminal where all your trains can "meet", start from, and end at. Put a couple of passenger stations along the mainline, smaller but decent-sized ones worthy of a stop from a premiere passenger train. If you like watching passenger trains cruise around basically non-stop the best choice is a twice-around version (ideally with each run at a different elevation, with the mainline crossing itself either at grade or with a bridge along the way) and you should be set. If you have a desire for some kind of switching, but not industries along the line, you can include an REA building, Post Office, commissary/stores supplies warehouse, car washer track, or any mix of these and other passenger yard/station facilities to your station/terminal area. Another part of passenger yard switching is adding or taking cars off a train for the next section of the journey, as in adding a diner for the evening part of the ride. Another one is sleeper pool service, where a sleeper coming in on one railroad's train is taken off and put on another railroad's train to reach a destination on the second railroad. Using Kato-made cars, that would mean sleepers coming off the the Super Chief would wind up on the Broadway Limited, then reversed for the return trip west. (Wabash, Southern Pacific, and CNW cars also traveled in UP trains, which can be made up by combining the COLA set and some other Kato UP 4-car sets into the prototype consists) But before doing any plans you MUST read "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" by John Armstrong - original edition if you are doing steam or early diesel era, Third Edition if modern era railroading.
thank you for reply, that was the first book I got. I see where your going, throw a coach yard, service area for desiel and steam and so forth. So your saying continuous run not point to point? The plan I started had a large pass "area" ending with staging. Would some sort of wye set up(alla old St Louis Union?) going into and out of your plan work?
Funny enough, I also JUST bought Armstrong's 3rd Edition book and I also HIGHLY recommend it. One thing my girlfriend keeps insisting on is that I remember to use "vertical space"...... You can put in two or three levels, each thinner than the one below, to double or triple your mainline length.
If you want to run trains from different eras, I recommend avoiding any scenic details that would correspond to a particular time period such as automobiles. Also, if you are planning on running passenger trains, you might want to reconsider the continuous running as some of those trains you listed are long. You can use scenery to conceal a folded loop to get a longer mainline run. I, too, would like to recommend Track Planning for Realistic Operation and Armstrong's use of "Givens and Druthers" to help you determine what you can fit and what you can afford. Andy Tetsu Uma
The Kato "Empire Builder" isn't correct, its the older UP based passenger cars just painted in GN colors. I'm hoping they one day do a correct 1955 Empire Builder.
A continuous mainline doesn't mean just an oval. I have a twice-around with one end folded over itself in a 11x8 space and by making long straights diagonally across the space (at different elevations) I can easily fit a full COLA or a BL onto the layout with having the train chasing its own tail. A few tunnels here and there break up the sight of a continuous train, but really, seeing the whole strain stretched out along a straight and curving back through a corner loop sure looks good to me. Staging is good but with passenger trains I don't see why anybody would need any hidden staging -- the terminal and coach yards already are staging. Run a train out on the main for a while and when you want to run another bring the first one back and stick it in one of those places, then roll out the next train. If you're looking to run 2 or 3 full-sized trains at once then you will need multi-layers, multiple mains, and spaghetti bowls full of track. But there is such as too much of a good thing. My mass of passenger trains look best all standing in the terminal, side by side, with one coming or going at a time. Put sound units in all those idling locos and you'll have quite a racket! As for trying to make the overall layout look "prototypical" I think you'll find it impossible to mix trains from the '40's through today in any universal scene. You could do what I've done and make different sections of the layout represent different eras, with the cars, buildings, signs, etc of say, 1952, then another scene of 1998 , another just before Amtrak (1971), etc. Each train then looks "right" in its era-zone, and good photos are possible. By putting neutral scene dividers between them like wide rivers, tunnels, tree-shielded holes through backdrops or big industrial structures the main line squeezes through you can keep the scenes from clashing with each other. The train station/terminal will probably fit any era train you have, as many classic train stations are still used today as they were in the '20s or '40s. Whether you have the BL with E8s, Amtrak Phase IV train with a AM103, or a Daylight with GS-4 they'd all be "right" in a modern/"classic" station.
Backshop, thanks man great idea totally see your thinking!!! Re-designing as we speak !! will give you an update
Do you have a picture of the area or drawings with dimensions? It seems more posters tend to chime in with ideas if they know the limitations of what one has. Trevor D.
Ok the cat is really out of the bag, yes i am newbie,(sort of),in trains and computers. my only real layout was a HO scale Central Midland(from Atlas) started in parents basement. Got it built and ran trains,the scenery was never started because I got married and moved!! My father said a couple years later "l need the space back". Fast forward to now and its just me and the wife and the train room(loft). Ok have not figured out how to post pics and diagrams on this site so here goes old school Loft is dogbone shaped with spiral staircase leading up. The layout area is 14ft long end 3ft aisle to a 10ft by 7ft open area. There are no obstructions and the windows will not be a concern. The rest of loft will be used for other things(tv,bookcase,etc) So as you see I have a good amoint of space to work with
