Good, Bad and Ugly might be town names. I once used "Bigg" as an industry name. A friend put together a layout with an area named "Bigg City" which was less than 3" between tracks. I built a Bigg industry for him on a piece of 2x4 scrap.
I still haven’t found a good name for my HCD layout. It’s a rural area that is set back from the late sixties to the mid eighties. All of my locomotives are from Jenks era of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Here’s the latest TikTok video of it. I have other videos connected with this account as well. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8LCA9jU/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sorry, I don't do Tiktok, but is there a specific region you are aiming for? That might help by picking a notable scenic area or region.
Do you have any major business or industry on the layout ? Do you have a state it's located in? Just throwing this out there: Call it 'Missing'...in the state of Oklahoma. When someone asks you the name of your layout...tell them "The Name is Missing !" "Your layouts name is 'Missing?" "Yes It's Missing, OK!" "OK, OK !...no reason to get testy." No...'Testy' is the next town over." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> *Think about a whole Abbott and Costello routine here ^^^^^^ ..
Guest: Who owns the railroad? Who: Yes. Guest: Did he report it as missing? Who: Absolutely! It would be against regulations not to. Guest: Where did it go? Who: I Don't Know, OK. Guest: Easy, don't get testy again. Who: It doesn't stop at Testy, OK! Guest: Okay, Okay! Who: No, it does not go to Oklahoma City yet. Guest: It doesn't run there either? Who: Yes, it runs to Either, it's on the way to I Don't Know. Guest: Wow, for the owner, you sure don't understand your railroad very well! Who: Of course I do; Understand is the other side of I Don't Know!
I like this idea! Also because my black cat is also named Jenks after Mr Downing Jenks himself! Now I have to think of a name for the town????? Anyway I have added a little bit extra to the moonshine still. I added another person who is stoking the fire from the 55 gallon barrel. Yes, I have added a little light to the pot metal barrel in which I drilled a hole in the center of it. Painted the barrel black with the top red in color so it would reflect the fire. What do y’all think? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Call the town Downing. Or maybe Jenks...that way you could put a building there called "Jenk's Cathouse".
Actually there is a cat house on top of the pub. If you look at some of my videos you can see the ladies of the night in the back of the pub flirting with the bikers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Spaghetti & Western is also what I planned to call this layout. I'm still debating HCD vs. open grid. The mainline is sloping almost everywhere (yards & sidings are level), so I'm planning on cookie cutter construction. I like the HCD base for simplicity, but think about open grid for easier wiring and risers. And under-table switch machines, if I don't do ground throws. So this will be door-sized (36x80) but maybe not an actual door. It's drawn in scarm, uses 9-3/4"r and 11"r curves with 19"r easements, all Atlas code 80 track I've had for decades. Max grade will be around 2%. Will be DC dual cab (plus maybe a yard cab). I wanted two trains circulating the mainline, others parked waiting their turn, plus passenger ops and a little switching when I want it. The mainline is over 0.9 scale miles, I'm pretty happy to get that on a dual track door-sized layout. I specifically want to avoid tunnels and hidden track. Also, I drew it so the bridges and tracks underneath can be substituted with four 30-degree crossings if I want a flat layout. If I go HCD I might build a first phase like that. There are only two mainline crossovers right now; I'm still thinking this through. Right now they're arranged for yard access from the outer main, but I might prefer them reversed to give an isolated yard lead that can switch both yards, while mainline trains block for the single-track main that parallels the yard lead. Or maybe build both sets of crossovers so I can do either. I didn't want a reversing section so I'll back in or back out as needed.
Hiya Joe! Welcome to the place. Nice looking plan. Lots of great advice here to draw from. On your grades, the sloped risers from Woodland Scenics work great and make the grades consistent and smooth. Going with the 9" curves, you will want to keep car length fairly short so it looks better. I have 11" minimums on my layout and have found that 50' car length is about max for not looking too cramped. Good luck!
