Anyone know of a sold 5x12 with center cut out doughnut style HO plan they like? MR actually has one in the latest issue, but it has no switching at all. I've drawn one up myself, but I'm really torn and want to see some other ideas Let me set the scene here: I currently am renting a house with a single stall garage. That garage is the only available space right now. One of our club members decided to get out of Model Railroading and Gave me the 4x8 layout he had at home. He himself didn't build it, he had gotten it from someone who stipulated that the layout should be given away. The stipulation he then made to me was that if I ever decided not to keep it, I had to give it away. I was thrilled. I'd been playing around with a little 2x3 n-scale project, but I wasn't really into it. I wanted to run my HO trains. So this was an opportunity. Plus, my 2 year old loves watching the model railroad at the club and a nice little loop layout at home to run Hogwarts Express and for him to get Thomas trains to run on was perfect. The layout came with a Hogger walk around and then he sold me his Prodigy DCC system for $50. along with assorted structures and railcars. All in all, I got a good deal on a layout that is compact enough to move with us and still has enough space to do the scenery work that I love and it is great for a Toddler to start with. So, this is a pretty standard over tracked 4x8 with 18" radius, 2 reversing loops. No scenery. My original plan was to pull out the reversing loops, widen everything out to 22" radius and add a shelf style switching area on one side. In order to do this and to accommodate everything else the garage needs to do, the layout sits right in front of the garage door length wise. So it sticks 8' out into the room. This is OooooKay there was enough space to the one side for a good 3'+ aisle. The problem is that that space is now taken up with Bikes and getting bikes in and out through the side door is a pain. So, sticking out 8' in the room works-ish, but isn't ideal. However, I could run along a wall and stick out into the room only 4' but in that case, now I have reach issues with the layout and that's no fun. So I sat in my thinking spot and it occured to me, that while I was instructed to give the layout away, I was never told I had to keep it intact. The layout was old school construction. L-girders and risers with Ply on top. So, I could cut the spanning L-girders in 2 and add a section in between and create a dogbone. My thought was to do the Marquette and Independence an MR project layout from the late 70' I had a little more than 12' length on the wall. M&I was 4x14. So I'd need to take out a little more than a foot, but doable. But again, that was an 18" radius trackplan and I started to realize that to broaden it out to 22", I was going to stick out into the room to 5'. Which I could do, but If I'm going to do a 5x12, why bother with the dog bone. Why not create the doughnut. So we get to my current plans. I'm going to cut the benchwork into 2 pieces that will be the 4x2 ends, extend the L-girders to handle a 5' space and then add 2 sections, one 12" wide and the other roughly 24" wide. I will build it in "modular" fashion in the sense that it can be moved in pieces. But beyond that, I've fiddled with a plan which doesn't satisfy me. Let me set up the givens a druthers. Givens: near zero cost. This will use snap track and switches that I have on hand. I have plenty between my own stash and the club's. This also means Code 100 22" Mainline min radius (I toyed in xtrkcad with splitting the curves with 3" straights to "broaden" the curvature. This seems to work though obviously, Flex would be better, but this is free. #6 mainline switches, #4 in sidings. Must be a loop design must have 1 passing siding at least 2 towns. The rough locale is a freelanced former SP Oregon Wilamette/Coast branch with one "Town" in the Valley and one up in the coast range. I'm not sure at spur count, but this is going to be as much about scenery as switching, so I'm trying to strike a balance. Also, this will be a "modern" setting. Locos will likely be a variety of GP and SW units. I've got plenty. But the cars will be 50' and above so sidings need to be longer. What I'm really looking for is just ideas, point to specific existing plans, your own or on the web. I want sponge up ideas. I threw something together quick this morning and it's doable, but I want to see some other ideas.
