This is a draft of a new layout build in my basement. The room is approximately 14'x14'. I'd like to avoid any duckunders. I model ATSF 1970's West Texas, but my buddy that is helping likes 1940's UP Wyoming. I want a yard and the ability to have two trains running without intervention. I like having open space for rural scenery. I have a small layout that can be in the middle and linked into the new track plan. Any feedback is appreciated as I hone my ideas.
Nice plan! What is the height above the floor for track elevation 0"? You seem to have a lot stacked up in the lower left corner (workbench and two levels of track.) How low of a duck-under will you have there? I take it that the red line is ATSF, and the yellow line is UP (given the turntable is on the yellow line)? The ATSF yard at top does not have a switching lead, unless you divert ATSF mainline traffic over to the UP line and use the ATSF mainline for the yard lead. That means that an awful lot of traffic from both roads is going to be sharing the UP trackage there. You appear to have plenty of room to run a yard lead inside the ATSF line, around the inside top right corner, down toward the next crossover. This dedicated lead would decouple yard switching operations from mainline traffic for both roads, benefitting all three. I would consider adding a reversing track on the red line, from the upper entrance to staging, down to the lower end of staging (or further right, still underground.) Access might be difficult for the right end though, when (not if) trouble occurs with the lower right end of the reversing section switch. The length of that reversing track would need to be long enough to handle the longest train going through it. So you could slide the right end switch for the reversing track all the way over near the righthand tunnel entrance. This also might make that switch more accessible for maintenance or issues with it. Have fun, but take your time during the planning stages. Once stuff starts getting built, changes become much harder very quickly!
Thank you for your comments. I really shouldn’t have colored the tracks or done so without any explanation. Those colors simply show a way to have two continuously running trains for the times when you want to do that. In a more operations focused mode there would be one mainline. In that case there is a switch lead on each end of the yard (currently part of the red line). The main would switch over from red to yellow to bypass the yard. thoughts on whether this an overall good use of space?
I wouldn't discount the interest added to operations when running two different lines. It would not be out of the ordinary to have two lines that share a significant amount of trackage, and the resulting increased traffic on the shared trackage would justify the cost of double-tracking. Still cheaper than two independent right of ways, and more flexible to use too (with adequate scheduling, which just makes operating more interesting.) The answer to your space usage question depends on how high will headroom be at your workbench below the bottom left corner. That determines how effective a work area it will be, or if you need a different area. If your main track height is shoulder high, that limits your reach to the length of your arm, unless you have a step ladder, etc. (or a top-side creeper). But that also limits how much headroom you have when seated at your workbench, under two layers of trackage. Maybe a workbench under the layout on the other side of the door, where you do not have two layers of trackage would work better? Assuming you are a young man, a duck-under to access your staging and workbench might not be a big deal, but as you get older it will be. And this looks to be a layout you intend to, and can, use for a long time.
