So I posted some pictures of the bench work that I've completed so far in the weekend pictures thread and I got motivated to share my track plan and solicit some help from the more experienced folks if they could be so kind. The plan is pretty ambitious, and will require a lot of work to finish it, but I've split it into layers so that I can tackle one level at a time.
Let's start with the room and the "outline" of the layout.
The room is 30' on the long dimension and varies on width quite a bit. At it's widest, it's just shy of 13' and about 9' at the narrowest. I've left a couple of access aisles that may or may not have track over them... where-ever I end up with a hole in the trackage, I'll throw in an access panel. On the top right of the framework I had to leave a cutout for an existing electrical panel, but this will allow for ~ 44-45" radius curves on the outer most mainline track.
I've tentatively given it the name "Allegheny, Conemaugh, and Cumberland" reflecting the area in which I was raised and that which I now reside (roughly). We'll see if it sticks. I'll mostly be modeling a fictional mashup of the PRR and Western Maryland that depicts a different path where the two railroads merged and covers the steam to diesel transition era. That said, I'm not a strict prototypical sort of guy, so my CSX SD70Ace and SD60M with a slew of trailer train and spine cars in tow will surely get some run time here too. :-)
