A Bit of Advice for a 2-Rail Switching Layout?

My first HO layout as a teenager was a switching layout because "switching layouts are great for limited space". But I was never happy with it because I got bored with switching cuts of cars back and forth. So my question to you is, do you really want a switching layout or do you figure that's all you have space for? Would you consider tighter curves and smaller scales for more operational possibilities, perhaps with hidden staging of through trains?

A friend of mine has a timesaver thats more or less that size. I'll forward the thread and see what he's got to say.

I built a version of John Allen's Timesaver that was originally configured for 40' cars and it occupied 2' X 10'.  I have since reconfigured it for 50' cars and it now is 2' X 12'. Depending on whether or not you add buildings you could drop the width to 15". Once you master saving time you will probably become bored with it. Look at the Inglenook siding puzzle combined with the random number generator program and you will have possibilities. Check out the link below for more information on both puzzles.

http://www.wymann.info/Shuntin...hunting-puzzles.html

Steve

I really enjoy switching.

I've been in your shoes .... but, with a bit more space. And, it just didn't work, as hard as I tried.

Are you locked into "O" at this stage? Did you make a large commitment of equipment? If not, I would consider dropping down to HO or N,  until you have a significantly larger space for O.

You would have a much more fun switching experience. And, do you think you may enjoy building structure kits? And, detailing? Possibly modeling a specific location of a railroad?

If you did drop down in scale, there are many published switching/shelf track plans you can employ. Or design your own, using guidance from such sources as Lance Mindheim's HOW TO DESIGN A SMALL SWITCHING LAYOUT.

Or, maybe you're aware of all this stuff already ....  and you just have that strong itch to get into O ?

Whatever you choose ..... good luck.

Matt

The design of a switching layout is fairly straightforward and usually includes a variety of industries with spur tracks. It's desirable to include a runaround track, interchange track, or perhaps hidden staging tracks if you have space. It's a good idea to first figure dimensions on your larger industrial buildings and work the track arrangement around them.

Another possibility for a switching layout could have fewer buildings and more yard tracks for sorting cars into trains.

A module for a shelf layout could be planned as a small terminal with switching potential, which might later be used as part of a larger layout.

With sectional track on a flat shelf it would be very easy to do a trial layout which can be changed around to try out different ideas, or to accommodate different structures.

You might look into a free layout cad program such as SCARM from Atlas. Since I use a Mac computer, I use Rail Modeller. Learning to use it will teach you a lot about layout design, and what will fit and what won't.

So will paying attention in Geometry class. If they'd have told me how useful plane geometry was for model train applications when I was in school, I would have paid a lot more attention!

Bill in FtL

Here's one thats 12'x2' using off-the-shelf Atlas track and turnouts. Id advise thte use of complimentary industries so you can move cars between them

Ace posted:

My first HO layout as a teenager was a switching layout because "switching layouts are great for limited space". But I was never happy with it because I got bored with switching cuts of cars back and forth. So my question to you is, do you really want a switching layout or do you figure that's all you have space for? Would you consider tighter curves and smaller scales for more operational possibilities, perhaps with hidden staging of through trains?

It's a mixture of both, actually. Yes, I only have room for a switching layout, nothing more because of family reasons (cough, parents), but at the same time, watching a train go around in a circle is boring to me, so I'm looking for something beyond that, with more operation, plus, I do enjoy switching, adds some challenge.

Matt01 posted:

I really enjoy switching.

I've been in your shoes .... but, with a bit more space. And, it just didn't work, as hard as I tried.

Are you locked into "O" at this stage? Did you make a large commitment of equipment? If not, I would consider dropping down to HO or N,  until you have a significantly larger space for O.

You would have a much more fun switching experience. And, do you think you may enjoy building structure kits? And, detailing? Possibly modeling a specific location of a railroad?

If you did drop down in scale, there are many published switching/shelf track plans you can employ. Or design your own, using guidance from such sources as Lance Mindheim's HOW TO DESIGN A SMALL SWITCHING LAYOUT.

Or, maybe you're aware of all this stuff already ....  and you just have that strong itch to get into O ?

Whatever you choose ..... good luck.

Matt

I've been in O all 15 years of my life, so yes, I'm kind of "locked" in to it. (I have over 45 engines in 3 rail). My preference is to model a real place, I was thinking of doing the NW/WM connection in Connellsville, Pa in the late 60's/early 70's. This should fit in my space, and I'd be willing to use some compression if needed...

AGHRMatt posted:

Here's one thats 12'x2' using off-the-shelf Atlas track and turnouts. Id advise thte use of complimentary industries so you can move cars between them

 

Haha this is the layout that I was using for my main inspiration! Looks like he is modeling an interchange of some point.

Probably takes too much space to do one of the (last) mines in Greene County, the Bailey mine.  

How about doing the industries along and at the current end of the B&O FM&P in Fairchance PA?

Rule292 posted:

Probably takes too much space to do one of the (last) mines in Greene County, the Bailey mine.  

How about doing the industries along and at the current end of the B&O FM&P in Fairchance PA?

Funny you should mention that, I've been doing some research in to modeling the SWP along the former B&O "Sheepskin". 

Does anybody have any Southern Railway ideas? 

I found this excellent track plan that I like, it's called Cleveland Flats, and as the name implies, it is set in Cleveland, at a cereal plant. I could have a CSX or NS locomotive, and have something like a 44 ton switcher as the plants locomotive. Not accurate but oh well...it is my railroad you know 

^^^^^

thats an inglenook arrangement + one extra siding.  You can probably apply most of the inglenook operating parameters, etc.... To it. 

Whether you get bored with it being single ended, is up to you. 

Just my way of thinking everyone is different but that track plan would bore me. I had a switching layout once and I definitely needed some sort of run around which led me to choose a track plan that had one.

All opinion. 

Michael, if you have the depth, going with 32" deep decks as opposed to 24" allows you to plant buildings on the layout rather than flats only. Here's one design I'm kinda fond of. I keep coming back to this one as the most practical to build as it can later be integrated into a larger layout if I get the space.

I like Matt's plan too.   One big reason is the run-around track in the middle.    That way you can switch both facing  point and trailing point switches.

 The best scenario would be to have a removable section (drop down, or lift off) on the main at one end or the other to stage a train on.    Then you run into the main layout area and do your work.   Then assemble an outbound train and run back onto the staging track.    You could have shelves on the wall above or below the layout to store cars that are not on the layout and rotate the cars on and off, and locos and such also.

http://www.wymann.info/Shuntin...glenook-layouts.html

Give it a read. Think about it for a bit. And then grab one of Lance mindheims books about track planning. And check out his website

http://lancemindheim.com

Have fun. 11x2 is a good size to play with. I am doing the same. And loving the ideas . I have a 40 x20 HO club layout at my disposal and enjoy my O scale inglenook planning and building much more.

ES44AC posted:

I've been in O all 15 years of my life, so yes, I'm kind of "locked" in to it. (I have over 45 engines in 3 rail). My preference is to model a real place, I was thinking of doing the NW/WM connection in Connellsville, Pa in the late 60's/early 70's. This should fit in my space, and I'd be willing to use some compression if needed...

Since your O-gauge collection is heavy on locomotives, you might consider modeling a diesel shop and service facility to display and operate them. "Operations" can involve loco consists arriving and departing from hidden staging representing a division point yard. The consists run in and out of the service tracks according to a theoretical schedule of inbound and outbound trains at the yard. Sometimes the units have to be regrouped for different trains. Units can also be rotated into a separate shop for 90-day inspections which might take a couple of work shifts to complete.

This type of layout could be built as a module with potential to be incorporated into a larger layout some day.

photo by Ace at Kansas City Armourdale Yard 1980 (shortly before the Rock Island shut down).

Hello from New Zealand Michael,

I'm in a similar boat to yourself with a 14ft by 18in space to work in. I'm currently in the final planning/design stage of what will be an O scale 2 rail switching layout.

There is a lot you can do with your space to make a really good switching layout. Bearing in mind everyone has their own opinion, here is my advice in regards to helping you design and build a switching layout. 

I'm in a fortunate position having had a lot of both direct and indirect assistance in regards to the planning and design phases for my latest layout project. I belong to a group of predominately HO US prototype modellers who meet every second Friday night to operate trains. At present there are eight different layouts we 'play' on. All are operating layouts where we switch and/or run trains to a schedule and most of the train running layouts now include switching elements as the group have moved more and more into this space.

Another big help was hosting Lance Mindheim here in New Zealand at our Biennial National Convention in 2014. Lance provided and I was fortunate to stay with him at his home and undertake a number of switching sessions on his HO Miami layout. 

The first thing I'd offer up to you is 'don't build a 'timesaver/puzzle' layout'. They are mostly unprototypical in design and don't provide the basis to operate trains in a prototype manner either, real railroads don't make things any more complex than absolutely necessary as time is money, so why would we modellers do not follow their lead?

The second thing is go and buy two of Lance's books - 'How to Operate a Modern Era Switching Layout' and 'How to Design a Small Switching Layout'. A small price to pay for really good advice that will save you lots in terms of getting it more right than wrong from the start. I've just reread both to make sure I've not missed anything, they are actually sitting beside me right now.

Last but not least and taking a page out of Lance's book, less is more, don't try to completely fill the entire space with track and buildings, that's not how real railroads do it in the real world and what better place to copy than what the prototype does...

Good Luck with the task ahead.

Rgds Brent

Agree 100% with Brent's comments.  Another resource is Mike Cougill's blog, as well as many of the British blogs.  UK modelers typically have smaller layouts, many of which are switching focused.  As to replicating actual sites, Google Earth is your friend.  Pick a road you like, as well as preferred industries, and begin searching on Google Earth in the appropriate regions.  Also, many educational institutions have digitized old Sanborn fire insurance maps (and others)  which can provide schematics of trackage in earlier years.

Although my layout is somewhat large for a switching layout (24' x 28', 32" deep), it still is very much a switching layout based upon one small station and it's associated eight small local industries.