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Changing My Thought Process on Model Railroading
I’ve been listening to many episodes of Ray Arnott’s wonderful podcast ‘Around the Layout’. He’s interviewed Lance Mindheim a couple of times and it got me thinking about how I approach model railroading.
I’ve been working on a 9 ft x 9 ft around the walls layout. I changed it to a point-to-point style layout after the loop didn’t work out due to sharp curves. I’m still not happy with the point-to-point version and i’ve been thinking about why.
I’ve determined that I enjoy operations the most but the current layout does not provide realistic OPs due to sharp curves and too many turnouts in a small space. The OPs cannot be completed realistically. There are 14 turnouts total and it definitely doesn’t work for the space. The total length of track from one end to the other is 31 ft and is approximately a 1/2 mile of track in the real world. Definitely too much going on in a small space!
I have decided to design a new layout with minimal turnout count and higher operational potential using a couple industries with multiple car spots. This is what Lance Mindheim does and it looks fantastic! Not to mention, I want to achieve more realism on the layout and step up my modeling game. It’ll be easier to achieve on a smaller layout. More to come in the near future:)
DJDano, casey-jones and 4 others3 Comments-
You like many modelers, myself included. It is a matter of trial and error. A lot of times we try to do to fit too much in too small area. Which makes things too tight an unrealistic. The same holds true for trying to make everything full size. A 10 car passenger platform takes up too much room. So one needs to downsize the train and the platform for a more realistic look, and easier operation. I know you will find the right set up for your railroad.
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@casey-jones It definitely is a common trend amongst many model railroaders. There’s so much amazing stuff to model but unfortunately space is usually an issue for most. Selective compression is also important! The smaller the space, the harder it is to find a could balance between our desires and reality. For me, I’ve realized I want to model a real railroad and that entails a different approach. I’m sure I’ll definitely find the right setup soon enough:)
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@Guilford_Railman we all eventually do
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