MiltonF

That's a pretty neat way to use that space. Having the scenic section be curved is a neat way to use the space. Although it occurs to me that with that much space taken up, it might just be more effective to build a freezer style roundy layout in the same space. I've been looking at a plan called coldean, which fits into a 6'6" x 4'9" space, and it can be easily converted to something of a coiled up end to end layout by eliminating the factory connecting to the fiddle yard, or just not running trains through it. It's a little small though, so maybe extending it out to an 8 x 5'9 would make it look nicer.

My biggest concern about putting it so close to the bed is not discomfort, but rather my unbelievably bad clumsiness. I'm certain I'll one day bump into it and fall onto it or into it.

Apologies for the cryptic post. Each square represents 1 imperial foot, while the room is larger than this the area beyond is just not suited for model railways, with a closet to one side and a bathroom door to the other. The only remaining open space is a 6 foot by 2 foot corner between the bathroom door and the entrance to the room. I've drawn it more logically here. Seemingly ample room, but tragically I must sleep somewhere and a 2 foot wide pallet just isn't enough for me.

I've spent the last week thinking over this layout, and being very frustrated with the strange shape of the room. It doesn't lend itself well to model railways I think. The long wall is all in the wrong place! Or maybe I'm not thinking about it the right way.

Essentially just a small track to perform basic utilities on without getting in the way of anything, huh? Sounds good enough to me.

I haven't decided if I keep the spur or just get rid of it altogether so I haven't placed the trap point yet. I don't even know how far up or down the coal siding I want the turnout. One problem to me is that the loco spur itself will be struggling for space for any decent looking facilities, but I don't want to make it so far down that the entire coal siding needs to be cleared just to take on water.

Out of curiosity, and for the sake of exploring alternate routes, do you have any specific operating plan for your minories partner layout, Seironim?

There may be some optical illusion going on here, as the runaround length has never changed on this particular plan. It's a strange approach that definitely works better in real life due to rtr point lengths and space constraints, but I'm still hoping I can fix the horwich inspired plan. You see, with a "flipped" version of the plan with the platform on the approach, you lose the movement of crossing over the approach from the departure to the goods siding, which to me is an essential element of this layout. Even though it is somewhat illogical, it's something that I really like about the real location. I'm still working on other different designs in the background of this which offer perhaps a more traditional approach to the BLT scheme, but I'm hoping that if I can get this to work, it can be built. While single track running and more logically placed goods sidings would simplify the layout a lot, it wouldn't be as interesting in my opinion.

And just as an added thought, here's that same plan with the loco spur reintroduced On third thought, maybe the best possible way to incorporate engine servicing into this layout is to simply have the engine go "off scene" to be coaled and watered, then turned by a wobbly 0-5-0

I've incorporated a couple changes, don't worry too much about the private kickback as it's just me messing around trying to figure it out still. I do have to say that I miss the sort of lopsided mirrored effect of horwich as a visual design element. I've added two objects the same dimensions as ten inchers for scale. And wow, you're right, having looked at the old and new sidings side by side they really were incredibly stubby.

There's a reason I referred to it as compression gone too far. As for minories I fiddled about with it but I just don't like it too much. Not a huge fan of dedicated urban passenger traffic and the goods yard versions feel like an afterthought.

That's kind of inevitable on a layout like this. I want to maximise as much visible shunting space as possible, hence the headshunt, but it will require using the fiddle stick even if extended to 7.5 feet.

That sounds just about right to me! And width could definitely be added, I just used the skinny plank to restrict myself when figuring out the design. I figure it's best to start with what you know can fit and then take that design and add a few pounds in length and width to avoid cramming too much track in too little space. When you find yourself compressing, say a C.J. freezer design, you know you've done something wrong.

It could just about be done. I'm not sure I really want my head that close to the bathroom when sleeping but, if it means more layout space, it's a sacrifice I could make. A 4 ft fiddle yard and 7 foot layout sounds just about right. I always wished that a fiddle yard could have a proportion to a layout of no more than 1:2 in order that the layout itself dominate the space, but it doesn't seem to be possible for small layouts with any train that doesn't used 3 inch 4 wheelers. But, maybe, 8 ft and 3ft fiddle yard... too greedy?

For something completely different, I fiddled around to come up with a minimum size BLT along the same design philosophy. Only the goods yard, headshunt, and station remain in this setup. In order to add a little bit of visual interest, and provide more room for a traverser, the entire thing takes a gentle curve across the board. I can't find anything operationally out of place, but maybe I could be shown where it is. As an added bonus this would be small enough to fit in the space between my bathroom and my door, and a fiddle stick or lightly built traverser could be popped onto the end for operating sessions without having to setup anything else. It's almost boring, but I'd rather make something operationally sound and decently roomy than something compressed to all hell and awkward to operate. It's such a simple plan that there should be no need to even try to explain the diagram.