Is it that hard to plan your layout

[Whittle20]

Hi All.

 

Is it really that hard to plan your layout?

 

I've now got the baseboards down, I've gone for solid tops for now.

The plan was to go with a full loop, i could add a hinged section i suppose but for now i'm going for end to end.

 

I have an idea of a TMD, small station and something else. Not too bothered about lots of track, the TMD will have a few sidings and spurs.

Really love some of the layouts on this site and hope to inspire from these to creeat a nice layout.

 

Before starting i thought the baseboards would be tricky that's the easy part. I just can;t get my head around the look of the layout.

 

Do you have trouble with this or is it just me?

 

Thanks Andy

[Aldgate Box Boy]

Hi All.

 

Is it really that hard to plan your layout?

 

I've now got the baseboards down, I've gone for solid tops for now.

The plan was to go with a full loop, i could add a hinged section i suppose but for now i'm going for end to end.

 

I have an idea of a TMD, small station and something else. Not too bothered about lots of track, the TMD will have a few sidings and spurs.

Really love some of the layouts on this site and hope to inspire from these to creeat a nice layout.

 

Before starting i thought the baseboards would be tricky that's the easy part. I just can;t get my head around the look of the layout.

 

Do you have trouble with this or is it just me?

 

Thanks Andy

 

Hi Andy, from my experience - not very much - I would say it's really worth thinking about what you want to do a bit before you commit to anything. Having said that you learn so much from doing that inevitably you will see alternatives that you wish you had thought of. I looked at lots of layouts and plans and nicked lots of ideas.  I used some of the layout suggestions in the magazines the various publishers do from time to time. It's also important to think about how the scenery and building will block and reveal glimpses from different positions.  There is also then practical things like access and coupling and track cleaning.

One of the great things about this site is that members are so helpful and encouraging so if you sketch out a plan people will comment and give very practical advice.

Hope that helps

good luck

Cheers Tim

[SMR CHRIS]

Hi Andy

It’s great to draw inspiration from all the layouts in mags and online don’t get to caught up in the scale of the layouts just look at how the track work flows

There are lots of online resources for actual real railway track diagrams plus many publications that include original drawings

If you have a location in mind or a region/ era look at some of the books or reference material available specifically for these.

When your drawing up plans it’s also worth having an idea of how big the points are eg if using peco download the templates and place on your board so you can see how much realestate they take up nothing worse than drawing out a line drawing and finding your way off on the dream plan

Also look at the track planning programs like Anyrail or Scarm as they have templates of popular track brands.

Best of luck with your planning

[Robin2]

Make some quick mock-ups of proposed buildings from pizza cartons or cereal boxes and then you can position them on the baseboards to get a sense of how things will look.

 

Think carefully about what you want to do with the layout when the construction is finished. I really have no interest in "playing trains" but I like the planning and construction.

 

...R