Model railroad layout
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In model railroading, a layout is a diorama containing scale track for operating trains. The size of a layout varies, from small shelf-top designs to ones that fill entire rooms, basements, or whole buildings.
Attention to modeling details such as structures and scenery is common. Simple layouts are generally situated on a table, although other methods are used, including doors.[clarification needed] More permanent construction methods involve attaching benchwork framing to the walls of the room or building in which the layout is situated.
Track layout
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An important aspect of any model railway is the layout of the track itself. Apart from the stations, there are four basic ways of arranging the track, and innumerable variations:
- Continuous loop. A circle or oval, with trains going round and round. Used in train sets.
- Point to point. A line with a station at each end, with trains going from one station to the other.
- Out and back. A pear shaped track, with trains leaving a station, going round a reversing loop, and coming back to the same station.
- Shunting (US: Switching). Either a station, a motive power depot or a yard where the primary mode of operation is shunting. This includes layouts which are built as a train shunting puzzle such as Timesaver and Inglenook Sidings
Common variations:
- On a point to point layout, the train can increase the time it takes to get from A to B by going around a continuous loop a few times.
- Single or double track or more, so more trains can run at the same time.
- Intermediate stations, to distinguish between express trains which go straight through and local trains which stop briefly.
- Branch lines, to add an excuse for more stations and different types of trains.
- Use of multiple levels.
- Arranging the continuous loop as a figure-of-8, possibly with one track going over the other instead of having tracks crossing on the same level.
- Folding one loop of a figure-of-8 over the other loop to produce a looped-8, so as to reduce the amount of space needed while keeping a long continuous run.
- Using one or more fiddle yards (US: staging tracks) to represent the rest of the railway system. A fiddle yard is regarded as off-scene; it may hold multiple complete trains, and may also be subject to direct human intervention (fiddling) to re-arrange trains,
- Dog-bone arrangement of a continuous loop; the sides of an oval are squeezed together so it looks like a double-track section with a loop at each end where the trains turn around.
- Rabbit warren; a continuous loop folded over itself several times with multiple levels and many tunnels for trains to pop in and out of - often a small layout with sharp curves and short trains.
Station layout
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There are three basic types of station, and sometimes combinations of these types:
- Terminus or terminal station. As the name implies, all trains stop here, and then go back to where they came from.
- Through station. Trains can go through this station; express trains don't stop, while local trains do stop briefly before continuing their journey.
- Junction. The tracks diverge/join here.
Other factors which affect the track layout of a station include:
- For passengers only, or for goods only, or for both passengers and goods.
- Use of steam engines and/or diesel/electric engines.
- Use of trains which can be driven from either end, e.g. Diesel Multiple Units.
The simplest possible station for passengers consists of just a platform beside the track, with no points (US: switches) or sidings. Both terminal and through stations can be as simple as this; a junction requires at least one point.
References
[edit]- "Adventurous Model Railway Plans." A. Postlethwaite. ISBN 1-85260-613-4. Basic configurations, page 9.
- "Basic Model Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby." Kent J Johnson. ISBN 978-0-89024-334-3, Kalmbach Publishing, 1998.
- "Railway Modeling." N Simmons, 8th edition, ISBN 1-85260-596-0. Planning the layout Chapter 5.
- "Track Plans", C. J. Freezer. Peco Publications, 2nd edition.
- Layout Design Special Interest Group see subpage: Design Primer/Introduction to the wide variety of layouts possible
External links
[edit]- http://www.plasticoferroviario.it – Hints and tips for model railroaders
- http://modeltrains.about.com – Online resource for model railroaders
- http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project.htm – Small model railroad project layouts
- http://carendt.com/ – Micro/Small Layouts for Model Railroads showing hundreds of examples