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Hello --

Paul K. wrote --

You know, this got me thinking. I have toyed with the
idea of making a smaller, island type layout in
the basement ...

This comment made me think of a post from Jeff Hatcher (Message
Number 4 in the archives) about small layouts and his idea for a two-
scene layout divided by a view block. I liked the idea and drew up a
quick track plan to further illustrate Jeff's idea. You can see it at



This sort of layout could be just the thing Paul's looking for:
small, compact, moveable-around-the-basement. Two scenes could let
you explore two different modelling styles -- say, urban on one side
and rural on the other.

Such a layout could be made more operationally interesting by adding
drop-leaf staging tracks at either end: the staging tracks would be
raised and locked into position for operating sessions, then folded
down when you wanted to move the layout away for storage. In a
smaller scale like N, you might even get a reversing loop in a 2-foot
wide drop-leaf so you could have continuous running. The tight
radius needed probably would not look too good, but keep in mind that
what's on the drop leaf need only be functional and not scenicked.

The double-scene layout would make an excellent island layout -- it
would be ideal for operating and viewing from both sides. I think it
would make for an impressive display or exhibition layout.

Actually... I belong to a railway historical society that could
really use a small, portable layout that features scenes from the
railroad. This approach might be very useful for them -- in a small
layout, you could get a couple of interesting scenes that would be
small enough to be able to be completed to a high level of detail
fairly quickly.

Would anyone out there be interested in sketching a workable track
plan for such a layout? If anyone comes up with something, let us
know and I'll post it on the SLD website.

Thanks -- Jon Piasecki

jonp@...

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Visit the Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railway
Hisorical Society Website at --


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Some more thoughts on this subject:

I was thinking the other day regarding the backdrop up the center. It's distance from the front edge of the layout could vary. This would allow a deep scene on one side versus a shallow one on the other - a city area on one side v. a mainline run between towns, etc. on the other, for example.

Another idea I used years ago when playing around with designs for a never built N-scale layout - on one side have your city area. Run the mainline near the end beneath a large, Union-type station or higher section of the city. Underneath this, and out of site, would be your turnback curve which also goes through the backdrop unseen and exits into a rural, or whatever scene on the other side. I think the layout size was something like four by twelve or sixteen feet.

Paul Kossart - Peru, Illinois, USA .
NMRA, BRHS, La Salle & Bureau County Model Railroad Club
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Modeling the CB&Q & Illiniwek River Branch in HO ~ Circa late 1960's.
"Serving Agriculture and Industry in the Illiniwek River Valley since 1904."
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