09-29-2009, 11:36 PM
Yours and my layout share a lot of the same goals... and they are actually quite similar.
I wanted a large yard because I like that whole industrial scene and I love watching trains sneak their way through a well laid out yard. Like Stein said, you don't want your yard to dominate your layout UNLESS that is one of your goals... which for me, it was. I don't like linearity however, and so I wrapped my whole industrial yard area around a corner putting a big bend in the middle. Like you, I also have several passenger trains and quite a few locomotives that I'd like to put on display. BUT, I don't want one giant parking lot... besides, everything just gets all dusty that way. If I just wanted to put everything on display, I could build a display case to mount on the wall. I figure I'll rotate my roster and rolling stock out from time to time. Not only will that keep things from getting dusty, it will also change things out every so often instead of having everything on my layout all the time. Four of my yard tracks are double ended. That's because some days I'm really into proto operations and others, I will use the yard for staging (a parking lot). If you will notice, I've got one long siding running up past my passenger station. I designed that siding to accomodate my longest passenger train. Not real proto but it does allow to me to clear the main to allow other traffic the right of way while loading and unloading passengers.
My engine maintenance facility still needs some work but I think I'm nearly there. I wanted a turntable, a roundhouse, an some sort of a car repair facility. I still need to figure out where to put some steam support facilities (water tower, coal tower, sand tower, etc.) as well as some diesel fueling spots (I'm doing my best to model the transition era).
Down towards the right where the three stub ended tracks are is shaping up to be an industrial area with a refinery and some other industries. Currently, I'm toying with putting a wharf right on the edge but I've got a lot of other things to do first before I get to that point.
My purpose in sharing these thoughts with you, is in the hope that they might give you some ideas for your own layout.
![[Image: image.php?album_id=6&image_id=569]](http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=6&image_id=569)
![[Image: image.php?album_id=98&image_id=1460]](http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=98&image_id=1460)
I wanted a large yard because I like that whole industrial scene and I love watching trains sneak their way through a well laid out yard. Like Stein said, you don't want your yard to dominate your layout UNLESS that is one of your goals... which for me, it was. I don't like linearity however, and so I wrapped my whole industrial yard area around a corner putting a big bend in the middle. Like you, I also have several passenger trains and quite a few locomotives that I'd like to put on display. BUT, I don't want one giant parking lot... besides, everything just gets all dusty that way. If I just wanted to put everything on display, I could build a display case to mount on the wall. I figure I'll rotate my roster and rolling stock out from time to time. Not only will that keep things from getting dusty, it will also change things out every so often instead of having everything on my layout all the time. Four of my yard tracks are double ended. That's because some days I'm really into proto operations and others, I will use the yard for staging (a parking lot). If you will notice, I've got one long siding running up past my passenger station. I designed that siding to accomodate my longest passenger train. Not real proto but it does allow to me to clear the main to allow other traffic the right of way while loading and unloading passengers.
My engine maintenance facility still needs some work but I think I'm nearly there. I wanted a turntable, a roundhouse, an some sort of a car repair facility. I still need to figure out where to put some steam support facilities (water tower, coal tower, sand tower, etc.) as well as some diesel fueling spots (I'm doing my best to model the transition era).
Down towards the right where the three stub ended tracks are is shaping up to be an industrial area with a refinery and some other industries. Currently, I'm toying with putting a wharf right on the edge but I've got a lot of other things to do first before I get to that point.
My purpose in sharing these thoughts with you, is in the hope that they might give you some ideas for your own layout.