Revising the old track plan

<Written June 2012>

A month has passed without any change in the status of the layout.  My original track plan (above) was simply not going to fit in the new space because of the door on the left side.  I finally pulled up my sleeves this month and began a redesign of the plan that featured an ‘L’ shape to allow access to the back storage room.  Happily, I found I could come forward into the room an additional 3 feet, so the new layout could be 21 feet long versus the original 18-foot design.  Plus, I could still take advantage of 18 feet of width along the back wall, so the ‘Königstein’ portion (that’s the disconnected part at the top of the old track plan) of the layout could be built as I had designed it back in 2002.  Here is how the track plan for the main line looks with the new dimensions (both plans show 3’ gridlines):

Although I’m using the unrealistic Marklin 1050mm and 1176mm radius curves, I decided that was better than ending up with nothing more than a huge oval.  I like the sweeping S-curve that the L-shaped layout now requires, and hope the curves look good in that part of the layout.  I think this will be a focal point for the layout, too.  On the track plan above, there are two curves coming off the Höchst station area branching to the left which are unconnected.  The top one is the branch line leading up to Königstein, while the lower one will lead to an industry, possibly a brewery.   Like the original design, the Königstein line will make a long S-curve to gain altitude, coming across the main line.  Königstein itself will sit atop the four-track staging yard at the top of the track plan.

My initial layout design for Carstenbahn One was built with a table-top concept in mind, using 6-foot by 3-foot tables mentioned earlier in this blog.  I still like this table design, and since I wanted to make this layout semi-transportable (I do plan to move into a house nearby with my family in the future and want to take the layout with me) I decided to keep this concept.  I did choose, however, to modify the design by building a portion of the layout using an open benchwork technique, where the tracks sit on a roadbed above the benchwork which allows for more realistic land contour.  Roughly a third of the layout will be built using this method, with the other two-thirds (the staging yard, Königstein and Höchst station areas) built on regular tables.  The biggest challenge will be that, when the layout gets moved, the scenery will need to be cut at the seams between modules and repaired once it arrives at its new home.  Of course, depending on the available space at the new location, modifications might be necessary, anyway.

Here is the track plan again, showing all the tables and which sections will be done using open benchwork (the ones with the striping).  I also did a rough sketch of the brewery siding and the Königstein branch, and added the tunnel portals for the area that will be hidden below the Königstein station area.  The plan for Königstein is identical to the old plan.  One challenge in moving from HO to 1-scale is having to live with fewer options for operational activity.  Right now I have one siding in Höchst at the brewery, and one in Königstein (the others are in locomotive sheds).  So operations will be minimal.  Still, I’m happy with the new design.  Now it’s table building time…