with long spurs. I very quickly realized that 18 inch radius
curves may not look as good but they let me get more track
into a tight space. Of course, the key element is having lots of
car spots even if coupling and uncoupling on an 18 inch radius
curve is not the easiest thing to do.
The track plan evolved as I tested various combinations of
switches and lengths of flex to get enough operating room. The
plan drawn has one significant difference to the railroad actu-
ally built, in that the runaround is better fitted and longer on
the plan than on the layout.
The track plan evolved as I
tested various combinations ...
The “U” shape of the layout means it can easily butt against a
wall as, unlike an oval 4x8 layout access from both sides is not
required. It also ensures that all switches and car spots are in
easy reach for the operator.
The final layout [2] as described has 16 car spots, space for six
cars and a loco on the staging track and some spare room for
handling cars during switching. However, if you run it with 22
cars it would probably get a little busy. I started operating with
only eight freight cars and have slowly increased that num-
ber so that now I run with 19 freight cars and loco. This leaves
enough room to shuffle cars but causes some enjoyable operat-
ing “headaches.”
Track descriptions
Track 1
serves Fergus Fine Foods, a large commercial food
operation receiving fruit, flour and food oils whilst constantly
