a turnout, and the most interesting trackwork operationally is
a turnout – depending on what trade-offs we’re after (less cost,
less maintenance, more interesting operation), more or fewer
turnouts may be preferable.
Combining this stat with the next one on total trackage gives
us enough information to do a rough estimate of the trackwork
and wiring costs for the layout.
TOTAL TRACK (ft/cars):
Determine how
many feet of track are on the track plan
by measuring it. Record the result as both
total footage and as the equivalent num-
ber of 40 foot cars. Using 40-foot cars in
the stats allows us to directly compare
track plans across scales. To determine
the 40 foot cars equivalent for a track plan, use the appropriate
factor from the table on the left.
For instance, if an S scale layout has a total track of 211 feet,
then the cars equivalent will be 316 cars (211 x 1.5). Drop any
fractions – don’t round. It’s best to deal only with whole car
lengths and lean to the conservative side when computing car
capacities.
This stat, in combination with the other track stats below, tells
us much about the operational possibilities of the track plan.
MAINLINE TRACK (cars):
Measure the length of the mainline in
feet and convert it to the cars equivalent. The main route of a
branchline is also considered mainline for the purposes of com-
puting this statistic. Also, one track running through any visible
yard and any staging yard needs to be designated as part of the
“main” and included in this total.
Scale Cars/ft
O
1
S
1.5
HO 2
N
4
Z
5
Layout design assessment - 3
As an exception, the offstage portion of a single track that runs
into staging to be used as car storage/interchange is not “main-
line” but instead is “staging” (see below).
From this stat, we get a sense of how much “mainline” running
is available on the layout.
PASSING TRACK (cars):
Measure the length of each passing sid-
ing in feet and add them together. Do not count track where
the main would be fouled if cars were on the siding. That short
chunk of track from the turnout points to the clearance point
is connecting track (see below), not passing track. Convert this
figure to the cars equivalent.
This stat helps us determine mainline traffic levels (more on
this later).
“Using 40-foot cars in the stats
allows us to directly compare
track plans across scales.”
STORAGE TRACK (cars):
Storage track is the amount of track
in industrial spurs and yard storage (but don’t include staging,
that’s a separate category below). Measure and total up the
length of track in this category, and convert it to the cars equiv-
alent. Like passing track, don’t count track in this total where
the connecting track would be fouled. Remember one track
running through any yard was counted in the mainline total
and is not to be included in this total.
STAGING TRACK (cars):
Measure the total amount of track
used to stage trains and compute the cars equivalent. Again,
MRH-Oct 2014
