O Gauge 4X8 Track Plans10/28/2021
Thanks for sharing your baby with us. The TMMC started out as a very simple 3 x 6 scenic display with a loop of track. Heres how plans for expanding the layout have evolved over time. On30, On18, 3/8n20, HO, and HOn30 Track Plans. Below are plans for other model railroads that were started or merely dreamed about.HomeAt the risk of creating "Yet Another Track Plans Page", I present here some of my track planning output. My Great Beginner's Track Plans Page, in Nscale of course. Gordon's Great Track Plans Page (N scale, of course). There are 7 places to shunt, a small turnaround track, and the interchange. The Red track to the right is the interchange track.Custom bench work on wheels for easy all-around access.Details, diagrams and photographs.Most of these layouts are designed for hollow core doors. Since doors come in a veriety of widths youHave more flexability in your choice of size for your layout. But, it takes up less room.Expandable, to preserve the beginner's effort and investment as his intrests grow.Personally speaking, I would never build some one else's layout. After all, few prototype railroads operate in isolation. An interchange with a connecting railroad.
O Gauge 4X8 Track Plans Series OfSmall HillsSeparate it visually by creating a small ridge or series ofSmall hills through the middle of the layout. Changes include:All curves are 11 inch radius, An interchange track is added at the upper right, An additional yard siding is provided, Additional industrial sidings were added,A small engine service building is included, The trackTakes a different course along the front of the layout.Scenicly, I suggest that the yard area be raised up about an inch above the rest of the layout. Don't let me tell you what you can't do.This is a modification to the project railroad that was presented in "The N-Scale Primer" by Kalmbach Publishing. Of course, if you like one of the plans so much thatYou want to build it just as it is. Or just freely take ideas from them. I then modify them to suit my needs.Look at these plans as a starting point. There are several other ways thatThese sections can be joined. But you can also place them end to end and create a 13 foot long shelf layout. Here I showThem arranged in an L shape. Look at the next plan to see why.By separating the two doors and modifying the end loops of the plan above, you can convert the layout to a true point to point shelf layout. The joint between the doors is shown by the blue line running through the middle ofThe layout. More industries, A runaround track, Another interchangeIs actually built on two 14 inch doors placed side by side. See the track that goes nowhere? That's the Class 1 railroad that we interchange with. Yard is expanded,Interchange is added in the lower left. This is an attempt to fix them.Changes include: All curves are 11 inches, Industrial sidings added, loops on the right are canted for visiual intrest, Town is movedInto the corner, The layout is streched to fit a hollow core door, Angle of the track across the front of the mountian was changed.Transfer wharehouse is removed from the mountian (make it a mine, quary or truck dump instead). This kit is aGreat way for a beginner to start out because it contains all the material to build the layout as well as complete instructions.Unfortunatly, The stock layout plan has several shortcomings. Spurs (C) and (D) can be used for expansion or industrial sidings.If we remove 90 degrees of the end loops, we can tilt one end of theLayout outward, as show here. (B) is an interchange like the plan above. This can connect to a shelf layoutRunning along the adjacent wall. Clockwise running is best At (A)is an expansionPossibility by running a spur off the high loop toward the front. But watch out, the grade inside the mountial is brutal. This gives more roomFor scenery and industrial switching. Xprinter 58 driver downloadIronton Yard has been moved toThe outside, and Midvale is elevated. It's modified from Plan 10 in "101 track Plans". You will need an expanded yard, extra industries, and the two universal industries a team track and an interchange.This plan is a complete layout as it is. Feel free to play with it by adding elements from theOther layouts. The track at (A) can exit the layout at the same level as (B). (This concept is based on the original plan, but you can use this concept on the modified plan presented above.) The tracks at (A) and (B)Connect to a shelf layout created of modules like those above. But this time the upper loop has been split open toExpand the layout. That's the station and freight house in the lower right, Downtown (Hotel, General Store, Cafe, etc) are across the tracks, and three industriesIf you have to take your layout around a corner, there might as well be some action.Here, a couple of industries make the corner intresting.Here we are back at the Scenic Ridge. It features point to point opperations of a fictional mountian railroad. Here, it is in N scaleOn a hollow core door. The tracks at (C) are spaced to form a connection to an Ntrak module.This plan was originally published as an HO layout by Model Railroader. Pro(gressive) Rail has a large transfer facility in the park that moves loads between train cars andTrucks for customers off the layout. But you can add a runaround at Menasha Papers, as shown by the blue line,The interchange is just above Crown Cork and Seal. That makes everyTurnout a facing point move to at least one of the engines. Or the tracks right of Hazel GreenCan be run under the mountian and off the layoutAt eight feet long, this plan pushes the deffinition of "Small"It is based on the actual track plan of the AirLake industrial Park in Lakeville, MN.Progressive Rail, the railroad that serves the park, switches over 50 cars a day.With no passing siding, you need two engines, one at each end of the layout. The track past Grant Valley can be run off the layout to provide an expansion option. The track climbs up toGrant Valley where it is 4 inches above Hazel Green. The biggest change is the relocation of the refinery and the produce wharehouses.Because of the added length I have been able to expand both of those opperations. Here I have converted it to N Scale on a 34" wide hollow core door.I have kept all of the scenic elements, but rearanged them so the layout can be viewed from one side. There are other tenents in the park that are not railroad customers betweenOriginaly a 4x8 HO layout that was presented in "5 Easy Track Plans" by Model Railroader.The lower drawing is a scan of the original layout. All the other customers are large distrubution or manufacturing facilities. Twin City Brick has stacks of brick stored outdoors betweenTheir building and Alcorn Beverages. ISGResourses has no building, just a few tanks and an open air storage area near their siding. These are just some of the common improvments that can be made to an HO 4x8 by converting it to an N scale hollow core door. The fuel oil dealer has been omited, but there is roomFor him to be added back in. The sidings are also lengthend slightly to hold more cars. Rail opperations have been improvedBy moving the crossing with the Southern Pacific mainline off the passing sidings.
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