Well, after all these years I have finally settled on what to model, and track planning has begun. I am basing the new railroad of a trackplan by Iain Rice published in MRP 2009.
The layout is based on the Maine 2 footers and, although freelanced, takes a good dose of reality from the area. Iain designed the layout to to fit in a 10'x15' room and it was comprised of 2 separate and distinct Layout Design Elements (LDE) designed to function on their own if built at separate times. The two scenes occupy opposite sides of the room and are along the 15' long walls. These scenes operate point-to-point and are connected via an unsceniced ledge on one end. The railroad is fed via casstte staging which is typical of many of Iain's plans that involve shorter trains.
I apologize for not posting the track plan but since the material is copyrighted I need to ask Model Railroad for permission first. Until then, for those that are familiar with the plan, I am going to use one side of the plan only (Tidewater side). I am going to modify it slightly to use FastTracks #5 turnouts, as well as lengthen the scene from 15' to 19'. This will allow me a little more room at the connection with the MEC.
The remainder of the railroad will be completely freelance and will just be some additonal industries and scenery. I felt I would rather have a single locale modeled instead of 2 ends of the line with little in between. And just as Iain had planned I will be using cassette staging. All in all I will end up with about 45 linear feet of railroad, which in On30 should be more than enough to keep me busy for a couple years.
Benchwork will consist of 24" wide dominoes of between 48" and 72". The dominoes will rest on shelving below the railroad and will be built as a series of shadow boxes, with integral valences and lighting.
The layout will have no grades but will have significant vertical relief via stacked foam insulation scenery. Control will be via an NCE Powercab or Digitrax DCC system.
I am nearly complete with my basement renovation so I am hoping construction will start in the next month. Luckily for me I am using a published plan so I can get a lot of railroad going while I figure out the rest of the plan.
Wish me luck.
John