MODEL RAILROAD TRACK PLAN VIDEO! THIS WILL HELP YOU!

As usual, another great video! Keep this up and I'll have to become a Patreon (something I've never done before!)

I advise people to start off with a 'folded dogbone' layout, one with 2 to 4 industry spurs off of the main line.

THANK FOR VIDEO

I like your viewpoint on creating these layouts. This video helped me change my ideas on my own project

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Thank you for this excellent presentation! I am in the process of building my layout. Do you have information on the materials and dimensions of lumber needed to build a table as shown in this video? ( what Height etc ) I will check your web page also. Jeff, Brighton, MI

Thank you for a very good tip about designing a model railroad layout. I’m sitting here in England and not considering an American layout at this stage. If I did, it would depict Shelbyville, Indiana.

This was really great. One of the challenges is also modelling a mix of freight and passenger services. Trying to run passenger trains of reasonable lengths with stations to fit them in a limited area whilst also making fitting in freight operations with at least two sidings areas to move wagons to and from is a challenge

Shame on you! You have now inspired me to build a new layout! 😂

Your videos are awesome! They've helped me get back into this hobby. The ideas in this video really helped me sort a few things out. Thanks!

Great video. Thanks. 👍🏻

Awesome explanation DJ, thanks as always.

I've found your recommendations VERY helpful for creating an interesting layout. The railroad must have a purpose, even if it's a humble one. The nice thing about Lionel 0 is the operating accessories, which make it easy to create scenarios for dumping, mining, and logging. I always incorporate a loop for display purposes but the purpose of every train movement must further the goal of moving people and freight. Thinking "beyond the loop" has helped me and your videos have inspired better plans on my layout. Bravo!

I'm in beginning stages of a 1600 square foot layout in the loft of my barn. It will be 2 level table and the route will run point to point. On the bottom level, a port city where intermodal, and all kind of different consists will pickup and deliver for export, grain, auto racks, tankers, and covered hoppers. The line will diverge BNSF north and UP south. The UP will only go down one table leg (50ft or so) through an industrial part and disappear into staging. UP will have trackage rights on BNSF out of the city, all the way up the mountain pass and into the plains, where BN and UP will diverge on the final leg of the table, disappear and go to staging. The will be roughly 30 or so industries, large and small. Coal flood loader, sand pit, float glass factory, and a full logging economy. Still debating if I can fit a steel mill and oil refinery in. A small branch line will be run by a small made up railroad that will probably just use old 70s era GP and SD power replaced by class 1 railroads, and paint over their logo and numbers.

CSX biggest priority is to try and fire their employees.

I don't really care about yard operations. I only care about running trains in a loop.

I worked a fuel rack hostler relief job a couple nights a week when I first hired out. I fueled lots of trains. The thru trains would stop and change crews and I and the other guy fueled them- fueling three engines at a time you had to watch to make sure you didn’t let them get too full. I probably wasted a few hundred dollars worth of diesel like that. Lol

Great to see Riverton yard, years ago ,I had the opportunity to ride the head end of P&LE PC1 , Connelsville to Riverton, then WM 6 on the Return.

How dare you assume my income!! Good call though. Seriously though I’ve been stuck on this stage for going on two months o can’t decide on anything so i started updating an old marklin board i have and similar issues there. I just can’t make up my mind and i want to run my engines lol

I always tend to look at it this way, if you plan realistically you skip on unnecessary points (or turnouts) since they need more care and maintenance in real life.
Then you have the option of an extra track here and there for operational reasons and switching fun.
The last option is that you cover your entire layout with trackage like manufacturers used to show in their catalogues, mainly as an advertising technique.
Great video.

Yes of course, track planning is frustrating sometimes.
Me I do modelling the year of 1908 at Northern Germany at the Lübeck State, which was not a part of the Royal Prussian State RR.
I decided to model my own fictional roadname, which is operating a branchline of a real existing RR, as their mainline and which has a never real built extension across the trave river by traject ferry to connect the neighbourhoud state as their nearest foreighn RR to interchange cars.
During Steam Era, well I would need some specific engine facilities like a coal bunker and water tower and engine house. A turntable is not a must have, the same job can do a reversing triangle or reversing star or even a reversing loop.
My fictional RR shall use modern invented electric akkumulator railcars for passenger service and some from the USA imported freight steam locomotives.
In 1899 to 1909 the royal prussian state RR (KPEV) did a coupler test of ten years to replace the european Hook & Link Coupler by using the Krupp Middlebuffer Knuckle Kuppler (a more havier version of the in the USA used Janney Coupler at that period of time), so I can use Kadee Couplers to my models in H0 Scale.
My private L.T.E. RR is connecting some harbours alongside the coast of the baltic Eastsea at two different states which were not part of the Royal Imperial German Reich of 1871 to 1918 under leadership and regency of the prussian King as Ceasar for Germany.
Me I am planning to build a two track traject ferry onto my RR's eastern extension to be built onto transportable modules. So I will have two yards:
1rst the traject ferry yard.
2nd the interchanging yard to the foreighn RR of Mecklenburg.
Three Customers will be connected, too.
1rst a ship yard.
2nd an horse racing parcours.
3rd a zeppelin airport and small airfield.
Onto both yards will be interchanged a lot of meat packing cars, because the innrr city of lübeck slaughterhouse shipped up to 45 cars with packed meat elsewhere, daily. Some of these cars sent to denmark and came back empty.
The danish city of Køpenhagen had not the capacy to slaugter all the needed animals, so they sent it via ships to Lübeck in northern germany and got the meat back delivered by the RR.
The land connectionn via Flensburg to Denmark onto prussian terretory was impossible to use for the RRs because since the war from 1864 to 1865 between Prussia and Denmark, the danush gouvernment never allowed to interchange any RR cars again, what qas coming from Prussian terretory south of denmark.
So the RRs needed ro use the RR trajact ferry from Warnemouth at Mecklenburg to Gedser in Denmark.
So my private fictional RR is being set up to real facts of that period of time.
I need to plan the yardsize a little bigger than really needed, because of the a lot of meat packing cars, which had been delivered to the port of Warnemouth nearby Rostock at the Mecklenburg State.
I need to calculate with 30 to 45 up to 60 cars daily in both directions.
A lot of busy interchanging traffic will be operated there.

Awesome video! Gave me some ideas, as im having trouble with my track design. Will post my progress on your facebook page as I go, if you dont mind. Currently working on the new river mining kit rightt now. As soon as I get that done it will complete my first section from from yard, up 2% grade to new river mining. My question is.. would you guys typically pull the coal cars underneath the coal shoots, or would cars get dropped off and staged, then loaded by the coal company? Then picked Or does it matter?

Hi D.J.

I must respectfully disagree with you about track planning being the most frustrating part of the hobby. Maybe it is for some, but personally I find it one of the most rewarding. Maybe that’s just because I’ve always loved a good challenge, and what could be more challenging than doing the impossible? Yes, you read that correctly. Even in one of the smaller scales, fitting a full railroad into the confines of a typical room (or even a generous basement) is pretty much impossible. We are forced to condense everything and be very selective about what parts to include while leaving out most of it.

I’ve gained a lot of very useful information from your videos over the past few years. If’ you’ve watched any of my videos, you’ll probably be aware that I make my living through designing and building custom model railroads, just as you make yours working with the real thing.

In the sample layout that you design during this video, it would appear that you’ve made a pretty good job of allowing the builder to duplicate the local yard switching job, but makes no real provision for anything else. Attempting to run a road freight to pick up and drop off blocks of cars at the yard is going to destroy the illusion very quickly as it must return to its starting point after only a few moments, not even giving the yard job a chance to do its work. The problem with your proposed track plan is that it does not include staging. Staging is vital to realistic operation, and the smaller the railroad, the more important the role it plays.

With the addition of just three extra turnouts, your design could be turned into a fully functioning model railroad that allows a pair of through freights (one in each direction) to stop at the yard to exchange blocks of cars and give the yard job a sense of purpose instead of switching the same few cars over and over. All it would need is a junction in the NW corner, leading to a pair of long staging tracks along the north wall, hidden by scenery, and connecting these tracks up across the doorway to complete the circuit. The existing main serving the two northern industries would now become a branch line, since connecting it up as part of a continuous loop would actually detract from the operating pattern rather than add to it.

I hope this is useful to you and your viewers.
Peter

i actually really love track planning, i’ve found myself thinking about some plans randomly just because it’s so interesting for me

Really appreciate your videos and tips!

Being an engineer makes the hobby way more fun.

Question how long should a yard lead or running track be and should yard have a inbound delivery track and outbound track next to mainline then several tracks for building cars

I'm getting Educated Thank You!!

I Own 2 Scales and They are Single Lines and they look Good The Ho Is A L shape And Can Pick Up And Drop Off Stocks. N Scale is Also a Single line this Is a Long Oval has some Buildings And a Rail yard. And I am Happy with it.still Have a little work to do on The N Scale But it’s Worth it.

This is a really great vid. What better way to learn then from someone on the ground in yhe business. Looking to make a CSX layout and this answers alot of questions. Thanks. Love to see more vids like this with yards, storage and Engine storage

I would like to build a 4x8 display with some hills with farm ground. Anyone interested in helping?

Great video DJ! I've learned lots of railroad things from you.
Really helped me to understand the flow of the freight traffic.
I'm crushing as many tracks as I can into a 2x4' space but incorporated as many of the concepts I could.
Is a shunting layout, so lots of industry spurs to serve.

At some point I’ll have a working railroad . I have a small switching layout that works but I have room to expand and I’m going to. Track planning is more involved that what I thought and even more complicated since I want to be able to just run the trains from time to time . Life was simple when I was a kid with a 4x8

One thing I have been pondering is a Perspective type layout where two scales are used, HO and N and hidden loops. So as a near focus train, and HO long haul goes by and into a tunnel, then some distance away an identical N scale leaves a tunnel, travels a distance and enters another tunnel. The HO scale would travel under the layout at a reduced speed so that it can re-enter the layout from a different point, maybe out of a tunnel, or from behind a ridge. The N scale would travel under another loop and pause while the HO continued on to repeat. I think it would make a fun project if I could find the room. Tunnels and hidden loops can make a layout fascinating.

That was awesome!!👊🏻 Great job in giving the details. Talking about rail yards I think the Old Rook Yard in Greentree would be something on a layout but it would have to be a big one like the one you've shown. Stay Safe & God Bless!!

My particular problem has been that I love track planning. But then I suffer from paralysis by analysis because I am never “done” planning or satisfied and therefore never build it. This has brought some focus and clarity to the process that I believe will move me forward. Thanks DJ!

Thanks for sharing. I’m a train guy wanting to set up an O scale layout in my garage. I’ll be watching.

Wow. This particular video really nailed down the operational aspects of the road. It also helped me figure out a realistic plan that I can do. I want to get my mainline installed with all of the switches pre-installed for future yards and industries. I want to work on my scenery and build my industries while I'm running trains. If nothing else, I'll have my trains running while I spend time working on the rest of the layout. Many thanks for this video.

Great tips here thanks a lot. I like info from the pro's! Totally doing a yard now because I want some technical track layout as well as having a lot of room for city layout ;)

A lot of valuable notes, especially at the end of the video. This will help my Anytime Scenic Railroad be more profitable and logical.

DJ, this is really valuable information for any and all model railroaders! Your sample track plan contains all the major elements for realistic train operations - and best yet - leaves lots of space for scenery! I personally feel most modelers want as much track as possible thinking that improves operational possibilities. While that may have some truth to it, tons of track on feature less terrain is less realistic in many ways. Most rail fans know that most of the best pictures of trains are taken as they move past nice scenery. This is also true of model trains. It took me years of wondering what was wrong with almost every layout I built until this last one that is mostly a scenic loop with the trackside scenery taking the center stage. You can buy very detailed engines and cars these days but you have to imagine and build the world your trains run through! Great video! Thanks! Wish I’d seen this years ago! Regards.

Such a fantastic video! Please do more! In that I mean - both track planning but also 'how railroads work'. Great, great stuff!

Great ..very informative, I had the good fortune to have a father who was a Yardmaster on the B & O, and then I worked for Conrail in the Philly Div. so my las layout had a lot of what you mention incorporated into it.. plus my own experiences..( and of course Pop's , ahem , Suggestions !). i.e. a receiving yard, out bound yard, stub ends , passing sidings , " pockets " for the yard engines and so forth . Your vid is great for someone who may have never experienced RR work.. Thanks!

Awesome video DJ! Very informative. I like these types of videos that clearly explain why the railroads are constructed the way they are. Keep up the good work!

Definitely informative at a layman's level. Thank you!

Wow awesome video! Definitely subbed!

You caught me off guard when you started talking about yards and showed a diagram of the Ashtabula yard. I live in Ashtabula area. That diagram is obviously a much newer one from what I have that shows 4 mainline tracks and 2 turntable and roundhouses as well, from 1939. I wish there was some way to post a photo in these comments to share it with you.

Thanks! great track plan @djstrains , but one question, don't you find uncoupling and coupling model train cars on curved yards an pain in the ass? i much prefer to have the yards in straight tracks so it´s easy to couple and uncouple cars

1- love your content and I appreciate the info. I'm also a person that prefers scenery over tons of track. So You're helping me to keep things simple in my layout that I'm planning.
2- Definitely going to "steal" or "borrow" 😆 your layout idea you draw out on this video. I like how you explain the real way railways operate and how small industries are handled off the main lines.
3- sorry of this was asked already, lots of comments to go through. In the Riverton yard, do you use main line 1 or R01-03 tracks as yard leads for R04-R09? I'm trying to design my N scale yard to keep within a 2x6 section.