Designing the new layout

I started the notion of a new layout back in the fall of 2020 after months cooped  up by the pandemic and needing an outlet for my non-work energy.  I first thought of returning to HO but quickly rejected it because it's too small and fiddly for my aging hands and I've become used to the simplicity of AC vs. the DC/DCC combination used for HO.  I started out looking for O-Scale switching layouts on the internet.  

If you search for "switching" or "shelf" layouts on the internet,  you won't go far without bumping into Inglenook and Timesaver, classic designs from the 60s for switching puzzles.  I've always been fascinated by John Allen's Timesaver puzzle and wanted to incorporate it into a layout.  (Note there are prototype enthusiasts who believe this is a bad idea since it would never be implemented in real life - the switching is way too complex).

There's a diagram below of the original Timesaver.  Fortunately, I have enough space that I could implement this in O-scale - in fact, it's the perfect size for the long wall in my basement railroad area.

Early on, I decided this was not going to be enough.  I had no way to turn locomotives (steam was in my vision) or to run a train continuously, both of which were hard and fast requirements.  So I started experimenting with track curvatures to see how I could remedy these shortfalls.  The diagram below is a stage in my first efforts to use SCARM (Simple Computer Assisted Railroad Modeling software (free for a limited copy - I purchased the full version for $30).

I thought turntables might be fun but then realized they'd take up too much room.  My next effort eliminated one of the turntables and took up less floor space.  I stretched and adapted the timesaver plan a little and added the ability to shuffle freight cars on one end and 0-5-0 them around on the other end.  Still no continuous run yet though.

I developed this design more,  adding some industries and buildings.  I'd purchased a Menards Sprecher's building and needed to figure out where I was going to put it.  I was also increasing my skills with SCARM, adding different design layers for track, buildings and streets.  The plan was still basically the same as the previous one. I had, though, started to think about baseboard construction and subdivided the layout into sections that I felt wouldn't weigh too much.

A week went by and I had solved my two main problems - continuous running and the ability to turn locomotives.  I experimented with several minor variations of this design, adding a reverse loop on each end of the layout. The curves were O-36 though and I did have a couple of K-Line passenger cars that would need either a larger radius or the curves to be spiraled or hidden.

I buried the left hand reverse curve under a hill which would also enable me to locate the Rail King firehouse in a prominent place (it had been a sort of present for Andrew years earlier). This would prevent viewers from seeing the unnatural stance of the longer cars. On the right hand side, I put the track into a cut and spiraled the curve at the front of the layout to reduce the unnatural look of longer cars. 

I had also started thinking a lot more about the baseboard construction and another problem I was going to have to solve.  I hate crawling on the floor on my hands and knees and wanted to avoid having to do that and reach up above my head to install and maintain the electrical system.  I added some scenery elements on the right hand side, intending that the layout sections would be hinged so I could lift them up to work on the underside while standing up.  I was also thinking about uncoupler placement, and testing the distance to the rear of the layout for reachability.

I had also discovered some more Rail King rolling stock at this time.  I was reminded that 3-4 car trains, which is all this layout could realistically manage, would not be enough - I would want to occasionally run longer trains, even though they didn't fit into the locale particularly well.  So I added a narrow spur with two "yard" tracks that would take 8 car trains. They would be accessed by a wye so I had yet another way to turn locomotives.

All the time this was going on, I was also focusing on era, locale, prototype likeness and what type of trains would be running.  I'd made some key decisions after lot of thought.  Ever since I started modeling in the USA, I've wanted a camelback locomotive - I'd have bought an Erie L1 0-8-8-8-0 for my third layout if I could have afforded one.  In 2018, Zach and I had gone to the Wheaton train show one Saturday.  I picked up a Lionel CNJ 4-6-0 Camelback #771 there for a ridiculous price.  I had tried to sell it on e-Bay for a handsome profit but for some reason it hadn't sold.  After only a few days up for sale, my emotions got the better of me and I decided to keep it.

And now it became the centerpiece of my thinking.  I would base my railroad on the CNJ.  The #771 had been operational through 1954 and so I'd be able to also have an Alco RS-1, 2 or 3 - another favorite of mine.  So I had landed on the mid-late transition era as the time period for my railroad.  I had also kept a Rail King B&O 0-8-0 which might fit the same period.  

I found a map of the CNJ and homed in on Tamaqua as my preferred locale.  Most Camelback-drawn traffic there was coal and other freight, not the commuter service these locos were best known for. I could use it to pull passenger specials, though - I have photos of excursion trains behind Camelbacks further east in 1954.  

So long as there's a story, I'm content to bend the rules.  

So my trains would run on from Tamaqua to Jim Thorpe where the branch line met the CNJ mainline.  There's also a CSX main that runs through Tamaqua so I would have an opportunity to run more modern diesels if I wished.  It was this realization that led to the creation of the spur track.

I now have a design that's been stable for about a week and I'm further developing my ideas for electronics and baseboard design.  The picture below shows my first attempt at baseboard design for part of the layout.

A major influence on this in the past few days has been this series of blog posts on the NMRA Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine website.  It's a discussion of three approaches to benchwork and baseboard design; "monolithic" in which each phase of construction is completed before the next one starts; "modular" like the GCOG layout which is designed for travel and to be configured in different ways - Ntrak and Freemo are other examples of modular design, and "sectional" where layout sections are built to completion, one at a time.  They call the approach they advocate "TOMA" - The One Module approach.  I've read the whole 20-page series of posts and recognizing that TOMA is the way I have built the layout I'm currently dismantling, I've picked up some good ideas on how to do it better with this one.

More on all this in future posts.