Some Examples

I've computed some examples here to illustrate how you compute and record these stats. We also comment on what the stats tell us about each design. You may be surprised, since I think they tell you a lot!

Of course, one of the first examples of interest is my own HO Siskiyou Line layout. These stats actually reveal some design tricks I used to get everything to fit. Look closely and see if you can spot what I did.

HO SP Siskiyou Line (Joe Fugate)


      Room Area (sq ft): 810
    Layout Area (sq ft): 689 (85%)
        Number Turnouts: 122
  Total Track (ft/cars): 1078/2156
  Mainline Track (cars): 706
   Passing Track (cars): 338
   Storage Track (cars): 516
   Staging Track (cars): 336
   Service Track (cars): 18
Connecting Track (cars): 242
        Passing Sidings: 10
Passing Train Length (cars): 44/33/12
         Staging Tracks: 11
Staging Train Length (cars): 43/30/10
           Maximum Cars: 816
             Cars Moved: 500
                 Trains: 16.7
  Dispatching Threshold: 22 car trains

The Siskiyou Line was designed for long trains in the spirit of the prototype SP, so the average length train is 30-33 cars. Notice the variation between the shorter and longer passing sidings is enough that most trains will exceed the dispatching threshold of 22 car trains. Dispatching this railroad can become a challenge since two average length or longer trains will only be able to meet at a few select passing sidings. However, this little design trick allowed me to squeeze in more towns and still have a reasonable amount of single track between the towns.

One gets faint hearted, however, realizing 500-800+ cars will be needed for full operation! What have I gotten myself into?

Here are the stats for a couple of 4x8 beginner layouts in published in MR during the mid 90s.

HO Soo Red Wing Division (12/94 MR)


          Room Area (sq ft): 96
        Layout Area (sq ft): 32 (33%)
            Number Turnouts: 12
      Total Track (ft/cars): 68/136
      Mainline Track (cars): 40
       Passing Track (cars): 26
       Storage Track (cars): 8
       Staging Track (cars): 26
       Service Track (cars): 4
    Connecting Track (cars): 32
            Passing Sidings: 1
Passing Train Length (cars): 26/26/26
             Staging Tracks: 3
Staging Train Length (cars): 10/9/7
               Maximum Cars: 37
                 Cars Moved: 44
                     Trains: 4.9
      Dispatching Threshold: 10 car trains

The most notable problem with this design is the staging train lengths are SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than the passing train lengths. Considerable switching will be necessary to get trains into and out of staging --which could be good or bad, depending on how much you enjoy switching as opposed to mainline running.

HO Alkali Central (12/95 MR)


          Room Area (sq ft): 96
        Layout Area (sq ft): 32 (33%)
            Number Turnouts: 8
      Total Track (ft/cars): 45/90
      Mainline Track (cars): 38
       Passing Track (cars): 0
       Storage Track (cars): 14
       Staging Track (cars): 18
       Service Track (cars): 0
    Connecting Track (cars): 20
            Passing Sidings: 0
Passing Train Length (cars): 0/0/0
             Staging Tracks: 2
Staging Train Length (cars): 10/9/8
               Maximum Cars: 25
                 Cars Moved: 22
                     Trains: 2.4
      Dispatching Threshold: 1 car trains

This layout has a serious problem: no passing sidings. Notice the dispatching threshold stat tells us immediately that ANY cars on the main OWN the main, period. Who needs a dispatcher when you can run only one train at a time? This is definitely a beginner's layout and not one for anyone interested in advancing into realistic multitrain operation. The Soo Red Wing Division is a much better layout for a beginner with future growth in mind since its operation potential is far greater.

article index
page 1 : Find out if your layout will work before you build it
page 2 : The basic stats
page 3 : Operation potential stats
page 4 - current : Some examples
page 5 : Summary form
page 6 : Estimating building time and cost
page 7 : Some additional insights
page 8 : Comments and rating

Some Examples

Search Joe Fugate's Siskiyou Line

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September 2010

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