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MTH and Lionel Train Gear
I think readers may need some more detailed information to offer any advice to help James. Readers can give ideas and suggestions by using the green comments link below.
James asks: “How do I plan a O gauge layout? I have Lionel tube and fastrack and have a 8′ x 12′ table. I have the Hell Gate bridge and the over/under MTH mountain. I have some carnival music boxes, a NYC building area and want two or 3 sidings long enough for a passenger set each. Should I go with the new digital stuff? Years ago it was simple, now I got MTH and Lionel stuff and things seem more complicated.”
James you can add more information to your posting by using the green comments link below. Readers can use the same link to discuss the topic.
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The question “How do I plan a layout” has as many answers as it has modelers. The short answer is “however you want to” which may not be helpful. Another short answer that isn’t very helpful is “it depends” but much rests on that answer.
It depends on what kind of modeling you want to do, first and foremost, because that will determine your direction and depth.
So, first you must decide what you want your railroad to do. Are you a “model railfanner” who just wants to see his trains go round in a circle, or are you an operator who wants to run several trains on a tight schedule? Do you want to run short locals, medium passenger trains, or long freights? Maybe all three? Decide that before laying the first piece of track so that you can build towards that end. A model railfan doesn’t need much more than a loop of track with maybe a couple of sidings to park trains that are not currently in service, but an operator will need to carefully plan industrial and other trackage to maximize operating potential.
In the end, your model railroad is whatever you want it to be.
Here’s a good place for some ideas.
http://thortrains.hypermart.net/