Some regular readers will have noticed our fascination with infrastructure made from steel, such as locks and bridges. Correspondently, we have often been asked how a good model railway layout should look like. Here are our suggestions.
The layout should be anchored around a small town with residential and small commercial buildings. Construction machinery adds color.
A July 4th Independence Day Parade will please patriots as well as fans of good, old fashioned entertainment.
Weddings have universal appeal and shouldn’t be missed.
If the wedding above was consummated, this is were you bring the children.
The inclusion of a large city with main railway terminal will significantly increase the status of the layout.
Five stopped passenger trains are considered the minimum to indicate a busy city.
School busses are a must. Accidents are optional …
Obviously, to support the city with goods, a multi-modal container terminal with ocean going freighters is required.
Long cargo trains with similar cars add heavy industry flair. Canals with locks and barges showcase what has been displaced by railways.
To keep the trains running, support infrastructure is required. Such as a railway turntable …
… or the more modern linear version of the turntable. A view into the maintenance bay with Diesel engines will support the education of the next generation of railway engineers.
Very important, a rail yard with a sufficient number of tracks to support …
… a never ending display of rolling stock.
A sawmill to support the local residential construction industry should not be missing.
Abandoned water towers are ok as they further healthy nostalgia about the bygone steam engine age.
Ore should be properly unloaded from train cars into lake freighters. But, please keep the load light on the Edmund Fitzgerald!
Finally, a steel mill to produce the steel needed for all those tracks, bridges, and locks!
We found this model train layout in the small town of Medina on the Erie Canal. It has been under construction since 2001 by a group of railway enthusiasts. Very well worth a visit!
A wider view of the layout. 204 ft x 14 ft (62m x 4.2 m), impossible to capture in a single picture.