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Design Feature: Interchange
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 16:52:27 ADT.)
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
I was asked by a member of a rail group that I belong to, to do a freelanced end of branch line HO layout based on the Maine Central to fit his 18-inch by 8-foot space. The layout owner wanted the design to include an interchange with the Bangor and Aroostook and a few online industries to switch including a...
Views: 5445 | Comments: 3
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Single Station / Town, USA (Regions): New England, American Railways: Boston & Maine RR
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Tuesday, February 09, 2021 at 7:40:32 AST.)
Tuesday, February 09, 2021
N SCALE: Western Maryland Railway
The owner of this design didn't really have one prototype in mind, instead, he wanted a generic layout with a few big online mines that would allow him to run whatever he liked, but mostly coal drags. The layout had to have a staging yard, an interchange with another railway, and also allowances for continuous running. My client didn't have an exact location in mind, but he did mention somewhere around...
Views: 1259 | Comments: 1
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Coal Haulers, Theme: Mainline Trains, USA (States): West Virginia, American Railways: Western Maryland Ry, Types of Industries: Coal Mines
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, October 14, 2019 at 10:59:07 ADT.)
Monday, October 14, 2019
HO SCALE: Almanor Railroad (Collins Pine Company)
For the last few years, I have taken a keen interest in finding small railway lines that would make a great subject for an "achievable layout" which is a term coined by Trevor Marshall. I honestly believe that these practical and doable layouts are the future direction of layout planning and building, and I am always interested in learning about...
Views: 946 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): California, American Railways: Almanor Railroad (Collins Pine Company)
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 14:19:37 ADT.)
Sunday, October 13, 2019
HO SCALE: Pence Junction (Single Station Design)
This design was done for a client back in August of 2017, but I just recently got around to adding the 3D work. The client had a 2-foot by 12-foot space available on his shelf layout and wanted me to come up with a design for an interchange with another railway. The layout is set in the transition period, and it was left to me...
Views: 2900 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Single Station / Town
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, October 31, 2020 at 21:12:01 ADT.)
Saturday, October 31, 2020
N SCALE: Railserve (Murfreesboro, TN)
This is a bit different from my usually designs: it is a track-for-track copy of an actual industry served by Railserve, Inc. (Railserve is a contract railroad services company that that provides in-plant railcar switching for over 70 companies in North America.) This layout is based on the General Mills' Pillsbury Plant in...
Views: 1594 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Single Industry, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): Tennessee, American Railways: Railserve
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, October 21, 2019 at 12:42:00 ADT.)
Monday, October 21, 2019
HO SCALE: Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation (DOSCO) at Sydney, Nova Scotia
Back in 2005, I fooled myself into believing that I knew enough about making steel that I could actually build a layout to represent the industry. I did a bit of a research and knew I wanted to include as many steps in the process as I could. I not only wanted the blast furnace, but also the import system for the raw materials...
Views: 985 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Design Feature: Loads In / Out, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Canada (Provinces): Nova Scotia, Canadian Railways: Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation (DOSCO), Types of Industries: Coke Plant, Types of Industries: Steel Plant
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, June 27, 2022 at 9:45:09 ADT.)
Monday, June 27, 2022
On30 SCALE: Black Sand Mining & Timber Railroad
For me, one of the most enjoyable side effects of designing layouts is learning new things. And while designing this layout, I learned a lot over the last month and a half. For starters, I never knew that Platinum could be recovered from beach sand. And since I had to build the equipment required to do that in 3D, I also had to learn how...
Views: 1779 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Mining, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Theme: Waterfront, USA (States): Oregon
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Wednesday, January 01, 2020 at 9:13:00 AST.)
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
HO SCALE: Canadian Atlantic RR
This design for the Canadian Atlantic Railroad System (since renamed the Canadian Atlantic Railway) was started back in early February of 2019, for a friend of mine. The layout was to be done in HO-scale and would depict a prototype-freelanced line set in the present day. Although the layout owner had a list of G&Ds that he wanted to...
Views: 1028 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway, Canada (Provinces): New Brunswick, Canada (Provinces): Nova Scotia, Canada (Provinces): Prince Edward Island
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Wednesday, January 01, 2020 at 12:52:00 AST.)
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
HO SCALE: Sydport Industrial Park
Back in March of 2018, I offered another member of Facebook group that I belong to some ideas for his modest shelf space. He was very interested to see what I could come up with for his 15" x 9' space, and the result was this design for a standalone industrial park layout. I liked track plan so much that I decided to mock it up...
Views: 2603 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: Industrial Park / District, Theme: Single Station / Town, Theme: Switching Operations
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 12:55:17 ADT.)
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
HO SCALE: 4' x 8' Branchline with Intetchange
This layout was designed back in February of 2014 for a client who wanted a layout done on a standard sheet of 4x8 plywood. I was surprised when he said that he wanted to focus more on operations than running a train around a loop. He was also quite adamant that he didn't want any grades, water or bridges. My first step was to look online for some other...
Views: 1408 | Comments: 3
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Type: Beginner Layout
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, March 05, 2020 at 21:05:09 AST.)
Thursday, March 05, 2020
HO SCALE: Port Arthur Belt Line Ry
Back in August of 2017, I was contacted to do a modern industrial switching layout (ISL) for a 13'x15' room. However, instead of cramming the space with a lot of industrial tracks, I convinced the layout owner to go with more of a branch line feel that offer a good variety of car types, with some very nice scenery and a good variety of structures. I kept...
Views: 1132 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, March 07, 2020 at 7:19:00 AST.)
Saturday, March 07, 2020
HO SCALE: Iowa Branch Line Railway
This modern-day prairie branch line railway was done for a client back in March of 2019. Originally he had seen an N-scale layout I designed to fit on a hollow core door, and he wanted to try and duplicate that in HO-scale on a 4x8 sheet of plywood. I knew that it would be impossible to give him everything he wanted in such a limited space, so I...
Views: 6141 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: End of Line Station, USA (States): Iowa
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, May 09, 2020 at 8:28:00 ADT.)
Saturday, May 09, 2020
HO SCALE: Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO) at Sydney, Nova Scotia
The owner of this layout liked my plan for the Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation (DOSCO) in the 1950s, which was presented earlier on this blog (see this link). However, he wanted the era shifted to the 1980s, when the mill was owned by the Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO), and he also needed the plan adapted to fit...
Views: 1226 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), Canada (Provinces): Nova Scotia, Canadian Railways: Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO), Types of Industries: Coke Plant, Types of Industries: Steel Plant
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, May 09, 2020 at 11:17:00 ADT.)
Saturday, May 09, 2020
HO SCALE: New England & Southern Railway
This is a rough draft (it still needs a lot of polish) of a design that I worked on for a client back in 2017. The client was interested in many aspects of the hobby including passenger train operations, mainline running, run thru and local traffic, online switching, and branch line operations. He also liked yard operations, but didn't want to...
Views: 862 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Freight Yard (Small), Design Feature: Helix, Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Theme: Mainline Trains, Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway, USA (Regions): New England
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Friday, February 03, 2023 at 22:20:26 AST.)
Friday, February 03, 2023
HO SCALE: Soo Line (Branch Line & Interchange)
This concept design was done back in March of 2018 for an owner of a partially completed N-scale pike who has grown weary of the level of operations required on the layout. The N-scale layout occupied this space, but had been dormant for a few years. The owner was considering moving up to HO, and from modeling mainline operations to a more...
Views: 1726 | Comments: 7
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Branch Line Railway, American Railways: Soo Line