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Theme: Branch Line Railway
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, June 02, 2022 at 23:47:53 ADT.)
Thursday, June 02, 2022
N SCALE: Central Alberta Railway (A Beginner's Layout)
Back in August of 2018, I had a request to do a prairie branch line in N-scale that had to include a simple grain elevator scene, and a small rural town scene. The client left it up to me the exact dimension of the layout, but he wanted it as small as possible. He also wanted Atlas code 55 track used, and he insisted on having...
Views: 3767 | Comments: 9
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Staging Options: Fiddle Track, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Type: Beginner Layout, Canada (Provinces): Alberta, Articles: Operating Small Layouts
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, October 12, 2019 at 11:46:00 ADT.)
Saturday, October 12, 2019
HO SCALE: Santa Fe (San Jacinto District)
This design is based on AT&SF's San Jacinto District, but by no means it is meant to be a match for the line. I have been aware of this branch line since reading "The San Jacinto District: An HO switching railroad for a 9 x 12-foot room," by Andy Sperandeo in Model Railroader [February 1980, page 107]. There have also been many...
Views: 1358 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Train Elevator, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): California, American Railways: Santa Fe
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, October 14, 2019 at 18:33:00 ADT.)
Monday, October 14, 2019
HO SCALE: Aberystwith & Welsh Coast Railway
I have always had great admiration for British modelers, and I am continuously impressed with how much they seem to do with a space, no matter how limited. Some of the scenes depicted on these small layouts are many of my favourite modeled scenes. Back in November of 2016, I decided to design a UK inspired layout, and...
Views: 1099 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Staging Options: Cassette Staging, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Theme: Single Station / Town, Theme: Waterfront, Other: United Kingdom, British Railways: Aberystwith & Welsh Coast Ry, Types of Industries: Wharves
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: 1511 | Comments: 3
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Type: Beginner Layout
Posted in Articles by Rob Chant. (Updated Friday, December 02, 2022 at 21:12:05 AST.)
Friday, December 02, 2022
ARTICLE: Branch line operations on a 4x8 sheet of plywood in HO Scale
Back in April of 2019, I was asked to design a HO-scale layout on a 4x8 sheet of plywood based on the same operating scheme that I proposed for use with my Central Alberta Railway (CARY) design. For those not familiar with my CARY track plan, it was an N-scale layout I designed back in 2010 using a hollow core door. How that layout was operated was partly inspired...
Views: 10498 | Comments: 6
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Canada (Provinces): Ontario, Canadian Railways: Canadian National Ry, Articles: Operating Small Layouts
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Tuesday, November 02, 2021 at 10:19:59 ADT.)
Tuesday, November 02, 2021
HO SCALE: Prairie Dog Central Railway
I designed this for a client way back in August of 2000. Back then I wasn't doing a lot of 3D work, so the layout had to wait 20 years for me to finish it. At the time, the owner wanted a layout depicting a Canadian prairie setting, and wanted to run both diesel and steam. Although meant to be purely fictional, his premise was based on the Prairie Dog Central...
Views: 5472 | Comments: 1
TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Theme: Canadian Prairies, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Passenger Service, Theme: Steam Excursion Trains, Canada (Provinces): Manitoba, Canadian Railways: Prairie Dog Central Railway
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, October 31, 2020 at 7:07:35 ADT.)
Saturday, October 31, 2020
HO SCALE: Soo Line Branch Line
Back in July of 2017, a member of a railway forum offered to send me something that I still needed for my On30 layout in exchange for my layout design services. At the time, I had pretty much all the motive power, rolling stock, and track that I needed, so I explain the situation, thanked him for the generous offer, and assumed that was the end of it. However, he...
Views: 1697 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Branch Line Railway, American Railways: Soo Line
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, November 15, 2021 at 18:12:12 AST.)
Monday, November 15, 2021
HO SCALE: Canadian Pacific Branch Line
Many of my small layout designs focus on branch line operations that make it easier to portray in a small room. I also tend to make them as generic as possible so they are easily adapted to a variety of prototypes, and this design is a good example of that approach. This is an HO-scale design for a small end of a branch line operation that would easily...
Views: 2537 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Passenger Service, Canadian Railways: Canadian Pacific Ry
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: 946 | 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 Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 22:40:45 ADT.)
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
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: 1898 | Comments: 8
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: Branch Line Railway, American Railways: Soo Line
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, April 25, 2021 at 20:43:33 ADT.)
Sunday, April 25, 2021
S SCALE: Texas & New Orleans Railway (Llano, TX)
This track plan was started back in June of 2020 in Proto:48, but my client decided to change to S-scale in September. The design is based very loosely on Llano, Texas in the 1970s and is meant to be built in two phases. The first phase consists of an L-shaped layout that includes the shelf on the north wall, and just a single switching lead/staging...
Views: 1258 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Theme: Single Station / Town, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): Texas, American Railways: Texas & New Orleans Railway
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, September 30, 2021 at 8:12:00 ADT.)
Thursday, September 30, 2021
HO SCALE: Canadian Pacific Railway (Branch Line in Northern Ontario)
This design was done for a client who wanted to see a HO-scale Canadian Pacific branch line set in Northern Ontario during the transition era. I didn't have any control over the bench work configuration since it was already constructed in the roughly 8 x 11½ foot space in his family room.
Views: 1081 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Theme: Passenger Service, Canada (Provinces): Ontario, Canadian Railways: Canadian Pacific Ry
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