N-Scale Mainline Through the Midwest

[TMatt253]

So I've been meaning to start this thread for awhile and now that I've reached the point where I finally can. With the ensuing weeks I'll be spending at home, now seems like the perfect time to make progress. Prior to typing this I had decided to unofficially call the layout "Anywhere America". It's more like "Anywhere Mid-America", but that didn't have the same ring to it, and I wasn't a fan of Midwest Mania. That has (within the last 5 mins) evolved to "Mainline through the Midwest".

The layout is centered on the fictional town of DeSoto, which could be anywhere in Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio. I chose this locale because I love fallen flag railroads and passenger operations. I imagine DeSoto is anywhere on a mainline to or from Chicago. The scenery is done specifically to be open ended, allowing me to run anything up to the modern era, though my target time frame is from the late 50s to the early 70s.

The layout is officially 3'4" x 7' and is 3/4" plywood with 2" foam board on top as a scenic base. The plywood currently rests on two temporary horses, which I hope to upgrade to actual legs. Track is n-scale kato unitrack with DC power and a dual cab tech-II powerpack. The layout has evolved throughout the process and its safe to say I would not repeat some of the steps if I were starting over today. Wiring is done but not finalized, and some day the layout will switch to DCC, but for my purposes it isn't necessary nor feasible at the moment.

A little backstory - as a young kid my dad introduced me to the hobby with HO scale trains, but a basement renovation and growing school life relegated the trains to storage. After dusting the trains off years later in high school, I started thinking about a layout to run trains and test my modeling ability. HO scale wasn't feasible, so I asked for an n-scale Kato starter set for Christmas, and started from there. I combed the internet for inspiration and found Calvinwood Crossing, http://geep40.blogspot.com/, a great blog that showed me what I could hope to achieve in my small space. My initial track-plan mirrored Calvinwood Crossing closely, and I used AnyRail to put it together. I ordered the track and started the layout, but 5 years, a high school and college graduation later, I am only now finding the time at home necessary to finally make progress and hopefully finish the layout. The track-plan has changed to make a more prototypical look and feel to the layout, and to provide an outlet for expansion if possible. I always seem to think beyond the space I have! I am hoping this blog will not only motivate me to model to the best of my ability but also to pick up on new ideas and techniques from others.

Anyways, here's to finishing the layout! I hope you enjoy the ride! Below is the track-plan. More photos and updates to come soon.

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Trevor

[DKS]

Congratulations on getting started with a new layout. A clean slate is always the most exciting point.

A few comments...

The inner and outer loops are not connected. Is this deliberate? It might enhance operation if they were.

The layout would have more visual interest if the tracks and streets were not parallel to the edges of the layout. I might recommend tilting the track on one angle, and the streets on a different angle.

Best of luck, and keep posting.

By the way, if the plan isn't set in stone yet, here are some ideas you might like to explore...

http://davidksmith.com/modeling/resources/track-planning/hcds.htm

[TMatt253]

@DKS to answer a few of your points the timeline is going to get a little bit tricky! So the first iteration of the track-plan was done about 5 years ago in 2015-16, and it was a folded dogbone, so the loops were all just one long run. I've done a quick edit to show the original plan more of less below:

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Unfortunately one of my problems is that I think very linearly. That is the biggest influence on a lot of the parallel nature of the track, roads, etc. I also get certain visions or inspirations in my head and try very hard to emulate that vision. Being in the midwest, many of my scenes are linear by nature for better or for worse. I really enjoy doing scenery and since my mind always thinks much larger than the space I have I wanted to try to create scenes that could be made to look much larger than they actually are.

Sporadic scenery and structure construction happened over the course of breaks from school over the next 4 years, but I wasn't really home all to often. Upon graduation and moving back in, the double crossover and the diamond for the folded dogbone really started to bother me from a prototypical standpoint, they were logical for running the trains, but if I was taking pictures of scenes, I felt like they would make it look less believable. This led to the track-plan I posted above as a temporary solution. After acquiring two Kato switches and staring at the track for awhile I rearranged some other turnouts to arrive at the final plan here:

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The left hand and right hand crossovers have been installed for over a month, but the final above plan with the rearranged station siding literally came together within the past two days haha. When I initially intended to start this thread I was unaware that I needed to have 25 posts to do so (silly me), so between the time I did the first graphic things have been in a constant state of change as I start to think of better ways to make some things work. I intend to try and provide older photos to show how somethings started and how they got to where they are now. While the track-plan has changed it is more or less set in stone for better or for worse. Below is a scene that has scenery and was the first to test the "make a small scene look bigger" idea.

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Trevor

[nkalanaga]

Everything straight and parallel looks very much like the flat portions of the Midwest.  Railways, and roads, don't curve unless they have to, and many roads are neatly east-west or north-south, following property lines.

[TMatt253]

A brief timeline of "downtown" DeSoto from its humble beginnings to the point of progress it is currently in. Apologies for the sideways pictures, those were taken before I knew to take photos in landscape.

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Trevor

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Everything straight and parallel looks very much like the flat portions of the Midwest.  Railways, and roads, don't curve unless they have to, and many roads are neatly east-west or north-south, following property lines.

This is so very true. As a dyed in the wool northeasterner, I continue to be shocked by it whenever I'm going anywhere west of Pittsburgh.

[narrowminded]

So far I think it's looking pretty good.   The scenery makes a huge difference.

Several square blocks on a grid, a few trees in and about town, and a water tower.  Anytown USA between the Ohio/ PA line and the Missouri River.   OK, an exaggeration but...

[TMatt253]

After searching for weeks for the gas pumps that came with the City Classics gas station kit (a great kit imo), I came to terms with the fact that I had lost them and ordered some online. Sure enough, as my package was in the mail I found the original pumps. The Showcase Miniatures pumps are really really nice though, so I'm very happy with my purchase. When the pumps arrived I started to detail the gas station. My inspiration comes from an old Mobil station in Odell, Illinois.

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Here are some progress shots of the gas station. I still need to add a road sign, curbs, and various other details. I also might redo the concrete pads because I'm not sure how I feel about them.

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Trevor

[TMatt253]

After a few days of lackluster production I've finally made some progress on scenery and details to the town area worth sharing. Some of the projects included base scenery on one of the side streets and adding some detail to various businesses in town. My favorite of the projects is the Dairy Queen road sign that stands watch over the main thoroughfare into town.

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I've also scratch built this small industrial/commercial building using a combination of Rix doors and windows, styrene, and wall details printed onto cardstock and applied to the sides. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Still needs some weathering and roof details.

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Trevor

[Mark5]

Diggin' the small town feel. 

What kit is that greyish building behind the "main street" stores with the mildly curved roof?

EDIT: Is it this: https://www.walthers.com/state-line-farm-supply-kit-3-1-4-x-4-1-4-x-1-7-8-quot-ramp-1-3-16-x-4-7-8-quot-empty

Mark

[PennsyPride]

The layout is centered on the fictional town of DeSoto, which could be anywhere in Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio. I chose this locale because I love fallen flag railroads and passenger operations. I imagine DeSoto is anywhere on a mainline to or from Chicago.

DeSoto, IL.  A small town in southern  Illinois right on the main line of the Illinois Central; Chicago to New Orleans.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Looks great man!

[MVW]

Yep, well-executed, this Midwesterner says. 

And as a C&NW fan, I dig the appearance of a double main line.

Jim

[LIRR]

Nice work on the Mobil station. Try brushing on a thin black wash...a few drops of black paint or rit dye in an ounce or two of water. It’ll settle in the nooks and crannies and bring out some nice detail.

[nkalanaga]

It looks like quite a few little towns I've seen on vacations. Nice job!