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The trick is to have the appearance of point-to-point, but plan your layout so there are hidden loopbacks. I saw one large HO layout a couple of days ago that did exactly that, and the return tracks were very cleverly hidden behind things like grain elevators and cityscapes. It appeared very much to be a point-to-point, but one track would tunnel through the skyboard to the scene on the reverse side. The trains would then magically appear on the flipside.
The minuses are:* You run all the trains, and the session is over.* You can't run another session until you run all the trains (in reverse) back to their starting position.* You don't have continuous operation to impress visitors, etc.-- Bryan, Charlotetsville, VA, modeling D&RGW Soldier Summit (Helper-Summit), ca. 1965.
I'm building a point-to-point layout with a continuous running capability. The mainline is a gigantic dogbone, but it is designed such that the loops that form the ends are "out of play" for ops.
I'd like to hear from N scalers who have opted for point-to-point layout designs -- with no helix or return trackage. Are you happy with your decision? The plusses are:* Prototypical consists -- westbounds differ from eastbounds.* Planned operating session. On my layout, 6 trains will need to get up the hill (Soldier Summit), and 8 more will need to get down -- plus helper units returning. * Game-like operation. Dispatcher is challenged to get 8 trains down the hill while 6 are trying to get up. (A lot more fun than trains going around in a circle.)The minuses are:* You run all the trains, and the session is over.* You can't run another session until you run all the trains (in reverse) back to their starting position.* You don't have continuous operation to impress visitors, etc.-- Bryan, Charlotetsville, VA, modeling D&RGW Soldier Summit (Helper-Summit), ca. 1965.