…The Best Laid (Track) Plans…
My layout room is a mess. (What does this have to do with track plans, you ask? Bear with me.)
If you’ve watched any of the videos I’ve posted on my YouTube channel, you might think that my layout room is a pristine oasis. You’d be so So SO wrong. That is all smoke and mirrors. Oh, sure, it’s comfortable enough, with finished walls, a drop ceiling, and carpeting, but it’s in a continuous state of disarray.
This chaos is partly because of ongoing projects (more about that in a later post) but mostly the result of needing to store the vast quantities of crap extremely important stuff I’ve acquired over the last 25 or so years. You know, the massive amount of rolling stock, cool locomotives, and structures that will obviously, absolutely, positively all be able to fit on this medium-sized layout, right? (I’m sure I’m not alone in this. I see your head nods of empathy.)
As a result, the perimeter of my layout room is pretty full of stacked boxes, racks, and other assorted paraphernalia. That said, I’ve been reasonably successful at keeping the middle of the room open while building the first phase of the layout.
In Version 1.4.5 of the track plan, I intended to have a relatively large peninsula on the right side of the layout, as you can see here. (Visit the Track Plan Page for a complete view.) I planned for it to be home to two areas that weren’t really part of the actual Sparrow’s Point Subdivision that I’m using as a basis for the layout: my scaled-back version of Halethorpe and my representation of Wicomico Street.
But I’ve grown quite fond of the open space in the middle of the room. Fond enough that the thought of losing it caused me to rethink my plans. So, I’ve been working on another revision to the track plan, one that will make that peninsula go buh-bye. I know, this goes against the unwritten modeling rule that all available space has to be used, but I never really subscribed to that anyway.
That means that a Version 1.5.0 of the track plan is coming. I’ve already worked out how to reconfigure the track to remove the peninsula and how it affects the right side of the track plan. Those changes got me some additional room for scenery over there, but also caused some anxiety making sure I have enough vertical clearance to cross over the Conrail tracks. They also do not affect what’s already been built (mostly) or the Eastern Ave. area I’d recently added to the plan.
What I don’t yet have worked out (and the reason for not presenting the track plan to you right now) is how to handle what was going to be the B&O Bayview yard. I’d still like to retain the operational value that my Halethorpe and Wicomico Street areas were going to give me, so I may completely overhaul that other peninsula, as well, in an attempt to fit some of that over there.
Stay tuned.
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