model railroading Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, ...

, a ''layout'' is a

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

containing scale track for operating

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

s. The size of a layout varies, from small shelf-top designs to ones that fill entire rooms,

basements A basement is any floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ca ...

, or whole buildings. Attention to modeling details such as

structures A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

and scenery is common. Simple layouts are generally situated on a table, although other methods are used, including using a flush-sided door as a base. More permanent construction methods involve attaching benchwork framing to the walls of the room or building in which the layout is situated.

Track layout

An important aspect of any model railway is the layout of the track itself. Apart from the

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

, there are four basic ways of arranging the track, and innumerable variations: * ''Continuous loop''. A circle or oval, with trains going round and round. Used in

train set Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, ...

s. * ''Point to point''. A line with a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

at each end, with trains going from one station to the other. * ''Out and back''. A pear shaped track, with trains leaving a station, going round a reversing loop, and coming back to the same station. * ''Shunting (US: Switching)''. Either a station, a

motive power depot A motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilit ...

or a

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

where the primary mode of operation is shunting. This includes layouts which are built as a

train shunting puzzle Train shunting puzzles, also often called railway shunting puzzles or railroad switching puzzles, are a type of puzzle. Shunting puzzles usually consist of a specific track layout, a set of initial conditions (typically the starting place of eac ...

such as Timesaver and Inglenook Sidings. Common variations: * On a point to point layout, the train can increase the time it takes to get from A to B by going around a continuous loop a few times. * Single or double track or more, so more trains can run at the same time. * Intermediate stations, to distinguish between express trains which go straight through and local trains which stop briefly. *

Branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

s, to add an excuse for more stations and different types of trains. * Use of multiple levels. * Arranging the continuous loop as a figure-of-8, possibly with one track going over the other instead of having tracks crossing on the same level. * Folding one loop of a figure-of-8 over the other loop to produce a looped-8, so as to reduce the amount of space needed while keeping a long continuous run. * Using one or more

fiddle yard A fiddle yard or staging yard is a collection of model railway tracks that are hidden from view and allow trains to be stored and manipulated by the operators. These tracks are used to allow most model railways to be operated in a realistic manner. ...

s (US: staging tracks) to represent the rest of the railway system. A fiddle yard is regarded as off-scene; it may hold multiple complete trains, and may also be subject to direct human intervention (fiddling) to re-arrange trains, * Dog-bone arrangement of a continuous loop; the sides of an oval are squeezed together so it looks like a double-track section with a loop at each end where the trains turn around. * Rabbit warren; a continuous loop folded over itself several times with multiple levels and many tunnels for trains to pop in and out of - often a small layout with sharp curves and short trains.

Station layout

There are three basic types of station, and sometimes combinations of these types: * ''

Terminus Terminus may refer to: Ancient Rome *Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport *Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination *Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...

'' or ''terminal station''. As the name implies, all trains stop here, and then go back to where they came from. * ''Through station''. Trains can go through this station; express trains don't stop, while local trains do stop briefly before continuing their journey. * ''

Junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (2012 film), an American film * ''Junction'' (2024 film), an American film * ''Jjunction'', a 2002 Indian film * ''Junction'' (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (E ...

''. The tracks diverge/join here. Other factors which affect the track layout of a station include: * For passengers only, or for goods only, or for both passengers and goods. * Use of

steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

and/or diesel/electric engines. * Use of trains which can be driven from either end, e.g. Diesel Multiple Units. The simplest possible station for passengers consists of just a platform beside the track, with no points (US:

switches In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

) or sidings. Both terminal and through stations can be as simple as this; a junction requires at least one point.

References

* "Adventurous Model Railway Plans." A. Postlethwaite. . Basic configurations, page 9. * "Basic Model Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby." Kent J Johnson. ,

Kalmbach Publishing Kalmbach Media (formerly Kalmbach Publishing Co.) was an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. History The company's first publication was ''The Model Railroader'', which be ...

, 1998. * "Railway Modeling." N Simmons, 8th edition, {{ISBN, 1-85260-596-0. Planning the layout Chapter 5. * "Track Plans",

C. J. Freezer Cyril John Freezer (27 June 1924 – 19 May 2009) was an English rail transport modelling, railway modeller, writer, and magazine editor. He edited ''Railway Modeller'' from 1950 to 1978, and ''Model Railways'' from 1978 until 1983. He also wrot ...

. Peco Publications, 2nd edition.
Layout Design Special Interest Group
see subpage: Design Primer/Introduction to the wide variety of layouts possible

External links

* http://www.plasticoferroviario.it – Hints and tips for model railroaders * http://modeltrains.about.com – Online resource for model railroaders * http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project.htm – Small model railroad project layouts * http://carendt.com/ – Micro/Small Layouts for Model Railroads showing hundreds of examples Rail transport modelling