Design

The planning for the model railroad began in the winter of 2018 with a list of things I wanted to incorporate in the new layout.

  • A point-to-point track plan with a continuous loop option.
  • I’d like the plan to be walk in with no duck-unders
  • A two-level track plan, but without a helix between the levels if possible.
  • A well thought out lighting system with nighttime lighting.
  • Block detection system with power districts.
  • An operational semaphore signal system.
  • A system for controlling structure lighting.
  • Some mountainous areas, probably eastern US coal country.
  • Mostly freight operations with coal as a major player
  • Some multilevel track with bridges and tunnels
  • Water features, waterfalls, rivers, maybe a harbor scene