Layout Plan Advice

[Kotori]

Hello!

 

New modeler here, starting in N scale.  I’m planning to model JR, but haven’t decided which region yet.  I’m currently working out the details and planning for my layout; due to space constraints I don’t have a lot of room.

 

I’m new in the sense that I’ve got the Kato M2 plus a structure and a couple Shinkansen and that’s it.  I’m planning to pick up the switching set and the viaduct too.

 

My question is, is it more important to focus on adding trains or adding more track when just starting out?  I know scenery is important too, but I kind of figured that would be added after all the track is planned out.

 

Any advice, suggestions, or tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks and happy modeling.

[MeTheSwede]

There are no right and wrongs. It's up to you what you want to do.

 

There are those who collect trains and barely ever run them.

There are those who enjoy constructing complicated track work.

Then there are those who build scenery and sometimes fit a train and some track among it.

 

If you plan to have scenery, there is no need to wait. Making some experimental stuff that can be used with temporary layouts is a great way to get practice and you can get a temporary set up on the kitchen table look good when viewed closed up from the right angle.

 

As for adding trains, I got a grand total of ONE piece of rolling stock for my first layout, but quite a few trees. 😄

 

 

[katoftw]

There isn't a favoured way to go about it.  More trains is good.  But on a small layout, you could only possibly run 2-3 trains at once.  So too many trains early may just be a waste.  Same goes for track.  Unless you know what you really want, you might be buying too much too early.  Kato unitrak is a little rigid in how you make your layout, so go slow buying track sets.  Buy a set , test, repeat.  Don't even worry about scenery until you have a running track plan you like for your needs.

[cteno4]

Hello @Kotori,

 

I guess the first big question on a layout is how much space do you have. This can determine what can be done and set some limits. Shinkansen viaduct can be fun with even with a small station and shorter trains it can take up a sizable space, especially if you want other scenery aspects to show up well and viaduct not dominate the layout.

 

I agree with Swede, first just get some more track and play so you can try some different ideas. Using track planning software lets you fiddle with ideas, but nothing beats plopping down track and seeing what feels good or bad to you. Also if you are now running on the floor and plan on layout being on a table see if you can get some sort of table to play with track on as it’s a very different feel between the floor and the table. Take a look at the layouts here on the forum and on our club’s website to get ideas. Ask questions of folks why they did or didn’t do something. Layouts are all about tradeoffs, you have to make them and it’s a big permutation juggle in the end to find the maximum of what you want. 

 

the shape of the layout track can be important as some can’t stand a simple oval. But getting out of the oval usually means more room needed and/or tighter radiuses and maybe fewer tracks. When you first start playing with the trains ovals seem fine as it’s all new and fun. Decades ago when I was a kid my best friend and I both make our own layouts, he opted for the multiple oval as he just enjoyed the oval and running trains and one main scene in the middle. I opted for the odder over and under layout (we were basing these on the old atlas track layout booklet that was the starter bible back in the 70s) as I wanted varied scenery and scenes spread out over the layout in different pockets. His had more track, mine less. But we were each happy with our own layouts in the end as they suited us individually. This is why it’s important to okay with real track and trains as track planning software can’t usually give you that feel with the overhead 2d perspective (even with 3d in the fancier programs it’s not the same).

 

While you grow some track and are playing also try a smattering of structures to see what you like visually and what suits your building skills best. Structures range from pre build plastic (Tomix and Kato), to plastic prepainted glue together (greenmax), to plastic prepainted snap together (Tomytec), to snap together CNC cut plastic (Outland), to lasercut precolored chipboard (sankei), to lasercut chipboard that need more finishing (several small vendors). Each have their own look and feel and require different amounts of time and skills to complete. Also the range of types of building varies among these assembly types, so the scene you want may dictate some of what you end up doing. But get some structures a just start plopping them down with your track.
 

An inexpensive brown tablecloth also can be a great base layer to plop track on and you can even poke holes in the fabric to run wires under it, out of site. Cheap construction paper on top of that can be used for concrete or roads or green areas. You can print out roads with a simple vector drawing program and even add street markings pretty fast and easy. There are several road marking sets for scale that have decent scans on retailer sites to base ideas from and even potentially trace. 
 

You can also play some with larger scenery elements like hills by just wadding up newspaper and taping it down. You can even just slap some simple paper mache on it and some brown and green paints. This will give you an idea if you want to have larger pieces of scenery to hide bits of the track to help break up the loops and such and make it feel like more is going on. One hill and tunnel can have a dramatic effect on how the trains look running. For some, as Swede, noted scenery drives the layout and for others track plan drives the scenery and most of us it some compromise in between. So playing will help you get the feel on where you fall and if you have certain scenery must haves to plan the layout around or certain layout plan must haves that determine scenery.

 

Making small scenery bits early on is helpful to play with temporary layouts. It also lets you hone your scenery skills on small bits where if you screw up it’s easy to redo. Also lets you know if there are scenery techniques that just don’t speak to your hands and you want to avoid or look for alternatives before you dive into a full layout’s worth. Scenery bits can always be integrated into an eventual layout as well.

 

Unless you are a big collector and have the wallet for it, collecting a lot of trains may slow your working on a layout and playing with ideas. The good thing is there is a very large selection of Japanese trains to choose from and more coming out all the time. Downside is because there are so many different ones made very few rerun a lot and kept stock all the time. Most models are available for a year or two (or very short if popular) then gone maybe for a few years to a decade before rerun or redone. Good news is there are a lot of Japanese train modelers so a pretty robust secondhand market and quality is very good so they do ted to usually last and do well even if secondhand. But if there is something you really, really want and it’s available it’s usually good, within reason, to get it before gone, it can be hard to predict how long any model will be out there.

 

But it’s good to have a wider rather than deeper train collection starting out. Again you will have trains to play with on temp set ups that represent the potential different things to model, and again, give time to get a good feel of what you like.

 

Cheers,

 

jeff

[Kotori]

@MeTheSwede@katoftw@cteno4

 

Thanks a lot everyone for the advice.  I’ll definitely experiment and fiddle around with what I can do on a 6’x3’ table.  Much appreciated.