July - 2014

Track Plans Gallery

On this page you can view many of the layout designs I have created for other modelers in recent years. You can use the filter buttons and site search to locate plans by scale, prototype, state, size, and other characteristics.

I use a simple 2D CAD program called MacDraft to do my layout planning. It is not specialized for model railroading, but I've been using it a long time and it meets my needs.

Here are a couple of resources that you can freely download and distribute for non-commercial purposes:

Bob's Track Planning Questionnaire is the document I use to gather basic information for designing a plan. It might help you organize your own "Givens n' Druthers." It's a fillable Microsoft Word doc.

Bob's Curve and Grade Calculator is an Excel spreadsheet with multiple tabs. It can calculate the length of tracks at various curve radii and grades, along with train lengths and other functions for N, HO, S, and O scales. Have fun.

John Erwin's Conrail Harrisburg Line

A continuation of my series of Reading-area plans. This relatively compact plan works in a lot of mainline using behind-the-backdrop staging.

Norm Wolf's Bowman Center

After relocating to an apartment, Norm had to restrict his layout to the size of two hollow core doors. He identified the Bowman Center, an industrial park south of Fredericksburg, VA as his prototype, and I persuaded him to add a detachable staging cassette to one end. Although it is bent around a curve, the plan is otherwise pretty close to the prototype track layout. Download PDF