February - 2017

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.

George Randall's Conrail York

A central staircase is a layout planner's best friend -- eliminating the need for a gate or duckunder even for a double-track nolix design like this one. George's plan centers on York, PA in the 80s, with Conrail, NS, and CSX converging. Download PDF

Derek Pittman's CN Cobourg

A new trend is the "one town" approach—Derek's "one town" is Cobourg, ON. This is track-for-track with the Cobourg of today, with the passenger stations and yard being close to prototype dimensions. Download PDF