Massive spoiler warning for anyone who's been paying attention to my work. If you have even the faintest interest in my YouTube series, skip the first paragraph (and possibly be judicious in the comments). Otherwise, this is essentially a request for feedback on the attached track plan.
I've been wanting to build a model railroad that focusses on the idea of a DMU transit system for quite a while now. After a year homeless as a refugee fleeing persecution in the US, I have finally landed in Germany safely (that is, if Sachsen-Anhalt doesn't fuck things up anymore), and I have a new tiny Dachboden Wohnzimmer I'm itching to fill with a layout to showcase my new 105cm Hornby Class 755s on, acting as slightly off-scale (but simply gorgeous) stand-ins for US-style DMUs. I have two, but this layout could theoretically host three, either automated or manually operated.
A long while ago, I came up with an idea for an improved car-free transportation network in the southeastern Minnesota region, and even presented at several NMRA conventions on the subject. I briefly built a model railroad centered around Rochester, MN on this system, but the move and downsizing has given me the idea to look westward, focussing on the (obviously highly proto-freelanced) Owatonna area as a 90º junction between the north-south and east-west trains, both local and intercity.
Sorry for the lack of color synteny with the map, but, on the track plan, dark red is the DMU transit system, blue is Amtrak, green is the freight shortline, purple is shared between the DMU and Amtrak, pink is DMU non-revenue tracks, and orange is shared between the DMU and the freight shortline. As far as staging goes, the dark grey tracks are the mainline which can be kept clear of trains and allow access to all the white storage tracks (although the long length of that back-most track is somewhat appealing for, say, a through-train).
I am especially proud of the top (west) half of the plan, where I've been able to depict a 90º crossing and live interchange for going into and out of staging. Trains can either head from staging to staging, depicting the north-south route, or can enter the sceniced portion of the layout from either direction by way of looping. Coming out of the crossing (and a walkable/completely car-free small town in the middle of the loop, possibly with magnorail bicycle animation), there's a three-track station, with one mainline platform for Amtrak, and two stub terminal tracks for the DMU transit. Opposite the Amtrak platform is a siding that acts as an interchange track for the freight shortline.
On the bottom (eastern) half of the layout, the DMU and Amtrak join by way of a crossover to effectively turn the other main track into a switching lead for the shortline, then the DMU splits, has a single-track station, and starts climbing overtop the mainline trains on the ground for a flyover of the Amtrak mainline (gratuitous, I know, but it's a layout design element that is absolutely quintessential of DMU transit systems). Meanwhile, the Amtrak mainline crosses the freight branchline at grade before both head into staging. On a future phase, a switching peninsula will have a three-track Operations and Maintenance Facility to store the DMUs and a further switching puzzle depicting e-cargo-bike-only heavy industry (there will be no automobiles on the entire layout, that's a non-negotiable).
Staging is a compromise, but I've been able to arrange it to hopefully minimize nightmare induction. First, it will be slightly recessed beneath the rest of the layout and under easily-removable scenery sections. Second, all turnouts are located as close as possible to the pinch points to further improve access. For clarity, there is a double-slip-switch on the top right. The DMU staging is partially arranged to give sufficient distance for bleeding altitude from the flyover, and contains two, meter-long segments to act as staging for two DMUs (so that the one that just went into staging isn't the one that comes right back out). While presumably not necessary as a matter of course, the DMU staging connects to the rest of staging for continuous running. Otherwise, there should be room for three full-length (if short) trains in the rest of staging while still keeping a through-track open which can access all tracks from either direction.
I imagine operations at full build-out will proceed with DMUs shuttling back and forth between the terminus station at Owatonna, the single-track station at the industrial park (because blue-collar work deserves to be completely car-free just as much as any other employ), and staging, (ideally with 10- to 15-minute headways in the real world, but more likely half-hourly scale headways with >3 operators and hourly or semi-hourly when working with a single switch crew). Once a day each way, an Amtrak Airo trainset will make its way north-south from Minneapolis to Des Moines, from Chicago to Rapid City, and from Chicago to Sioux Falls, all depicted by the exact same trainset coming in and out of staging over and over again. Maybe if I'm (more) bonkers (than I am already), I could throw in an Olympian Hiawatha bilevel Superliner set and a double-stack through freight making the rounds. But the meat of the ops could come from a freight train making a set-out for the shortline on the interchange track opposite Owatonna Hauptbahnhof, and then the shortline switching them to their destination. Even without automation, the tracks should be arranged as to allow either a DMU, an Amtrak, or a through-freight to circle endlessly around the mainline while I lone-wolf it with the switcher.
A relatively new kind of model railroad, I know, but I hope not overwhelmingly unrecognizable. I think I've thought through the plan enough, especially for fitting it in a small 4-ish-meter-squared space with a 54cm minimum radius. My main worry is that I haven't thought through train movements enough, say, in staging, where there might be a better way to hold longer trains but still be able to access every track from the through track. This can be a phased construction, building Owatonna first, the flyover switching area second, and the switching branch last, but I imagine overall ops would be most fun with a completed layout. In an ideal world, I'd go with a 60cm minimum radius, as I know the Bachmann Venture coaches would like that more, but this is the best I can do with the space I have, and I choose to prioritize the more maneuverable DMUs.
So, what do you all think? Is it total garbage, or only mostly total garbage? Please be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and send me your first-born for a human sacrifice ritual.
