Realistic Track Plans for O Gauge Trains
By Martin J. McGuirk
Published by Kalmbach Books
Recent issues of Classic Toy Trains magazine have included articles on prototype railroads, some even include an O gauge track plan. Now from the editors of CTT comes a book with 16 such articles! Those of you who have seen the book Railroads You Can Model will find the style familiar: Each chapter contains a brief history of the prototype railroad, a color O gauge track plan featuring sectional track with a complete list of the track and accessories used. Included is a listing of some O gauge trains that have been produced already lettered for that particular roadname.
The book starts with a basic discussion of realistic layout design, but unlike other books on the subject, the examples use Lionel sectional track. The 16 plans cover all types of railroads, from the Virginia & Truckee on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, to a basement sized CP Rail system. Need an engine terminal for all those locos? There's one in the book. How about an idea for that module? Railroads that many track planners might want to avoid, like the Pennsy and the Tehachapi loop, are "interpreted" into tinplate track layouts. Need a granger road for all those Chicago and North Western locos from MTH? How about a modern layout with a container terminal for your Lionel intermodal crane? You get the idea. Each plan is fully "fleshed out" with scenery, buildings, etc., to give you a good idea of how it might look if built as shown.
I did find one problem with the book. The author used RR-Track version 2.4 to create the layouts. The Lionel O gauge track library that originally came with version 2.4 had a slight discrepancy with the size of O-31 and O-72 curves, and in turn the O-31 and O-72 switches. This error allowed you to place switches in configurations where they will not actually fit. I'll use the Lionel #23010/23011 switches as an example. If you use these switches to create a yard, you would leave out the "makeup" curve to get nice, close parallel tracks. Then, you have to reverse the lantern and place a short cut piece of straight track at least 1" long between each switch. You'll find these switches used in the yards of the Western Maryland and Santa Fe plans without the cut straights: that won't work. Fortunately, the error in RR-Tracks O gauge track library been fixed. RR-Track users can download the corrected O gauge library free from the RR-Track web site, or contact R&S enterprises for the update. Since these plans will probably be the starting point, rather than the end or finished design for a railroad, the errors may not be that critical. Bottom line is to work out a track plan with your favorite planning tool before you start to build.
This book has some great plans, but be warned, most of the designs require a large basement, room, or garage. Having said that, folks who want to create a high-rail system using their trusty sectional track and switches will enjoy this work. Even the paint-on-plywood crowd might find a plan that they can use or modify to build a toy empire with interesting operational possibilities.
