A good rule of thumb is to separate the reverse curves of an S curve by a length of straight track longer than your longest vehicle fitted with body-mounted couplers. To prevent interference between operators, it's usually a good idea to avoid having areas of intensive switching opposite each other on a narrow aisle or one above the other on a multideck layout. Probably foremost on the modeler's mind when starting on a new layout is the question of a place to put it. For example: Model Railroad for Beginners - From Loop to Layout - Adding Interest & Industry: MRH What's Neat columnist Ken Patterson goes over his approach to track planning: 3-D rendering of the around-the-wall HO scale model railroad David Popp developed in his multi-part "Designing a layout" planning series for MR Video Plus: Doug Gurin on how to make scenes look larger: Luke Towns approach to planning a modular layout: Examples of track plans for small and miniature layouts: National Model Railroad Association, Inc. https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2014-09-sep/minimum-space-layouts, http://templot.com/companion/installation.php, https://www.trackplanning.com/how-will-you-plan-your-layout.htm, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanborn_Maps, http://mrhpub.com/2017-08-aug/online/?page=22, https://www.papergardenworkshop.com/blog/designing-your-garden-bubble-diagrams, http://www.usatrains.com/usatrainslocogp7.html, https://www.nmra.org/track-curvatures-rolling-stock, https://www.trackplanning.com/easements.htm, https://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/d3b3.pdf, https://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/standards/sandrp/pdf/rp-7_track_centers_and_obstacle_clearances_july_2017.pdf, https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/15594, https://www.crowood.com/products/designing-and-building-fiddle-yards-by-richard-bardsley?_pos=1&_psq=Fiddle%20Yard&_ss=e&_v=1.0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7D3ePKQtLY, http://www.robinslayouts.co.uk/tonys-forest/tonys-forest-sector-plate/tf-sector-plate-gallery/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiuF1Fq-UAw, http://ldsig.net/o/ldsig/wiki/index_title_Category_Primer.html, https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/taxonomy/term/28, http://modelrailroadersnotebook.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html, https://www.layoutvision.com/contact-about, https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/36989. Although the schematic is focused on the track plan, also think about how structures, roads, and other scenic elements will fit. Same for locomotives: an Allegheny does not work on a 20 radius track in HO. For example, moving an industrial spur. If the straight distance between the curves is too short, the couplers on your rolling stock might not have sufficient side swing to accommodate the differing side movement of the ends of adjacent vehicles. Am I interested primarily in running trains over a mainline or in switching? To give your layout purpose, you will need an origin and a destination for your trains. Build the benchwork to an appropriate height. Prototype track configurations provide ideas for LDE's, such as this one for a small yard, engine facilities, and a coal transfer trestle. Will the line go around the perimeter of a fenced-in or otherwise physically defined area or will it form an island in a lawn or garden area? Finally, ask yourself whether it fits your vision, you have the resources to build it, and whether it looks railroady.. From a straight section of track have it gently curve and gradually decrease in radius to the radius you want. One place to begin is to find a layout plan in a magazine, book, or online, and build it as designed or modified to meet preferences and fit in the space available. Avoid straight sections parallel to the front of the layout to de-emphasize the edges. Do I want continuous running or the capability to run point to point, maybe with continuous running an option for open houses? If you are building a freelance railroad, realize that LDE's do not have to follow a specific prototype but can mimic prototype practices. For example, which tracks must have sufficient separation to provide room for the depot and possible freight house. 
Functionally efficient layouts satisfy your goals for the type, frequency, and size of trains you want to run, as well as the types of work you want to do, such as switching or running mainline trains, while avoiding operational headaches. By running well we mean the equipment runs smoothly and can negotiate curves and grades. Avoid having tracks at different elevations in a scene run so close that they create the need for a sheer cliff or high retaining wall. Meanwhile, you can convert some of the ideas expressed as bubbles into layout design elements. Do I want it to look complete in a short time or will my vision need years to accomplish? For more on easements look here: Here are a few more tips to keep in mind: A long train sweeping through an S curve looks impressive, but such curves can cause derailments. A rule of thumb for aisle widths is 24 inches for single access, 36 inches for co-located operators (900 mm wide accessways and 1,200 mm wide operating areas). Some programs allow for printing 1:1, are helpful for designing complex trackwork, and useful for identifying where grading is required for outdoor layouts. Garden locomotives can require 5 feet and you can find some great information here: Plan easements, smooth transitions between straight and curved stretches of the track rather than abrupt transitions from straight to your minimum radius. What about changing elevation? In fact, your equipment might tolerate a somewhat smaller minimum radius if you have easements. Am I interested in operations? Major staging can comprise a number of parallel tracks reached via a ladder of switches, much like a classification yard. How much time do I have to devote to building my layout? Eventually, however, you want to develop your own design that fits your goals and resources perfectly, and that is what we will help you with here. Viewing the model railroad at eye level helps make it appear more realistic, but that level is too high to work on comfortably. Provide sufficient width of aisles, especially if you plan to host operating sessions. You can start to sketch track plans on your scale drawing, but you will want to move to drawing track plans to scale as early in the process as you can. Note that yard ladders should ideally be built with the shortest track nearest the aisle where the person stands while switching and the longest track towards the back.
Am I interested in a particular place and time? If you want to run more than one train at a time, you will need to provide, There are too many types and designs for yards to be described in detail, but a common feature on medium to large layouts is a. Double-ended yards allow two people to work, but they take up a lot of room and are appropriate for only the largest model railroad. Do I plan to run the layout largely by myself or do I want to invite fellow hobbyists? Layouts can be designed for the owner to display at a train show or some other venue. You can use a general drawing or computer-aided design program, but specialized model railroading applications have tools and features such as libraries of templates for turnouts. (There is even a book about these, Cassettes, a single length of track or parallel aluminum angle mounted on a carrier that is temporarily attached to the layout. Similarly, curves should gradually increase in radius. Freehand track layouts tend to be overly optimistic in the quantity of track that can be fit in a given space and we all fudge the track radius and space taken up by turnouts. Because coupling rolling stock can be a challenge on curves, use straight track or broad, sweeping turns in areas such as yards or industrial spurs if at all possible. 
What are the required points of access from the house and perhaps other parts of the property? As you decide where you want to place structures the track plan may need modifying. You can check your plan by making a physical or virtual three-dimensional mockup of track, scenery, and structures. However, many of the same questions apply to outdoor layouts, generally called garden railroads. As you look at your design, ask yourself whether it is consistent with the prototype you are modeling or, if you are freelancing, consistent with the type of railroad you are modeling. You want your layout to run well mechanically, function well operationally, and look good. When you turn to your own design, there are some generally agreed-upon practices that improve the looks of the layout. For example, Fiddle yard, similar to staging, but typically fewer and wider spaced tracks allowing rolling stock to be placed from or removed to storage. They look more realistic and make the layout look larger. But hold up for a second. Also, note that if you do need to use a sharp curve and have a choice where to place it, viewing it from the inside of the curve reduces the unsightly effect. Staging tracks should be as long as the longest train you intend to run and should number however many trains you expect to operate. If you are unfamiliar with some of the specialized terminology we use, here is a glossary on the NMRA website: These are the planning steps that will be described below: Step 1 Capture your goals and resources, Step 2 Prioritize the ideas and start to design trackwork, Step 3 Add size and detail to the ideas to create a schematic or rough draft, Step 4 Draw your track plan in sufficient detail to allow building benchwork and laying track. A large part of model railroad planning and construction requires compression, but this can go too far. Of course, you do not need to cross the door if the layout is point to point. The temptation to reduce track radii to fit in more track is strong, but to an extreme, this only looks good when representing urban switching districts. Layout planning takes vague dreams of a model railroad to a track plan which can be built. Trains look better if they don't suddenly jerk as they go into a curve or meet a tangent. A few examples are: Build broad sweeping curves rather than long straight stretches of track. Throughout this discussion, we have assumed an indoor layout. The radius affects the look and performance of longer equipment. What tracks should a classification yard have to work efficiently? Sanborn maps. You could sketch in some proposed benchwork, using layout squares in corners and the beginnings and ends of peninsulas. For a continuous run, the track can turn back on itself. One of the goals of, Staging tracks--also known as holding tracks-- at each end of the layout and perhaps at intermediate points where trains can be held until the time for them to appear, only to disappear in staging tracks at the end of their journey. We might have bought a crossing for a figure eight and turnouts so we could have spurs with perhaps a passing siding to allow us to run around our train and run two trains in opposite directions. Ensure you can reach everywhere for layout maintenance. Twentieth-century passenger cars overhang too much on small-radius curves to look good or track well. If you build a layout with multiple decks, allow sufficient clearance between decks for access and maintenance. In this case, the layout consists of modules or sections and the size can be dictated by storage space. For example, construct a one-fifth scale model on a sheet of plywood the shape of the space the layout will occupy. Provide sufficient room for buildings and scenery appropriate to the look you want to achieve. Do I want to freelance or to replicate a prototype? Leave some space between track and layout edge for scenery and safety of the equipment. Websites and online discussion groups provide resources for ideas and plans as well as critiquing plans. If you find building the layout as a series of modules appeal to you, think in terms of dominoes.
Ask yourself what appeals to you and why. How much room do you need for an LDE? This part of the Guide has three parts: an overview of the layout design process from that vague idea to a detailed plan; a presentation of best practices for a successful model railroad design; and a list of written resources to help you along. Moving from a rough sketch to a final track plan needs a few questions answered. TOMA suggests a starting point for building, perhaps to test out ideas and hone your skills. In fact, you could draw proposed LDE's on a separate page, cut them out, do the same for layout squares, and move these squares and rectangles around on your scale drawing to test out ideas. That is unless your greatest enjoyment is in breaking down and building trains and you want your classification yard to occupy a large part of your layout. Also, be aware of S curves formed from adjacent turnouts. You can learn much from books, magazine articles, Internet blogs, online discussion groups, and one's own observations of railroading. Mockups help you see whether the layout can be built, whether there are problems of clearance, and whether scenes are going to look right. There are several concepts and techniques for deciding how much space is required for the track plan and how much is to be devoted to scenery and buildings to provide the context for train operations. For example: What track radius should you use in drawing layout squares? (. The steps are often repeated as you may need to go back to a previous step or steps and change the draft plan and take that forward to the next step. https://www.nmra.org/edutrain/layout-research-and-planning-kirkwood-cuto https://www.nmra.org/planning-your-model-railroad-prototype-vs-freelance, https://www.nmra.org/videos/track-planning, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_7y04jKPZA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqOHQySDTGU. Individuals might opt to build a home layout in modules when the probability of a move is high. https://mrv.trains.com/layouts/3d-track-plans/2019/04/3d-track-plans-ho- https://www.modelrailroadacademy.com/video/better-model-railroad-layout- https://www.bouldercreekrailroad.com/part-1-planning.html, https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/30394. Will structures be weatherproof or needing to be taken up and moved back indoors? Many of them are described in the resources listed below and won't be listed here. Studying published layouts can help you decide what features you like best, what works and what does not for your space, time and budget. Our earliest plans might have simply been an oval of sectional track on the floor or sheet of plywood. You might be better off with one large industry than two unrealistically small industries on a spur. For emergency access to an out of reach part of the layout, provide an access hatch, a hole in the benchwork, and scenery which issometimes concealed with a lift-out section of scenery. With time we might acquire more space, become involved in a modular group or a club planning a layout, or simply want to up our game as we learn more about the hobby. This is done rarely by individuals in the US but is not unusual for clubs and in other countries. Staging can be as simple as a single track representing a branchline, disappearing behind buildings or trees, or into a tunnel. In other words, simulate prototype railroad operations. This arrangement makes it possible to see the first one or two cars on each track for reading car numbers and for coupling and uncoupling.
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