Mainline Railways was a British model railway brand that operated between 1976 and 1983, introduced by Palitoy, the...
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What was the Mainline Railways company?Read more -
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How much track is too much track on a layout?
When deciding what and how of much something to put on your model railway layout, we must insist that you adhere to the model railways golden rule number 1, which is - It's your railway, so do what makes you happy!
But now that we've established that we are not trying to design your railway for you, many modellers do fall into the common pitfall of too much track!
Of course, if you want lots of track, carry on knock yourself out, however, some new modellers have an idea of the effect they want to create, but get a little enthusiastic when it comes to track planning and inadvertently eliminate their chances of achieving what they originally conceived. Most modellers have been guilty of this to some degree at one time or another, so don't worry, it's a normal learning curve of the hobby.
The problem with featuring too much track on your layout is that it leaves no room for any scenery, and without scenery, your layout will begin to look a little like a trainset.
A good starting point for anyone new to model railways is to allocate around a third of your baseboard space to track. This isn't a stonecast rule so don't worry too much about dividing your entire baseboard into cm squares, but if you have a two-foot wide baseboard, allocate approximately eight inches for trackbed and use the rest for your towns, platforms, roads, rivers and embankments, you'll be glad you did!
Posted in: Tracks
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