Missabe & Western layout design, part 1

[@sinistregoth]

Hi from accross the pond Just discovered your channel while searching for vids on hand built track and as an aside have been fascinated by your layout planning. Very interesting on how different US model railroading style...the long multi-looping, multi deck, industry centered designs, differs so much compared to UK railway modelling... i cant help thinking there is a subject worthy an episode in itself! Ive clicked the bell, looking foward to the next notification Cheers Chris

[@mpeterll]

Welcome aboard. New videos are released at the same time each week, but rather than just waiting for the next one, feel free to go back and view any of over 300 videos I already have on-line.

[@sinistregoth]

@@mpeterll Oh trust me I am doing that!, and getting somewhat inspired by your designs as techniques. Really love your handmade trackwork too, Its also great to see the progress on your personal layout Must dash, as you say, i have some catching up to do!,😀

[@yrunaked4]

I cannot fathom the amount of time and communication that had to go into this effort. Brilliant work, having to start over after the window incident was tragic, you really saved a great design and still come up with a great ending. some of the finest planning ive ever seen. Cheers Rob

[@jonleonard538]

I have been watching for just under a year of your “episodes”. With apologies to commercial: Production, Broadcast and Theater companies, for a person of good imagination, like myself, I find your projects and in particular your narrations to be as engaging as the best of anything on TV or in theaters. I will never have a model railroad of my own, though I do hope to participate in revitalizing a well know old one.

[@mpeterll]

Thank-you for the compliments

[@jolliemark6294]

Wow! This one is a very ambitious one hope you get to see it through. ...thanks for sharing looking forward to seeing next week's video 👍👍👍

[@jrcrawford4]

Wow all that work into a fantastic design and then to have to relocate it all, and then another fantastic design. Incredibly impressive! Perhaps the interchanging railroad across the aisle should be the Grande Pacific.

[@mpeterll]

Interesting idea, except that the "Grande Pacific" is a conglomeration of many other railroads. I think it will be better to pick one railroad that actually worked this area.

[@jrcrawford4]

@@mpeterll yes, much more feasible.

[@steve87thpsap]

Wow that was a lot of work. This helps me out in my future thoughts for planning, good thing I won’t really have this much I my railroad is kind of smaller. Thanks for walking through the whole design and decision process.

[@rjl110919581]

thank you for every detail video on the build of this layout a lot of detail going into the operation side layout thank you for share this other from Australia

[@scotth4760]

Enjoy watching the process you go through to resolve issue presented by the client and space restrictions. Just removed my old layout prior to moving to new house and I plan to reach out for your assistance in design my new layout. Nothing as grand as this but will give me many days of pleasure building it I’m sure.

[@eugeniomarins2936]

Dear Sir, Before i watch this video, i want to say that every time i see a computer layout on your channel i save it to be the last video of the night. It is immensely gratifying to follow the thought processes that lead to the solutions you find. As far as i know, you are the only layout designer that lead us throughout your mind workings to see where it leads you, and shows it. Thanks and cheers from Brazl. Edit: Bloody hell, too many "leads".

[@mpeterll]

Thank-you for the compliments.

[@LawrenceTimme]

Wow that is a lot of tracks. Going to be busy building that but it will look great when finished

[@mpeterll]

Yes there is a lot of track on the main level (which is at the ideal height for intensive operation). The upper level will have a far lower track density.

[@chazzyb8660]

Having just watched your latest slideshow of dismantling, reassembling and adding the first scenic layer, I thought I better come back and look again (again!) at the track plan. I think that even just watching the workings of the lowest functional level will be fascinating in itself, but then to have the upper three levels to 'mess around' with just makes this even more awesome. I wonder how often the potential operations of this layout will actually be realised, and how many operators would be required to have it fully functioning? My other thought is how much of the layout could be automated as it would be fun to see trains just going for it, round and round, even with no one actually doing anything? I used to love watching the automated layouts in Beatties, Holborn, London when I was a kid, at least I think they were automated?

[@williambryant5946]

With JMRI or another similar software program you might be able to set it all up to be automated. Switching and all. The computer programming side of model railroading has grown in leaps and bounds over the last 10 years. Writing all the scripts for JMRI is the hard part to get the timing right where all the trains stop at the correct place. Very possible to automate the whole thing.

[@harrydavis4675]

Somewhat off topic but thought I’d ask. What preference do people have for ceiling materials?I have a new home with visible joists but trying to decide if I leave the joists exposed, cover with Sheetrock or use a drop ceiling. Interested in peoples thoughts or what you did so I can get past that hurdle and move on to final design and construction. What did you do for lighting? OBTW, the room is approximately 29’ x 17’. Thanks for responses.

[@ReaverLordTonus]

Amazing work, you have incredible patience for this client lol. It may be a few years before I have a space large enough for a layout but if you're still in the business of layout design I'll be reaching out for sure.

[@mpeterll]

Awesome. I'd recommend contacting me at least a year before you are ready for the design as I have a significant backlog of layout designs in the queue, which is getting longer all the time.

[@philmorton4590]

There always seems to be a problem that was earlier overlooked that comes back to force these plans to be abandoned, the plan at the end still blocks the window. Maybe the walkway should be in the middle but then you'd have 4 short tables and 2 systems that need multiple gates and bridges. Really needed a south helix with a bigger table.

[@chazco]

al i can say is wow, that is a lot of iterations

[@garrisonjohnson7917]

holy crap this is a private layout ? more like a small club, i couldn't afford half the turn outs in the staging yard !! love your work and design methods though.

[@mpeterll]

Yes it's a private layout (and yes it's currently being built). I suspect that once knowledge of its existence gets out, he will have the makings of a local club because of the intense prototypical operation that the plan will support.

[@PeterTillman3]

Awesome 👍👍

[@donaldshroyer8633]

Nice vid. Your mention of reversing loops makes me curious if DCC electrical considerations ever come into play in your layout design, especially with such a large and complex design.

[@mpeterll]

I always consider the electrical ramifications (and a whole lot of other things that are not readily apparent) while designing a layout.

[@donaldshroyer8633]

@@mpeterll Showing an example of how you do the DCC wiring and block separation for any of the reverse loops in any of your designs would make a great video.

[@mpeterll]

@@donaldshroyer8633 Hold onto that thought. There is one in the pipeline.

[@mpetersen6]

@@mpeterll I agree, the electrical considerations for track power would be fascinating. While DCC is king today in the future I really think Dead Rail Operation will come on strong. With advances in battery technology driven by products in numerous fields and the use of Bluetooth receivers the days of track power problems will become a thing of the past. But for that to happen one of the locomotive manufacturers will need to jump into the market place. The other thing is how do you charge the batteries and how long will they provide sufficient power. If they can handle a two hour operating session I would think that would be enough to start. Charging could be either on a short section of powered track or possibly by wireless charging as used by some cell phones today. Such systems are in use today by some adventurous model railroaders. Plus they would be a real boon to the individuals that have difficulty getting the red electricicles to go down the red wire. The green to go down the green etc. 🙄🙄 Like me.

[@mpeterll]

@@mpetersen6 My thoughts are that the ideal situation would be for an on-board rechargeable battery, a function to indicate the current battery level, and the ability to charge through the rails. Then, for ultimate realism staging yards and locomotive service tracks should be powered so that once a locomotive has finished its run, it needs to go for "servicing" in the engine terminal. Then a battery doesn't have to last a full session, but just one run over the whole length of the layout. If a locomotive is used for a shorter run, then simply topping the battery off for a few minutes should be enough for the next run. If the battery is located in the tender, then bigger tenders could hold bigger batteries for a longer range - ultimate realism!

[@derekalexander4030]

You have done a magnificent job on each iteration of this layout. I know that you have moved on from the first layout design because of the desire to keep the natural light from the windows but I personally liked that plan the best and looking at the cutaway that you did, it appears that the lower level at 24 inches and the upper storage level above the lighting valance would not block the windows at all and only the 44 inch level and the 64 inch level would interfere with the light entering the room. Couldn’t those two levels be reduced in thickness, only in front of the windows, to allow the most possible light into the room when not in use with a removable backdrop that would only be installed during operating sessions? Of course you have a better feel for the room and the client than I do and I’m only looking at what you have provided but I believe the initial plan you did was absolutely impressive and the best use of the space available if the client and his wife were accepting of this compromise.

[@mpeterll]

Thank-you for your comments. Actually, I came to like the revised layout better. Although it took a while to get there, we ended up with a better use of the space. It became practical to nest the helixes one within the other (quite a saving with a 36" minimum mainline radius), and we were also able to restore the passenger terminal. Although we only have 4 "runs" on each deck instead of 6, they are all long straight runs - which we only had two of before, and that makes all the difference. With the interchange section across the aisle adding industrial spaces, the remaining industries were able to share a section with the paper mill complex. Although the earlier plan had its good points, all things considered, I thing the later one is an improvement even if it were not forced by the space considerations.

[@troysimpson9550]

Man thats alot of work for a 25 minute Vid. If you don't mind me asking how many hours have you put into that layout design? And the plan is IMPRESSIVE!

[@mpeterll]

A lot.

[@markostruszka1845]

How many individual transformers do you utilize in these layouts 1 to 5 or 1 to 6 or other layouts?

[@mpeterll]

The power cabinet is visible in some of he more recent installments of this layout build. There are four 5-A power boosters, each divided into several power districts.

[@cprtrain]

Excellent use of staging. Too bad the rec room wasn't adjacent to the windows.

[@Wild-Dad]

That's a lot of work you've spent on the computer. I can see the helix is so complicated.

[@lindsaydonovan6241]

What was his budget? Answer: Yes