Back in 2016, I bought a house. One of the considerations for the house was my layout. Not long after moving in, layout construction on what I was calling ‘Big Burgundy’ began.
In January 2020, my life changed drastically, and my wife and I packed up and moved to Tennessee to answer a call to full-time ministry. We went from having a grand layout room to a one-bedroom apartment. Not to worry, though. I dismantled Big Burgundy and salvaged a good portion of the benchwork to reuse in an L-shaped switching layout that would fit in the living room of the apartment.
Well, it just so happened that 2020 was the year that the world went crazy. Between COVID, adjusting to our new lifestyle, and a drastically reduction in available resources, we were only in the apartment for around 11 months. We moved out of the apartment and into a shared space, and I all but gave up on the idea of having any sort of layout. That was until the early part of this year (2024).
I had been watching some modeling videos on YouTube when I came across Joe Parker’s channel, The Pixel Depot. On his channel, Joe had a series about building a small layout (How to Build a Small Shelf Layout – Building “The Grunge”). In this series, Joe tackles the idea of not having enough space to build a layout and why “no space” is more likely an excuse than a reality. Needless to say, I was hooked! After watching the series in its entirety (multiple times), I was inspired and motivated to come up with a small shelf layout that would fit my current (and/or) future space without being an obstruction. That brings us to now. . .
The Concept
So, the idea behind this project is to create a small working layout where I can accomplish multiple goals:
- operations
- display
- model building techniques
- scenery techniques
I want to build a layout so that I can keep my interest in the hobby healthy while experimenting with different modeling and scenery techniques that I may be able to apply to a larger, more permenant future layout.
I also want to be able to run trains. My dream scenario would be “if I had a million.” I am not there yet, so I have to work with what I have. The up side is that I get to practice operations and really enjoy seeing trains in action.
The Space
I have a very specific and limited footprint within which I can build my shelf: A fireplace mantle in bedroom. The mantle is just under 5 1/2 feet long and 9 3/8 inches deep. The top of the mantle is 57 1/2 inches off the ground. The layout will sit another 2 1/2 inches high for a view height of 5 feet (for context, I am 5′ 71/2″ tall – so pretty much eye level.)
I have designed the benchwork to have a total footprint of 12″ x 72″. I am using GatorFoam as the material because I want the bechwork to be easily transportable, and GatorFoam is a strong yet lightweight alternative to deminsional lumber.
In addition to the actual layout, I will also have a single track staging cassette that will be approximately 36″ in length. This will be a portable section as well also constructed using GatorFoam.
Another consideration for the available space is that there is a closet immediately to the left of the mantle. We go in and out of that closet frequently, so the benchwork and the layout design, for that matter, need to compensate for access to the closet. I will use GatorFoam as a shielding on the left side of the layout, and the trackplan calls for a large enclosed industry building on that end (for added protection).
The Layout At A Glance
So here it is, The Mattawoman Industrial District 1 x 6 shelf layout. The modeling era for this layout is the 2010’s as my MDRAIL concept lands between 2009 and 2015. I designed the layout using Atlas code 83 track because that is what I have on hand. There are no grades and no curve radii to contenend with, and the switches are Atlas #4 (again, because of what I have on hand and to save space). I will most likely be operating a GP39-2 locomotive; and even though some of the rolling stock will approach the 72′ length, all of the switching will be done at low speeds, so the smaller turnouts should not be an issue. Turnouts will be controlled manually, and electrical control of the layout will be via digital command control using the NCE Powercab system.
The track plan for The Mattawoman Industriasl District is based on an original concept developed my Rob Chant of the Journal of Model Railroad Design. Rob’s design is called Hastings Industrial District.
Rob’s original design was intended for a shelf that was 1’6″x6′. To make it work for me, I cut off six inches of the depth which meant eliminating a spur or two (I cut out the engine service track and the team track). I Also flipped the orientation of the layout because the staging cassette needed to be to the right. The original design also called for #5 switches, but again, I already had #4’s on hand so I went with those.
I really like Rob’s work because he not only designs for operations, but he also considers locale, era, and theme in the overall picture. Most of his concepts are based on locations in Canada, but I was able to easily tweak this one into believeably fitting in Southern Maryland.
Thematically, I am going for the look and feel of a modern industrial park. In the city of Waldorf, MD (where this scene is based off of), there are many industrial complexes like what I am modeling (although, they are not rail-served). I have chosen to model a food distributor, lumber distributor, and truck transfer because those are the types of industries common to the area.
Regarding scenery, Southern Maryland is pretty flat; although, therre are a lot of trees. Because this is an industrial park, I am not modeling heavily forested areas, but I will include a moderate balance of trees and greenery as you might see on the prototype.
One of my goals with the layout is to super-detail the scene. It’s not so much that I am a rivet-counter when it comes to detail; rather, I am using this small layout as an opportuntiy to practice things like weathering, scenery application, and electrical/lighting so that I can apply what I learn on the permenant layout. I purchased Woodland Scenics JustPlug lighting system a couple of years ago, and I will use this layout as my opportunity to test it out.
So welcome to the MDRAIL Mattawoman Industrial District small shelf Layout. I hope you will follow along in this build series, but more importantly I hope that you find inspiration and/or motivation from my successes and even failures. Coming up in part two: building the benchwork using GatorFoam.
MDRAIL 