Deciding a Track Plan Before Building Your Model Railroad Layout
When planning construction of a model railroad there are all sorts of possible track configurations and plans to consider. It really depends on the space you have at your disposal and what type of train operation you would most enjoy.
Real railroads (prototype) run from one destination to another rather than go around in a circle. In reality, real railroads usually have hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of track to work with. Even in a scaled down form, most model railroads lack the space to fully replicate this, so a degree of adaptation and compromise is usually required.
Full size trains often run for long
stretches over monotonous landscape, which if reconstructed on a model layout, would be rather
boring. To give you an example, the Ghan Train in Australia, runs 1,880 miles across mostly barren
desert. Imagine replicating that on a scaled down model railroad - it would probably stretch from
one end of town to the other!
The main line begins at one point, and
travels to another point, and stops, hence the term - a point to point railroad.
