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4 Ways To Design The Perfect Model Railway Track Plan

By Iain, 6th April 2023 | Model Railway Basics

Introduction

A successful model railway starts with a few ideas, which are then turned into a track plan. Having a plan for your new layout will make the layout easier to build. By preventing having to restart the layout build, due to making a mistake, you also save money. Having a plan to work to also keeps you more focused.

Building a layout without a plan can lead to many failed attempts & restarts, which ultimately can cost more money than you intended.

So, having decided a plan is a good plan, in this post we're looking at four ways you can create your model railway track plan.

Layout Design Key Points
Four Ways To Plan Your Model Railway Layout
Model Railway Track Plan Books & Booklets
Track planning symbols
Pencil/Pen & Paper
Track Planning Software & Websites
Summary

Layout Design Key Points

Location for the layout - A suitable place to house the layout
Size - What size will the layout be
Research - Look at the real railways past & present
Layout features - What features do you want to include
Ideas - Draw rough sketches of the layout track plans (also 3D sketches to help visualise the layout).
Actual Plan - Draw a scale track plan
Check your plan & make any revisions before building
Actual Size - Scale up & mark out on the baseboard
Testing - Conduct tests & amend if needed

Four Ways To Plan Your Model Railway Layout

Fundamentally there at four methods for developing your model railway track plan. Five if you include completely winging it!

Model Railway Track Plans Books
Track Planning Symbols
Pencil & Paper
Track Planning Software

1. Model Railway Track Plan Books & Booklets

Track plan books are a great starting point. They list the track components required as well as lots of useful information on how to wire up the layout, which is often a major stumbling block for a lot of modellers. Myself included. Track planning books generally focus on set track sections found in starter train sets and are readily available in most model shops. Both Hornby & PECO (among others) have produced many track plan books over the decades. Look out for their older track plan publications, available at bargain prices in second-hand shops and on eBay etc.

Peco Track Plan Booklets

Peco track plan booklets for the more intermediate to the experienced modeller

Track plan books for the more intermediate to the experienced modeller

Advanced track planning books are a great source for intermediate & seasoned modellers. These have a wider range of track plans and focus more on using gentler radius curves, utilising the medium and larger radius point work. On the electrics, they may or may not show how to wire the layout, so knowledge of layout electrics will help here.

There are also several track planning books available through large bookstores including Amazon. These are well worth a look.

2. Track planning symbols

Another simple and bit of an old-school method is to use Hornby's plastic track planning symbols. These are 1/4 scale versions of Hornby's OO scale track. Each pack has 100 symbols and they allow you to play with different track configurations before buying any track. You may find you'll need a couple of these packs or more if planning a larger layout. They are for using the Hornby track work & platforms but equally give an approximate representation for PECO and other set track brands.

3. Pencil/Pen & Paper

Definitely an old-school method, but using a pencil/pen & paper is another one used by some modellers. A simple plan of the baseboard drawn-to-scale and marked up with a square grid using a scale rule makes a great starting point. Draw the tracks onto the plan using a pen/pencil, rule & compass. This method allows for easy alterations but you'll need to work out the lengths & radius of the pointwork & curves. Then scale up to suit the actual scale of the track plan.

4. Track Planning Software & Websites

Moving on now to probably the most sophisticated option, but probably the most fun method for techies!

Many people now use track planning software to design their layouts. Various software packages are available, ranging from free to paid versions. Some have ready-to-use designs whilst others allow you to design your own. We've picked out some of the popular ones available online for you.

Scarm is a popular one. It has many pre-loaded track plans in various scales. 160+ track libraries included for those that wish to design their own layout with its layout. It also has a 3D layout simulator allowing one to operate a layout in the virtual world. Some elements are free with some paid-for add-ons.
FreeTrackPlans.com contains many pre-designed track plans. It covers all sorts of layouts including many from the Hornby track plan books as well. You'll need a Zip File extractor installed on your computer/device to open the files.
Templot is more advanced for those who wish to hand-build model railway trackwork. You can design and download scale plans for building pointwork & other trackwork elements. It's free to use, and has a wealth of support from the designer and across the model railway forums.
Anyrail is another popular one. One of the easiest to use for designing your own layouts. Includes pre-loaded trackwork elements library for all the popular makes & scales of trackwork. It also has buildings (plus some from our Scale Model Scenery Range) & other scenic elements. It has a 3D view feature too! If you use JMRI to control your layout you can use it to create JMRI-compatible mimic panels.
XTrackCAD is an open-source, free, CAD program for designing model railway layouts. It's a clever piece of software that allows you to easily create a layout of any scale or size. It has built-in libraries for many major brands, scales and gauges of track with turnouts/points and model structures are included. Adding new components is easy with the built-in editor and it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Railway Modellers Club Another useful resource is our own Railway Modellers Club website which has a Track Plans section. Each plan includes a downloadable full-size plan and an overview plan. We also include tracklists, layout wiring basics plus a layout operations guide. The plans use our own range of baseboards and if you're starting out or looking for a new project, this is a great place to start.