Best Track Planning Books

Redoing benchwork and track because a curve turned out too tight, or because a turnout was placed where a locomotive's overhang fouls an adjacent track, costs far more in time and materials than the plan book that would have caught the problem before it was built. Most first layouts fail on geometry rather than on budget for exactly this reason: it is easy to buy enough track and enough locomotives, and much harder to know in advance whether a specific curve, grade or turnout arrangement will actually work with what you plan to run. Our guide on how to plan a track plan covers the process; a book of existing plans gives you a starting point that has already worked for someone else's similar space.

The books below range from general references to plans focused on a specific style of layout or a specific track system.

Not always, and it is worth saying plainly: many plan books, including editions of the 101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders, have been reprinted many times since their original plans were drawn, and a number of those plans use curve radii and turnout numbers that were common decades ago but are tighter than what is now recommended for longer modern diesels and passenger equipment. A plan built around 15 to 18 inch HO curves and number 4 turnouts will run older, shorter equipment without issue but will not clear an 85 foot passenger car or a long modern diesel without widening the curves and lengthening the turnouts, at which point the plan's proportions change and may no longer fit the original space. Check any plan's stated minimum radius against your specific equipment using our minimum radius chart before you commit benchwork to it, and treat any minimum radius as a rule of thumb to verify, not a guarantee.

Combining elements from two different plans, an industrial spur from one and a scenic mainline curve from another, is common and often the fastest way to get a layout that actually fits your specific space and interests, rather than searching for one plan that matches perfectly. The part that requires care is re-checking geometry every time you splice plans together: a turnout number, curve radius or grade that worked in its original plan may not work once it is relocated next to a different curve or a different grade in the combined version. Redraw the combined sections on graph paper or with a planning template before committing benchwork, the same verification step recommended for any single plan taken as drawn.