Introduction and track plan

This blog will chronicle the construction of a small model railroad layout in On30, which is O scale narrow gauge with a scale 30" between the rails.  This popular scale and gauge combination uses O scale components (1/4" = 1 scale foot) and a track gauge equivalent to HO scale standard gauge.  Lacking the free time to build even a medium-sized layout, I've found inspiration (as many others have) in Carl Arendt's website "Micro/Small Layouts for Model Railroads".  The site includes a huge number of plans and photos of "micro" (up to four square feet) and "small" (up to roughly 4'x6') layouts, in all scales and gauges. 

The track plan is a simplified version of plan #44, the Rockport and South Fork Lumber Co., in Linn Westcott's "101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders."  It features a small railroad whose purpose is to transport gravel from a quarry on a hillside down to a standard gauge siding:

The elevation ranges from 0" at the bottom to 3.5" at the top, yielding a 5% grade.  Curves are 9" radius, which will work with a porter and 16' to 18' cars.  There is a gravel tipple on the upper level and a small engine house on the lower level.  The standard gauge siding in the lower left will hold one or two 40' standard gauge gondolas, preferably drop-bottom gondolas used in ballast service.  The narrow gauge track includes a storage track for unused and MOW rolling stock.

Operations will consist of a small porter lugging a string of side-dump cars up and down the hill, with the occasional flat car or box car full of supplies for the quarry.