Thank you, that's very kind!

Thanks Ron that's very kind. Even if the real thought was done after the initial build, I was glad it turned out well.

Absolutely agree re: height. Especially effective with shelf layouts where depth is controlled and reach access is easy even closer to eye level. The 3x7 against a wall complicates things a bit due to the reach requirement, and I probably will do a shelf format for layout #2. In the meantime, I will probably boost it up about a foot once I've got more of the layout's rear completed.

@@ChicagoCrossingRR I model in 1/24 scale indoor model railway. And I have my layout at eye level because I wanted the buildings and hills to tower over the viewer like in real life. While I enjoy model railroads at table height, eye level does achieve the effect I wanted. But your right, the reach in considerations are an important factor (mine is 30" deep).

@@TravelinginMiniature thanks, good to know!

Great use of a smaller layout. Looks fantastic!

Thanks for the kind words!!

Thank you Mark!

Thank you Chris!

It only took 8 years! 😄 thanks Danny.

Hi Mark, I'm actually a scientist though I do enjoy photography. Thanks for the kind note and glad you enjoyed the video!

Helps a lot, I agree!

Thanks Mike - FWIW the layout is almost eight years old, so there's been a LOT of time to perfect and revise. Other than the trackwork, I'd say less than 30% of the layout is as it was four years ago (I made a video on the sort of then and now if you're interested - it's a great lesson in how we can get better over time at our craft). Even the wiring underneath has been extensively revised and updated!

I’m a huge fan of your layout as you know. Chicago Crossing is Great Model Railroad!(stealing a bit from MR) Fantastic video that shows the depth and breadth of what can be done with a small Nscale layout. Thanks for the continued inspiration you provide to us all! Have a good week! Scott

@@kahunatiki6498 Thanks Scott - BTW I was watching a video of some South Shore trains and saw the prototype of that white two-story building you kitbashed - awesome job recreating it on your layout!

@@ChicagoCrossingRR Thank you!

Thanks! Totally true - in its industrial heyday there were tracks everywhere in Chicago, particularly where I'm modeling. There is sort of a kernel of truth to the 'trains everywhere on a layout' saw. Given the size of CCMR, I rarely run more than 1-2 trains at any given time, and rarely have more than a couple of occupied sidings if they don't have an industry with an internal loading bay. Most of the time, I just run one train. It can get crowded quickly and without sidings or enough crossovers, it's easy for one train to foul the tracks for another (more about that in Episode 2 of TT).

​@@ChicagoCrossingRRagreed

What a nice layout! When, at the beginning of the video, the builder / narrator said that it was 7' x 3', I thought "I wonder what the guy did or will do with it . . . ?" I had no idea how he could pack so much into a small space without making it look unrealistically busy, but the use of the river (the sheet piling along the far side is SO realistic!) and buildings gave opportunities for surprise after surprise as trains would appear and disappear around curves and from behind buildings and scenery--again, without looking unrealistically "busy". Also, the weathering on the rolling stock and the buildings, especially along the river, looks very well done and realistic. This looks to be a VERY nice, fun layout that can provide loads of model railroading pleasure. Great work! Thank you for sharing your VERY NICE, realistic, well-done layout!

@@michaelsvestka8040 It's absolutely possible to have a small layout and still create the illusion of space without it appearing as a flat oval. I'll admit that only a fraction of what works about this layout went in as a clear intent to make turn out the way it did, but mostly just keeping a keen eye on how it looked, and playing over and over with how structures were arranged along the track and other scenic elements like the river. It's absolutely a fun layout to operate, and frankly even more fun just to continue refining and detailing. The sheet pilings you mention are 3D printed, with a mix of brush and airbrush painting to achieve the 'layered' effects of corrosion and other deposits. Thank you for watching!

Thank you! Looking at your layout you definitely have a lot of scenic opportunities and that looks like a ton of fun to operate. Stuff like the brewery or that new industrial area you have could be a fun starting point to drill down and add details, wherever you have a 'signature' scene that your eye gets drawn to is a great spot to start.

@@ChicagoCrossingRR Thanks for checking out my layout! Yes, I have a lot of potential - hard part is deciding what to tackle next because I want to work on all of it 😁

I can’t take credit for that unfortunately 😀- it’s a photo backdrop building I purchased.

Hi William, thanks for writing and glad you enjoyed. I don't have any formal art training. By trade I'm a scientist and part of the leadership of a hematology division at a major research institution out in the mountain west. I did spend a lot of my time in college reading about architecture and photographing buildings (photography is a hobby, as is music). The layout is really a few happy accidents I suppose. The track plan isn't mine - it's just from the internet long ago, but it sort of intuitively 'looked right' and with a couple of modifications I felt it fit the visual balance and narrative of what I wanted at the time. As I worked on it, I spent a lot of time arranging and rearranging buildings to also get the right feel and composition (again, just things looking right, no formalized golden ratios or anything). It's funny, a lot of friends of mine who are artists and musicians also often work intuitively, it's usually afterward where they (or more often others) can identify a coherent intention or idea that animates the work. I think Chicago Crossing has been the same sort of intuitive evolution over a long time - where I've gotten better, the layout has gotten better as a continuing reflection of progress and improvement.

Thanks Jim. I can see from your videos that you've done a nice job of tucking the track away and into scenes quite organically!

Glad you enjoyed the video and the layout Douglas!

Thanks, definitely appreciate it! It's still a work in progress but I do enjoy going downstairs to something that looks more or less complete, which was a big draw toward having a small layout. I'd burn out otherwise and never get it done, particularly given how long it's taken to get this far.

Glad this was useful! Cheers!

Thanks Ron - very much appreciated!

Glad to see I'm not the only one in that boat! I do enjoy the operations on this layout although oddly enough I seem to rarely do so - the channel and its associated production takes up much of my train time!

Thank you Phil!

That's great to hear, I think it's really helpful in cases like this where the oval needs to get broken up, and I also like the odd foreground view block for shelf layouts.

Thanks Samantha!

Thanks Greg, glad it offers some ideas!

Thanks Alvis!

Thanks Ray!

Happy to help!

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed!

Thanks much! I'd agree, sometimes I'm surprised by how much track is actually on there and the naked plan does teeter on the edge of being a spaghetti bowl. One aspect that minimizes the visual footprint of the track is that just about all of it outside the mainline is pretty heavily blended into the scenery, with minimal ballasting and plenty of dirt and weeds both alongside and between the rails, just as would be in real life. Having it all up on ballasted roadbed would make the track seem more visually obtrusive.

Thanks David!

Right there with you - my layout is close to eight years old and isn't really done!

That's great David! I've considered extending the yard and creating sort of a shelf-style switching operation within it.

Thanks David, one of my absolute favorite layouts is Bill Denton's Kingsbury Branch, which has a lot of urban feel and trains navigating canyons of Chicago buildings. I feel like I saw that layout as a kid. I still go back to photos of it all the time for inspiration.

Thank you!!

Thank you!

Thank you William!

Glad you enjoyed!

Thanks Collin!

Thanks David, glad you enjoyed! Loved seeing trains in Australia when I visited - the motive power is such an interesting mix. All the EMD stuff makes me feel right at home.

Thanks Sean!

You're welcome Jeffrey and thanks for watching!

Thanks Brad!

Glad this was helpful Charles, thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Thank you Brian!

Thank you!! It's really a helpful way to organize the scenery and relieve the problem of selective compression at the same time.

Wow, thank you!!

Thanks Greg, I always enjoy a balanced analysis. in reference to 2D I gather you are referring to over/underpasses in the track plan?

Thanks Austin - one thing I've since realized is useful is a siding/small yard or a couple of crossovers (if you've got a 2-track main) at the convergence with the branch that allows mainline traffic to move around traffic coming off the branch and allows your switcher to be able to run around if the branch itself doesn't have a runaround area. It'll be really helpful for having multiple operators, since the mainline won't get fouled (or at least traffic can be diverted rather than stopped). I may add some crossovers on mine at the back as there's no room for a siding.

Thanks Andrew! Really appreciate it!

Thanks for watching Paul!

thank you, cheers!

Thanks Isaiah - have a great new year!

Thank you!!

Thanks John for the encouragement!

Thanks Anthony - really appreciate that. It’s been a series of happy accidents and a lot of revision.

Thanks Mark! 8 years in and I'm getting the hang of it at last :)

Thank you Walter!

Thank you, happy new year!

Thank you Paul!

True that!

Thanks Marc!

Thanks Matthew!

Thank you Michael and glad you enjoyed! Was poking around your channel, beautiful detail and weathering work! Subscribed!

Thanks John, cheers!

Glad it's helpful Chris. There are so many options for layout designs it can sometimes seem overwhelming. Thinking mostly about what scenes/railroads you want to model can help, and then the track plan can support that vision. Probably this weekend I'll post a video about some things I wish I did differently for my layout, maybe that will also offer some useful perspective.

Thank you!

You’re welcome Fred 😀. Glad you’ve enjoyed. 2x3 isn’t bad, you can go deep on a layout that size. My next will be a shelf format to keep size manageable.

Appreciate the feedback Peter. Your models are phenomenal by the way. I spent a little time in Australia and didn't get to spend enough of it by the tracks. Loved the Y class kitbash.

@@ChicagoCrossingRR Thankyou too.

Thank you Robert, appreciate the kind words and thank you for supporting the channel!

Ha, me too! :) Thanks Carl, always glad you enjoy it.

You bet!

Thanks Bill, at some point I just figured there's no way to model it all, let alone to address the unrealities of selective compression. Making it a series of scenes just sort of relieves those tensions.

I'm a scientist by trade, so I can't claim any art training but a couple of decades working at the lab bench maybe helped favor a sort of mindset that translates to models. Probably just patience over anything. It's taken years of revising and improving buildings, scenery, etc. to get to this point, and I still have a long way to go. I follow folks like Boomer Dioramas for inspiration.

Thank you Shawn!

Thank you Ted!

Thanks Matt, really appreciate it!

Thanks Scott - I believe it, Ohio isn't that far off, and that bridge you filmed on the Lake State Railway looks strikingly close to the one the branch uses on my layout.

I'll be six feet under by that time 😂

Thank you! Concrete and roads have always been sort of a challenge (I also use four different approaches for 'making' it depending on setting) so I've never really felt any mastery of the subject, but glad it comes across well and really appreciate the feedback!

Thanks, really appreciate it!

Thank you! It's a real tweezers-and-magnifier layout to be sure.

Thank you! That extra half foot each side would kill me for trying to reach since my layout's against the wall :)

Thanks Nigel - glad you picked up on that, the 'evolution' part is a major factor for me. The benefit of having a small layout for a long time is the capacity to go back to a and continue to improve it as skills and abilities improve.

Thanks Glen!

Thanks Gary - appreciate it, hello back to Dorothy.

Yes, I have one of these contrivances of which you speak, it gets used often 🤣

​@@ChicagoCrossingRRa chair for the chairman you are instead of just been an armchair modeler 😂😂😅😊

Glad you enjoyed Rick!

Thanks Peter. A big project for the year will be deciding on how to really get the backdrop together. I suppose if the geography of the layout is extended to the train room, I suspect I'm standing in Lake Michigan while looking at it :)

Totally agree Jerry. While the turnouts are remote to mitigate that issue, 3 feet is really the absolute max to be able to reach derailed cars, deal with scenery, clean track, etc. and even then, there is risk of knocking into scenery or trains up front. Next layout (or extension of this one) will be a shelf design. So much easier to access everything when it's 14-18" away at max.

Thank you John!

Thanks!

I think breaking up patterns is key. Thank you!

Thanks Cliff!

Thank you!

Thanks Raymond!

Yeah that was kind of a fun livery, looks nice on the models too.

Thanks Lars!