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3D Track Plans: The HO scale Morristown & Erie Railway

By Angela Cotey | March 19, 2018

| Last updated on November 19, 2020


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In this exclusive MRVP video, subscribers are treated to a unique 3-D rendering inspired by an episode of MRVP’s Taking Care of Business series. After reading about the railroad in Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide, you’ll enjoy Ben Lake’s virtual tour of the HO scale M&E around-the-walls layout David Popp designed to fit into a 10 x 12-foot room.

19 thoughts on “3D Track Plans: The HO scale Morristown & Erie Railway

  1. I grew up in N Jersey and walked this line from Morristown to Caldwell. Is this a project layout? and when will we see more? Excited by the plan!

  2. I would also like to see a proposed track plan for the upper deck to get a little more operation and bring the whole railroad together in one piece. I think that it could be squeezed down a bit for a smaller room without losing any operation especially for those who are not interesting in running the commuter trains. I really like this railroad!

  3. Hello all,

    The M&E layout doesn’t really have a duck under. The sections by the door are lift-outs, but could also be built as swing-up sections, much like we did on Chuck Sable’s layout in Rehab my Railroad episodes 9-11. Personally, I’ve not had a layout that needed a duck under for 30 years. The last one was when I was in my 20s and could bend easily. After that experience, I’d never build one again.

    For those asking about the upper deck, that may be a future planning installment – I made a few sketches while drawing the original for The Ultimate Guide, but didn’t want to overly complicate the plan in the magazine.

    And, if you’re looking for the double-deck experience, this is an excellent plan to utilize the shelf bracket concept for supporting much of the benchwork. By installing the brackets before building the lower level, it would make adding an upper deck later much easier to accomplish.

    David

  4. I’ve got dual lift outs into my layout room also, but would like to convert them to one swing up and one drop down just for ease of reconnecting and running trains faster… and faster exit for guests. Any hints as to what new products/ideas you will incorporate into this layout?

  5. I love the 3d track plans. Duckunders are a terrible thing, please don’t continue to promote them.

  6. Beautiful job, David and Ben, on the layout design and presentation. I hope we will get to see this built someday! I’ve always modeled the transition era myself, but getting out to see prototype railroads in action is making the idea of modeling contemporary railroads more and more attractive.

    Charlie

  7. I really enjoyed this 3D view of your proposed track plan for the Chester Branch; however, it would also be great if you can provide your thoughts or track plan for the upper level suggested in this video. As always, thanks MRVideo Plus team for your amazing work. I always enjoy every minute and can”t wait for the next new video.

  8. No worries, Bob and Robert! Just relocated to another area of the Kalmbach Media HQ, where my new office is within a few steps of the Winston-Salem project layout! -KJ

  9. Thank you for the usual professional presentation. But I wish you folks would remember that, for most people, a 10′ x 12′ room is far from a “compact” space. MR’s huge expanses, and rich people with huge spaces would consider that compact. Most of us do not.

  10. Very cool plans for a small room layout… and based off an actual shortline that Charlie has seen in action. What could be better? So is this the next ‘project railroad’ for MRVP? If so, looks like another winner!!!

  11. I purchased both the digital and print version of The Ultimate Guide and then looked for the track plan in the Trackplan database on the ModelRailroader.com website but didn’t find it. I was hoping to find the plan along with the upper deck mentioned in this 3D Track Plan video. It would be nice to have both the lower and upper track plans in a PDF version that I can enlarge with dimensions, grades, etc. As always thanks for all your amazing content!

  12. Interesting layout. Too bad Kent won’t be able to do his “normal” job. He’s going to be playing trains all day. And in HO to boot.

  13. OK so what happened to Ken? Where’d he go, is there a basement where you’re hiding him; inquiring minds want to know. I am originally from the Morristown area so this is a very interesting plan. Thanks for posting this.

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