Interestingly, Number 3 is this little American switching layout.

Model Railroad Hobbyist has a very nice ‘shunting plank’ in its October edition.  It’s in ‘O’ gauge, but the dimensions are a very reasonable 11’- 6” x 17’–19” with a 6’ removable extension for operation.  Note that this converts to an even more reasonable size in 2mm based scales. It’s also based on a real location:

Though I am not a prototype modeler, I like my layouts to be based on real locations, especially the track design. The track plan of my Cleveland Flats layout is closely based on the real location. To draw the plan, I took an aerial shot from Google Maps and scaled it down to 1:48 to take measurements.

The track plan is simple, but satisfying in that there is plenty of interest in its layout, and is scenically interesting with the two road crossings – and that will also make things interesting operationally, to avoid leaving waggons on the crossing when switching.

Detailing is neat and lightly weathered – perhaps it could use a little more grime, but that comes back to personal preference – do we model is as it was, or as we’d like to remember it.  All the stock has added detail, or has been scratch-built.  These two photos, culled from the MRH give the impression.

The author, Kurt Matthey, comments…..

To be honest, I would not mind having a little more space available to build a layout, but I also see the merits of such a small layout. To build and even finish it doesn’t take ages, it can easily be moved and stored, and the costs are manageable. The best thing, though, is that you can have a lot of fun on a small shelf, even with big O scale trains.

It’s an inspirational piece of work, and another small layout plan to consider for the future (along with all the others!)