General Theme

The Hudson Central is a mix of freight and passenger traffic in Northern New Jersey.  It will include an industrial, center-city switching area, links to suburban suppliers and passenger rail, similar to the existing PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) trains that run from Newark, NJ into Manhattan. 

The first phase is a 2' x 17' shelf switching layout, as shown below.   Track is Atlas code 83 and turnouts are #6.  Turnouts will be made using Fast Tracks, available from www.handlaidtrack.com.

Later phases are still being developed but will include extending the mainline track to a suburban setting and finally to a dockside scene.  This will also provide continuous operation and a large fiddle yard.

The layout was designed using AnyRail (formally DRail), which is available from www.anyrail.com.  I have used many other model railroad CAD programs and this is by far the easiest to master.  I also use TrainPlayer/TrainLayer Deluxe, which is available from www.trainplayer.com, to "test" my layouts before I build.    I know that several products are available that doe both, such as 3rd Plan-It, that can allow you to design a layout and run your trains.  I bought 3rd Plan-It and it is a very powerful CAD program with a learning curve that is much steeper than AnyRail and TrainPlayer combined.  

For a zipped copy of the file of this layout in AnyRail format, please click here and save: HUDC - Shelf Layout v8.zip

This Layout was Created with:

This Layout was Tested with: