Concept and track plan

Welcome! This blog will document the construction of an HOn30 layout based on the two-foot gauge railroads that were built in Maine in the late 19th and early 20th century.  I have always liked the look of these railroads, with their narrow equipment running on even narrower tracks.  Paradoxically, they required large radius curves, which rules out an On2 layout in my 8x13 layout room.  I could theoretically build an Sn2 layout in this space but the track plan would be limited, so I am trying HOn30 for the first time. Here's the track plan:

The layout is a freelanced railroad called the St. George Railroad, after the town and river in Knox County, Maine. The primary customer is a granite quarry in the middle of the St. George peninsula, but it will also haul coal, seafood, and general freight.  There is an interchange with the Maine Central at Thomaston, and the other terminus is the seaport at Tenants Harbor, with a cannery and a pier for loading stone onto ships. 

Currently I have the quarry located in an adjacent space in my basement, but I'm considering ways to keep it in the same room as the rest of the layout.  My current thought is that the quarry's primary product will be paving stones, cut and loaded at the quarry, and that the cutting shed outside Tenants Harbor will be for larger cut stone products.

Track will be Peco's code 80 "mainline" track. The switches are 18" radius, and the minimum radius elsewhere is 21".

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions!