Mocking up benchwork: part one

 I mocked up three benchwork widths with regards to places where there would be a town.

The widths were as follows:
12”
14”
16”

I marked off a hard line representing the scenery backdrop and then laid out some track centers representing a main track, a siding, and a spur.

Then I took dimensions off some Walther’s Cornerstone structure kits and cut “foot prints” of those dimensions out of paper or card stock. 
I arranged these foot prints on the remaining benchwork. 

The 12” benchwork worked for just a train order office, with depot building and house track,  with room to spare. (I did not layout 8” or 10” and now I wish I had because the majority of the second deck is “planned” to be on 8” benchwork).

12” did not work so well for any area with an industrial spur. Interstate Fuel dealer actually did not fit in a manner that would allow for vehicle traffic to the pumps. 
All the spacing was quite tight. The open benchwork space on the 12” sections with  a main and siding (no spur) was 6”. With a spur it was a mind numbing 4” of open space.

On the 14” benchwork most everything fit. With reasonable room for a road and vehicle traffic.

On the 16” benchwork there was plenty of room.

The theory has been that the benchwork would bulge out at those points where there were towns. I did not however want to bulge out to far. 

Now it those areas where the first level is already 24” deep, I did not think that bulging out a couple inches from a 12” standard width was all that important. The aisle measurements were all taken from the deepest benchwork, and if a second or third deck bulged out a couple inches into the aisle space above a first level that was already 24” deep, it was no great problem. 

In those areas where the first level is only 12”, and there are a few, a second or third deck bulging out might be interesting.  

Another thing I did not do, yet, was to mount the benchwork mock ups on the wall at their planned height. When facing the layout at places where the lower deck is 12” but the upper decks are deeper (but never deeper than four additional inches) I would like to see if this configuration allows “toe kick room” and probably more importantly “Belly room”.  Is it ergonomically okay to have the upper deck jut out a bit?

Intuitively I think it is, but I’d still like to mock that up and walk into and by it.

Thoughts?

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