I was hoping to get some input on a small switching layout that I am currently designing for myself. I have previously planned and started building a 4X8 that I had to dismantle due to my wife and I expecting our second child; the train-room must be returned to a bedroom and the railroad equipment is in boxes. Although I no longer have a space to setup some sort of permanent layout, I wanted to start planning “the next one”. I started reading more and more about modular railroading and I was intrigued. I decided that I would build a small switching layout that conformed to the Free-Mo standard, specifically the Northern California Free-mo standard. A club on the other side of Toronto (Ontario, Canada) uses this as their standard. http://cvfreemo.ca/ I have been re-reading John Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation (3 rd ed.) and Tony Koester’s Realistic Model Railroad Design and I have tried to apply their principles. My strategy is to plan a significant portion of the railroad over the next little while before cutting my first board. I feel that part of the reason that my previous railways (including ones when I was a teenager) have not been completed is because of a lack of planning up front. My givens and druthers. Givens Follow the Northern California Free-mo standard. (HO Scale, end plate layout, all track must be at least 4 inches from the edge, Turnouts must be #6) Modern Time Frame (equipment, ops). Be able to be run as a standalone switching layout by one operator. No more than 8 turnouts. All turnouts should be the same number #6. Must have a run around track Single Track Mainline for connections to other modules Switched by either 4 axel or 6 axel diesel locomotive Druthers Wide arrangement of rolling stock Interchange track Should be able to separate the track into two pieces down the center for transportation Some sort of engine storage facility Thanks for your input. Ben 📷