Selection of a prototype - the Riverside Line

After looking at various possibilities I selected the Riverside and Beacon St. lines as my prototype. Basically the line starts out in the subway, surfaces on Beacon st. where it runs in a center reservation in the middle of the street to Cleveland Circle/Reservoir. There we have a loop for turning some cars and the main carbarn,. The line proceeds as private right of way through Newton to Riverside.

I chose this prototype for a couple of reasons. One is the variety of street running plus private right of way. Of course in real life the 2 lines (Riverside and Beacon st) are separate but I use modelers license to combine them, taking advantage of the co-located Reservoir and Cleveland Circle facilities. I also include a short section of street running (track in pavement) which the prototype does not have.

Givens and Druthers

Now we come to the ever popular Givens and Druthers.

Givens

Trolley line based on Boston's MTA/MBTA

Era late 1950's to 1964 which is when the MBTA was formed. This allows use of the tangerine and cream color scheme and (cheating a little) the conventional Type 5 cars as well as PCC's.

Benchwork height around 48".

Room size 10' by 12'

No duck unders.

Minimum radius 6 1/4" (this happens to be the radius of the Richard Orr street turnouts)

Druthers

Street running some with a center reservation, some without, some private right of way.

At least 2 routes for variety

A short segment of subway.

Signaling in subway and private ROW sections

Carbarn and work equipment

Crossovers, loops or tail tracks in subway for short turn

Introduction

In my move to a new house, I have access to a 10' by 12' room in the basement for a layout. Given my desire for a smaller layout that I can actually finish, this size seems ideal. However it does somewhat limit what can be done if I stay in HO. I considered N scale but my eyesight is not getting any better plus I have an investment in HO equipment and track that I hope to reuse.

I considered a couple of switching layouts but nothing that really excited me. Then I thought of the idea of building a trolley layout. It is something I have had in the back of my mind since I got into model railroading back in my college days.