This layout appears in the Arnold rapido track plan book from the late 1960’s. The English language version is interesting because of the translation by Eric LaNal, who understood both German and model railroading.  The layout measures 30” by 36” (75 cm by 90 cm), and although small, trains appear to go further because of the twisted oval shape.

Also used on this layout are the Arnold modular buildings, which I love.  In fact, I like them so much that went a little overboard and squeezed in as many as I could. As a result, the small town shown in the drawing above because a little bigger by adding the bigger station building.

Likewise, the additional structures made it necessary to remove one road, making the town a dead-end rather than a through road.

I used the Arnold tracks and turnouts, along with their bridges and related items. Infrastructure-wise, this coffee table railroad is all Arnold rapido.  Of course, things diverged just a bit along the way.  Here, a perspective view of the track plan:

This earlier illustration of the layout is a little more stark; the later illustration includes tunnels, which make the train to appear to be going further than it really is. The layout itself was built on a sheet of plywood mounted to a wooden frame.  The track supports were cut out “cookie-cutter” style:

Below, photos of the layout with everything temporarily in place.  The roadways are marked with a pencil and will be covered with self-adhesive cobblestone roadway material.  The road leading into the town will be represented with self-adhesive asphalt roadway material. The sidewalks will use plastic sheets.

Once completed, the street lights and building lights will be located, with their wires hanging down through the layout support. Here, in-progress photos:

Once the roadways and such are located, the layout will be turned up on its side for the electrical wiring phase.