Multideck Design for Model Railroads

Tony Koester has written many books on Model Railroading for Kalmbach. Tony spent a quarter of a century designing, building, and operating (with his friends) the Allegheny Midland, a freelanced coal-hauling HO railroad. He is now hard at work completing a multi-deck HO layout that accurately depicts the Nickel Plate Road's St. Louis Division as it appeared in 1954. Tony has been the editor of Model Railroad Planning, a special annual issue of Model Railroader, since its inception in 1995. He is a contributing editor to Model Railroader and writes the popular "Trains of Thought" column and numerous feature articles.

Introduction
A matured approach to layout design
Chapter 1: Defining the purpose
No sense making a big commitment unless you really need to
Chapter 2: A mature technology
Multideck railroads have been in operation for decades
Chapter 3: Key design considerations
Benchwork height and depth, getting between decks, backdrops, and more
Chapter 4: Then and now on the Nickel Plate
Comparing aspirations with realizations at the two-deck mark
Chapter 5: When stuck with lemons...
Multidecks are about compromises, so make the most of them
Chapter 6: The aesthetics
Ensuring that crew members, visitors, and you are comfortable
Chapter 7: Operating a multideck railroad
There will be twice as many crew members in the same aisles
Chapter 8: Multideck photo gallery
Scenes on railroads discussed in this book