The Carbondale central was an HO scale project railroad introduced by Model Railroader in January 1988. Designed by Malcolm Furlow, the Carbondale Central was a beginner’s project RR designed to appear far more advanced than it was. The layout was featured in Kalmbach’s book Six HO Railroads You Can Model in 1993.

The track plan was a basic figure eight with a small runaround track and five sidings. Half of the mainline was hidden beneath the urban scenery, allowing trains to disappear and reappear in opposing directions at a 60-degree crossover in the heart of the city. Cars and pedestrians travel above the railroad on raised highways, and the connection point to the rest of the world was a small canal with dockside industries.

The railroad was constructed using lightweight benchwork covered with high-density foam, the track was laid on a level grade, and the scenery was principally stock and kitbashed structures.

The N Scale Dystopia is based on the design of the Carbondale Central and will be built using Atlas code 55 track and turnouts. The minimum radius for the D&ND will be 10 inches, and all turnouts will be #5. The original Carbondale track plan doesn’t translate precisely to N scale as the HO scale turnouts have shorter mainline/diverging points, so D&ND’s baseboard will be proportionally larger than the original. At this stage, the overall RR dimensions are approximately 6 feet by three feet. In time, the baseboard will be contoured to more closely match the outer perimeter of the track.