I am about to build my first railroad layout in over 20 years. My father always did this for me. I don’t do dcc.I have many questions, I hope someone can help me with. I have built a shed this summer and I am wondering about temperature, humidity, and laying track here in Ky… It will be heated only when I am in there working. Just put in insulation on walls and ceiling. I plan to use plywood about 13’ x 6’ and have 3 to 6 tracks running in ovals, few with yards. One will be my O guage running on the outside. The others will be Ho guage in the inside. What guage wire should I use from the transformer to the track for the O guage and HO guage?? I want a hill in the back of the layout with rock dividing the tracks so the trains disappear behind them. Maybe a tunnel added to be removable. What should the tunnel opening be for both sizes? Plan to use styrofoam. What is the best height for the trains to climb with out struggling up the hill? I’m thinking maybe 2-3 inch. Been many years ago. I’ve read so much that you all do for each other and hope you can help me
[#welcome]
Biggest problem will be humidity. I would seal all the bench work to try and minimize the humidty. Leave some small gaps when joining rail for expansion. I would use 18 AWG wire for both the O and HO, but you can probably get by with 20 or 22AWG for the HO. I would solder all connections.
Try to keep grades to 2 or 3%. I strongly recommend testing your engines. An easy way to do this is to lay some track on an 8 ft board and raise one end, 1 inch for 1 % etc.
Tunnel opening depends on how many tracks, how far apart and how tall your tallest train is. Allow a little extra for future purchases.
Good luck
Paul
First, the wiring for DC is really intense if you want to run more than one locomotive at one time. Even if you own only one locomotive and will never get another, it is also much easier to go with DCC.
good luck on your first scratch build im on my 4th and all i want to do is build my own now
Wow! That’s quite a big chunk to bite off for someone who is 20 years out of practice. An awful lot has changed in the hobby since you were last in it.
Myself, I took about 15 years off while I was on active duty in the Navy. I ended up getting rid of almost everything from my previous layout, and that approach might serve you well also. It sounds like a lot of your ideas are simply trying to use what you already have. I would make several recommendations based on my own experience, which you are free to use or disregard as you wish:
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Consider your first layout to be a test-bed, and plan to make a “better” one later.
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Pick one scale and stick with it – I’d recommend the HO, given the size you’re planning. If you must use the O, build a separate layout for it. Only you know what pleases you, but from my p
I’m not familiar with the specifics of where you live - but will you need A/C in the summer? Or will the layout not be used in the summer? As mentioned, changing humidity is going to be more of an issue than temperature. I assume the insulation is sufficient to prevent condensation, but I would want to set the heat (and possibly A/C) to run just enough to make sure there were no condensation issues. If you use pine or similar benchwork, it’s likely to expand/contract 3% or so with the humidity changes. Painting all surfaces of any wood will slow the rate of moisture absorption and evaporation, and consequently reduce the amount of expansion and contraction - but won’t eliminate it. Do not solder all your rail joints, and leave 1/16" or so gaps at the rail joints every 3ft or so if you lay your track in the winter.
I assume you are talking 3 rail O. There have been many fine toy train display layouts running more than 1 scale. There have been a handful of model railroad layouts that realistically mixed scales on the same layout. Perhaps a little more definition of what you are trying to achieve is in order for us to give you good advice. Is it a display layout, where you are running trains to display the
To keep things more reilable on the HO side, plan to run feeder wires to each section of flextrack; do not depend on rail joiners to conduct the electricity. You can not easily clean corrosion on the inside rail joiners, but do not want to solder them because you want the rails to move for thermal expansion and contraction. The only exception would be on curves where you need to solder the rail joiners so the track joint will not kink when you bend the curve. Use track with nickle-silver rail; it will reduce the corrosion from atmospheric moisture which means less time cleaning track and more time running.
Be sure to provide some access inside the tunnel you mentioned, both for cleaning rail and getting to any derailments or other track problems. Best to lay the track and run a bit to shake out any problem areas before you build the tunnel.
Thanks! Info useful!!! Haven’t really been out of railroading, Its been about 20 years since my last layout. But I kept my stuff and been buying and waiting for my daughter to move out. Well she’s still here and that’s why I built the shed, 10 x12 to run the trains!!! Finally! Most of my engines are good, I’d take them and run them on a track about 3’ long to keep them running. Now I’ll get them running in circles. Can’t wait! Hope to start the benchwork in about a month or so, now finishing the interior of the shed. Thanks again to you and all that have helped!