Alright I have finally gotten the okay on a layout… (applause) only condition is it be removable/portable so it has to be self supporting… I can only use 6x8 no more than that…
I thought I’d get as much in as possible… have a 2 ft deep platform on 4 sides, point to point, 1st deck has a yard/engine terminal, then the track winds around once then again before coming out on 2nd deck then around again and once more before reaching the end of the line which is a mine and logging camp… too much for this space? Only one deck? Once around?
Only thing is I have to run the height by the joint chiefs to see if two decks will be acceptable…
Given your overall footprint, I think it’s way too much in HO. However, why don’t you mock up what you have envisioned in cardboard first to see if it’s actually going to be a feasible plan or not.
For a first layout I would employ the KISS method so that you have a better chance of completing it. I see problems with grade steepness and access that don’t leave much room for either a camp or a terminal.
Mocking it up will help point out the problem areas. And you’ll want to do that BEFORE you start ANY construction. You may also need to do it several times before you come up with an acceptable plan.
Math – again. Calculate the grades, and then come back to us.
Certainly not a project for a first-time layout builder, if multi-decks could be made to work at all in HO with those constraints. (Spoiler alert: they can’t)
I made the same mistake on my first layout I tried to put way to much into it, it was fun but it got very fustrating there are certin physical restraints you cant overcome (like grades and space) . My advice go simple but not to simple as you still want to push your creativity
If you really want the multi deck look, how about muli levals but don’t connect the tracks , you could run a couple trains at once and have the apperance of elevations, but it would operate as 2 separate railroads, or I know your space is limited but do you have room to make a removable helix that you can store under the table when not in use, I know this isnt “simple” but if it can help get you what you really want. Just a couple thoughts from outside the box
Check out Byron’s web site. One of the plans in his gallery is one he did for someone who had a 6x8 donute That may give you some ideas. 4 times around 2 decks is not something that should be taken on as a first layout. Keep it simple, get to running trains, and add on or replace it with the next one.
I’m with Kevin… make this first one super simple. It is the beginning of a long learning curve, and it will only give you frustration to complicate it - to bite off more than you can chew so to speak.
Forget about multiple levels, grades, double cross-overs, reverse loops, and other difficulty prone features. A double loop with two single cross-overs and a couple of sidings will give you a great introduction to the layout building process.
From it you will get a taste of all the steps in building most layouts - design, benchwork, track/roadbed, wiring, structure building and eventual operation. You will find that in some of these steps you excel, some you don’t, some you love, some you dislike.
The thing is, don’t over think it - just do it. And remember, even the great Transcontinental RR was started by the laying of that first tie…
NWP, time to start listening and following the good advice above. Lets not get back into that old pattern of the past 8 months of ignoring all the advise etc. ad nauseum.
The first layout dose not have to be a throwout. You can do your experiments off layout diarama style and transfer what you learn to the layout but you just can’t throw it together, it takes time for bullet proof trackwork and few compromises (I did cheat on occasion but in the end it did not save any time).
With your lack of experience…too much. Pick ONE of those three scenes on a single deck and keep the layout S-I-M-P-L-E. You have a lot of things to learn and too many scenes and “gotta haves” will only deter you from both starting and finishing your layout.
I was just wondering if people walk by the layout to get elsewhere around the house if you could stand in that space to operate a 6x8 layout.
If you’re going to stand in the middle of the layout, which isnt a problem, I would make the shelves no more than 16 to 18 inches deep in order to increase the open space so you don’t elbow the trains.
I’d shoot for one lap around. Put a hard scenic divider at 12 o’clock and put scenes at 11 o’clock and at 1 o’clock to maximize the distance traveled. Can’t really have two distinct scenes in that space, but there might be an opportunity to make the two extremes look a bit different . Have a stream/bridge somewhere along the route to build some below track scenery and some hills for vertical above track scenery.
I think it would provide plenty of fun and great experience.
Trying to do too much becomes more work with a less satisfying product in the end because things get too cramped. IMO.
The only way to get a 6x8 area to work in with a 6x8 allowed area, is the donut type layout. With 2’ wide sides, that does leave only a 2x4 operating pit in the middle. But the sides don;t have to be 2’ wide, they can be 18", which would make the center ‘donut hole’ 3x8. Sounds tight, especially the 2x4 hole, to many of us older people (and probbaly a lot heftier than you as well - I know I would not be comfortable in a 2x4 foot space. 3x8 I could manage). But you’re a lot younger than most of us and can probably easily crawl under (the higher you built it, the easier it is to go under, but too high and you can’t easily reach).
Take a look at the plan on Byron’s page. But with the donut like that, you can easily have a main line that goes around twice before running back on to the same track, even if it’s all one level.
On the subject of throwaway or not - John Allen built maybe 1 diorame before the first, small (and very tight radius) G&D. He then incorporated that layout in both of the ones that came after. So this sort of thing is always a possibility. But even John Allen had some regrets, at least on the final big G&D, the tight radius and steep grades were a bit too extreme even for him. The likelihood of building the perfect lifetime layout on your first attempt is rather astronmical. That doesn’t mean you go in thinking all along it will totally end up in the dumpster. There will be things on the first one you get right, and things you don’t. Some simple reworking can fix some of the things. You can keep building on that basic start and upgrade without trashing the whole thing. At some point you will move, or gain access to a larger space - maybe keep this one and add extensions, maybe you’ll have a completely different concept in mind years from now and most of this won won’t be usable. You never know.
No donuts for me… I went to the club and Rod showed me a donut in CAD with 24 minimum radius… I decided for the space I have have 2x8 switching layout with a small mine, engine terminal, yard, and carfloat op… that’s it! How’s that sound?