im new at model railroads and i was woundering if i could get help i already have an ho train set and i only have 5x9 to work with so self is out of the ? i want to run a passenger and a frieght side by side and posibly do a figure 8 on the frieght need help with the scenery and if the layout will work thanks
jesse
Any chance you can stretch that to 6’ x 9’? If so I would look at this thread
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=114996&highlight=ratled
ratled
the table will be in my dining room in an apartment so the room is only 9 feet long and im using a ping pong table to cut down on building a table
i already talked my wife in to let me upgrade from 4x8 so 5x9 is max
A 5 x 9 layout actually requires a minimum footprint of 7 x 13 for you to be able to reach all parts of it properly. Are you sure you have that much space available?
Maybe a shelf layout would be better.
Capitals? Punctuation? Spell check?
Twelve years of school…Wasted.
Plenty of fine HO 48 layouts have been built. A 5 9 gives even more space. You can fit 30 inch radius curves on a 5*9 which is broad enough to run full length passenger cars. Or you can run Athearn passenger cars which are “selectively compressed” i.e. shorter than a true scale model but they look very well. The Athearn cars will handle 18 inch radius curves.
Consider building a view block down the center of the layout, dividing it into two separate scenes, each with a backdrop fastened to the viewblock. Consider building a river gorge, crossed by soaring bridges by cutting away part of the table. Consider having underground staging tracks holding ready to run trains.
A figure eight is possible. but it is a reversing loop, requiring some special wiring to avoid a short circuit. Read a book on wiring, or google for “reverse loop”.
hi,
IMHO bull !!!
IMHO: bull !!!
Some good (IMO) online resources on track planning/layout design/operations:
Only if you let the track extend past the edge of the cliff.
As to the crossing as reversing loop; in many respects it has the same potential for shorts and should be appropriately wired ( and auto reversing unit is one solution); treat each half as a separate block long enough to hold the longest train with power uptake.
Alan
What am I missing here? Why would a figure 8 necessarily have to be a reversing loop requiring special wiring?
hi Doc
you made my day, LOL
Paul
A figure 8 by itself requires no special wiring. But, consider an oval, and then add diagonal tracks inside the loop from one corner to the other, crossing in an X in the middle. This gives you both the outer oval and a figure 8. These inner crossing tracks result in a “reverse loop” and that’s what requires special wiring. It’s not a big deal, just some insulated rail joiners and a toggle switch (or an auto-reverse module if you’re running DCC) but it does have to be dealt with.
I’m surprised that no one has suggested N gauge for your space. I’m in HO myself, and my current layout (now being expanded) started as a 5x12. But, if you are tight for space, look at what you can do with N. It’s very good now, and getting better all the time.
Of course, it is possible to have the figure 9 rejoin the mainline without creating a reverse loop.
Actually you can easily fit 30 inch radius curves on a 5 x 9, but you can only have 2 of them. You can have the others smaller, say 24 inch to make 54 total. [:D]