I have a 4x8 Ho scale that I’m trying to finish up but when that’s finished I’m planning bigger.
I’m in the process of building a 4’ x 6’ HO layout, and also a 10’ x 2’ “N” layout. The “N” is a wall mount. The 4x6 is an island and takes up way too much room in my small office where it is currently being built. I also am working with friend on a 24’ x 52’ “O” hi-rail layout. All of these make me appreciate my “N” scale layout so much more. Small is manageable and can always be added on to. Dave
Yeah, it’s just terrible being a small scaler hooked on continuous. Cramming all that action into almost no space…whoa is us. (wink, wink)
Someone above mentioned that the average size layout was 200 square feet.
I’m sorry I just can’t buy it. Here is a group of model railroaders whe are serious about the hobby and I doubt that even here the average comes close to 200 sq ft.
It would be interesting to see where they took the cross-section of “pollees” from. (Sorry. Can I still use that word here?)
Tom
Right now my 4x5 HO layout is kind of on hold, I’m working on my time saver figuring on how I want to scenic it. Like I said in my OP I’m planing an inglenook. It will be about 1x4.5 with scenery, probably a small yard. This I plan on using outside in the summer when I don’t want to be in the basement. I’ll have it running on the picnic table or back porch or whatever. I understand running these layouts is very challenging and might help my brain cells from getting old timers disease. Anyone tried this type of layout?
Bruce
You bet, bigger is not better, it’s the details, working on making it smaller,glad to see I’m not alone.
If you want to go small then narrow gauge is one way. My partner and I constructed an OO9 layout in 2005 for a competition where the entrants were restricted to 20" x 30". The layout is named ‘Newton Halt’ and is featured in the February 2007 Railway Modeller magazine, which is the uk equivalent of Model Railroader.
Small layouts are manageable and can be completed within a planned timescale and can be super detailed more easily that a larger job. I admire modellers who can work for years on a project but I note that this is the only layout I have properly finished and it took 9 months. We have added extra detail to the original but we are already planning the next manageable project, which will be a small layout.
If you are interested in really small layout take at look at www.carendt.com You will find ‘Newton Halt’ in the ‘Small Layout Scrapbook’ under ‘43a November 2005’
My website is not working at this time but when it is the address is http://ng-railways.co.uk
OO9 is similar to HOn30 but is 4mm/ft scale using 9 mm gauge track.
Good luck
Andy
Like Andy said, I would recommend that you look at http://carendt.us/ hundreds of layouts most less than a few square feet. The one I am planning will probably be 3’ x 5’ or less. I would consider quite a bit smaller but I am working with gauge 1 tinplate trains.
underworld[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
I have 4X 9 Half feet n scale do not finsh yet need more turnout and track too try finish this year I hope : )
I wish Model Railroader would devote a couple of pages to small layouts each month. Maybe some of the newbies and armchair modelers might be inclined to get involved if they saw something other than 12x32 layouts. I hear more people at work say they have no room because they think they need to fill up a room or basement to do any thing. JMP.
Bruce
My layout is also 4X6 Morgan Valley layout. I used the same track plan but I have elevated portions of the track to make it more interesting. I’m planning to add a yard and maintainance facilities where the track runs off the edge. Then I can build moduals and add them as I want.
hey dave great looking layout.i to started out small with a 4 by 8 and then went much bigger which i regret.the whole room is full of layout and not much room left to hardly get around.it will be really hard for me to get this layout near completion because of age and disabilities.terry…
I am doing a small timesaver layout until I get more space.You can check it out here
http://tracksidemodeler.com/index.php?topic=1326.0 I would like to see Your Timesaver Layout
i just completed a layout in n scale,its 4by 8s in the shape of an l, and yea your right about all the details. some of the details cost just as much as the trains.
Where did you read this? I would seriously question that statistic! Most of the folks I know who have layouts have something more along the lines of a 4x8, and my own layout still has to breach the 32 square feet limit…even with a 25x11 foot room, my finished plan will be something along the lines of 80-100 square feet, which just seems gargantuan. 200 square feet of actual layout surface is more along the lines of a modest club layout–or a modular layout with 25 2x4 foot modules!!
Even if you added up the square footage of every model railroad, from Northlandz to the smallest Z-scale diorama, and divided it by the number of layouts, I doubt you’d get a figure of anything like 200 square feet as an average.
Nice work!!! I love to see small operations like this one.
underworld[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
I’ll be a contrarian for a moment, and mention that my layout space is just a smidge over 320 square feet. Of course, the aisleways eat up about half of that, leaving me with less than 200 square feet of ‘buildable real estate.’
That said, I have built a layout in a closet (2’8" by <6’, IIRC), and spent 24 years during which my ‘layout’ was a 15" by 96" unsceniced shelf. It took retirement from the military, retirement from civilian employment and a couple of cross-country moves to get into position to claim the double garage my grand scheme now calls home.
tstage - The term you were looking for is, “Statistical sample,” (says he, a retired statistician.) If the sample was self-selected, it would be skewed toward the larger size since folks building on a single sheet of plywood or foam are less likely to respond. (“My layout is so ordinary, they couldn’t possibly be interested.”)
alcofanschdy - I’m lucky in that Tetsudo Mokei Shumi (Japanese language equivalent of Model Railroader) regularly features sub-mini layouts in a variety of scales, most of them detailed to the Nth degree. Boy, do I wish I could model with that degree of accuracy!
Most of us dream of getting a bigger layout space. My advice is to plan for it, as well. When I finally got my garage, all I had to do is sort out my operating scheme, decide what I would have to selectively omit, then figure out how to cut, fold and staple the rest into the available space. Not really much different from modeling in smaller spaces, really.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I’ve got a 3’x6’ N one I’ve been working on since the dawn of time. I am very happy to announce, however, that I HAVE FINALLY COMPLETED THE TRACK LAYING!!! WOO HOO!!! THE TRACK IS DOWN AND TURNOUT SWITCHES WIRED IN!!! {doin’ a little dance} …sorry for that outburst but when only has a couple of hours a week (at best), it takes awhile. Now I can start on some scenery!!!
Randy
Hi:
It depends on what you call small. I have a “SMALL” outside railway that runs “G” guage 1:24. It is 6 X 18 feet. In large scale that is small. I am planning several modules in large scale that will probably qualify as micro layouts. I have had larger layouts and am gradually working my way back down to useable sized moduled. I would like to see what you come up with on the inglebrook and time saver.
Jon