Approach to Layout - Modular or Not?

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I’ve got a 3x4 section of layout that I’ve got track laid on and trains will run, etc. I have high hopes of eventually making an around-the-room shelf layout in this storage room that’s about 11x13 or so. But, my wife thinks I’ll not keep my interest and really doesn’t want it going around the room to begin with. So, my plan is to finish the 3x4 section, even though it really offers no operation at this point(it’s part of a freight yard) and then once she sees how great a job I did, to move on to another section to make it modular. Is there a downside to building your layout in chunks rather than laying out all the benchwork and track at the beginning, because I don’t think I can get buy-in on taking that plunge at the moment! :slight_smile:

THanks!

Mike Brubaker

2

The downside is that the first section (as you described it) will not offer stand-alone operations.

I’ve been where you are - my wife wanted to see some evidence that I could produce a layout that she wouldn’t be ashamed to have visiting friends see. She even suggested some scenicked display shelves, because she got tired of me storing my trains in boxes between layouts.

I’m also a big proponent of building a layout a section at a time. (Modular layouts are actually a very different animal, where a group of model railroaders each build modules to be joined together at a meet or setup.) I don’t want to do all benchwork, followed by all trackwork, followed by all wiring, followed by all scenery, etc. I don’t want to spend even 2 months without running trains.

The big catch with building layouts in sections is having a plan that allows some form of the desired operations from the get-go. You build the 1st section, and you can operate. Build a second section and you can do even more operations. Obviously, the less you have to redo when adding a section, the b

3

Yes, there is a downside to building it a brick at a time. As She learns that you are serious, she’ll also see each successive chunk of layout eat away at her living space, and she’ll balk. If you’re lucky, the worst you’ll have to do is take it down and move it to the garage or into a crawl space 30’ from the nearest power outlet. [:|]

If you’re smart, you’ll wait until the next time She goes to visit Uber She, and have a beer and pizza-assisted workfest so that it presents an overwhelming fait-accompli in one fell swoop.

Trust me on this…there are no half-measures. No quarter to be given.

Crandell

4

What I do for layout design (have done so far) is define my area and bench work first. Next I decide on a theme. (Mainline running, with a branch line(?) or other special interests.)

I try and determine how many small towns I can have, and possibility one city with a yard and loco facilities, without them crowding one another. Usually small yards and facilities unless I have the room for larger ones. I will try to fit in a way-side industry or two just for variation as long as it won’t crowd things.

Then I go looking at plans for modular railroads. I look for ones that would make good towns or cities because their track plans are usually fairly compact, and most of the way they will be switched is already determined with a good track plan themselves.

If you want to start building right away, build a switching module that can become a town on part of your layout. Something about 2 X 6 or so. When this module is complete and you are tired of running it, build another module. Each module can have it’s own switching control panel so it becomes a self contained unit. You train control system, DC or DCC, plus power supplies for switch machines etc. can be set up in a separate cabinet that can be used for all modules. When you get to the point that you can set up your layout, you can build some bench work to hold your modules, set them in place, then just connect then together with the mainline track.

Hope this helps.

5

I built Phase 1 of my layout, a 5x12 foot free-standing table, in HO, as a single piece. Because of the way the house is layed out, and the easily-removeable-if-necessary legs, I could get this section out of the house without a lot of trouble if I had to. However, it would be quite a headache to get it into any other part of the house.

For Phase 2, which is a 19 foot by 2 1/2 foot run along a wall, with a balloon at one end for a loop, I took a more modular approach for the benchwork. I built this in 3 sections. I used barrier strips for the track power bus and the lighting bus for structures and street lights. Mostly, I tried to put rail joiners where the tracks crossed between sections as well.

But, this is not designed to be “portable” or easily moved. Instead, it is built so that it could be dismantled and moved without too much damage. So, all of the wiring for turnout control, for example, runs straight from the turnouts to the control panel. Scenery will run right over the joints, and will need to be cut if the sections must be separated, although the thin layer of plaster cloth and Gypsolite shouldn’t present much of a challenge there.

I am building Phase 2 as a single entity, as if it were one piece. The mainline trackwork is all in place, although it’s not all glued down yet, and only a small section is ballasted.

I have already secured the rights to the real estate, though. I’m not sure about how much more I can acquire, but this section should keep me busy for 2 or 3 more years, at least. At that time, though, I will be at least considering retirement, and our daughter will have finished her undergraduate schooling. Possession of the train room will be important, in case she comes back to live at home for a while, and the train room reverts to her “family room” again, the way it used to be.

6

You can always take a module and incorporate it into a permanent layout.

It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to make a permanent layout modular.

7

The advantage of a permanent layout (or one designed specifically for a particular space) is that you can design it for maximum utility - i.e. get the largest number of desired features possible for the space. The downside is that the layout evaporates when you move. This has been my story.

Sectional-modular layouts are just the opposite - lower utility, but you can pack 'em in a big crate and stuff them in the moving van.

Obviously the choice is driven by the likelihood of a relocation, but in this mobile society, its hard to put down deep roots.

If I had to do it all over again, I would design a sectional layout to fit a small, 8’x8’ room. The sections would be lightly built and rest on 1"x4" sub-benchwork. When moved to a different sized room, just re-build the sub-benchwork and add sections and/or build connections to bridge the gaps. Worst case, you’d be running trains again in a few weekends.

This way you can develop the layout over many years, build and refine your equipment rosters - then build your permanent dream layout when you finally get to your retirement home.

That would be the home you move from to be closer to the grandkids! [banghead]

Jim

8

I am trying to plan my layout with the ability to accomodate a future move with a minimum of damage to the layout. I am planning to build the benchwork, wiring etc. with the ability to sever the layout into movable pieces. I am going to use L-girder construction so what I will do is incorporate two parallel cross beams with spacers where I see the layout being cut up into sections. Likewise I will use connector strips for the wiring at the potential severance points so the only real damage will be to the track (hopefully easily rejoined with track joiners) and to the scenery. I may elect to install a continuous bus line to maximize performance which will be relatively easy to replace if the layout is moved. I really don’t want to ever have to move, but if I have to then I will hopefully be prepared.

Any comments?

Dave

9

Absolutely, 100 percent, no doubt about it … go sectional. (Not modular – sectional and modular are two different things, as has been pointed out.)

Going sectional gives you the chance to have a functional layout that is still portable. You can take it with you if you have to move, or even perhaps “put it away” when it’s not in use.

There’s a lot to be said for using hollow-core doors as your benchwork (my preference), although there are others who prefer different options. Whatever you choose, you’ll be happier in the long run if you design and build something that you can enjoy for a lifetime. That doesn’t mean your work has to be perfect; great layouts evolve, they don’t just happen. But build in a manner so you can adapt your layout to reflect life’s changes. If you have to move, if you find yourself with more space or less space, you always want to be able to work with what you’ve started, rather than have to scrap everything.

Plan for the long haul.

10

An excellent example of a layout designed for progressive construction is #63 Galveston Wharves Terminal in Kalmbach’s latest track plan book, 101 More Track Plans for Model Railroads. The plan was also in May 1983 MR. It starts out as a single shelf switcher. Note that Section A has adequate length switching leads by itself - a not infrequent problem in shelf switchers. Section B adds a wharf and becomes an L shape. Section C adds a yard, and the layout is now a U shape. Section D is the 4th wall, and fiddle/staging. Section E adds a peninsula, and the last section is a second lower level that becomes the new staging. You can stop at any point, and never go further, and each stage has reasonable operations.

As for moving, I’ve done it too many times. I find moving layouts generally not worth the effort - but then I get as much enjoy out of building as I do operating. The primary issue with moving a layout - despite advance preparation in sectionalizing and so on - is that no two houses are alike. You wouldn’t be moving if they were. The l

11

I started with a 4x8, three times around layout for my grandchildren to run Thomas on.

I have added 2x8 sections one at a time until it goes completely around my 2 car garage.

The advantage to building it in sections and bolting them together is now becoming clear because I am replacing sections one at a time. I don’t like the way several of them came out. I don’t have to tear the layout down and start over. I build a new section free standing and then remove the old one and bolt the new one in.

12

Fred: The voice of experience! You make a very good point. Now you have me questioning whether the sectional method is worth the additional work or not.

Thanks

Dave [^o)]

13

Crandell is right on this one. Come ashore and plant your flag. Claim your land.

My wife was away at a Dog Show for a few days and like Crandell said, the crew was in and the Grand Piano was moved from the Train Room to the living room while “I was in charge”. The wife took the wiser course of saying nothing when she got home, other than to say “I see you’ve started on your Railroad”.

She now puts the dog in charge when she goes away.[sigh]

Brent

14

Fred does have a lot of good points. But I would argue that the effective ability to transport a layout depends on how it was originally designed.

If you build something that occupies every possible square inch of an odd-shaped room, don’t be surprised if you can’t set it up in a new location. But if you design in such a way that the sections you build can be added to (or subtracted from) with a minimum of fuss, it becomes relatively easy to reconfigure and have an operational railroad up and running, without a lot of lost time and money invested in rebuilding.

I would also argue that when it takes years and a considerable amount of money to construct a quality layout (even a small one), the benefits of being able to “take it with you” far outweigh the trouble of doing so.

I certainly don’t dispute Fred’s logic. Since these are all matters of personal opinion, we are each the final arbiter of what is right for ourselves. Fred and I have two diametrically opposed ideas of how to go about things, but that’s not important as long as we’re both happy with the path we choose. For my part, I wish I had planned and built for the long haul when I first got started in this hobby. I’d have more to show for it now, and I’d have had more fun along the way. That’s why I encourage others, especially if they’re just starting out, to consider the sectional approach.

15

Agreed, design and construction definitely impact the level of effort to transport a layout. A set of modules is the ultimate in minimal effort to transport and set up in a new location. However, even the most liberal modular standards impose significant restrictions on the layout plan and use of space. I have also noted that most modular model railroaders replace their modules after a few years to perhaps a decade. I don’t pretend to understand all their reasons; I just know that it happens pretty consistently.

As you say in the next paragraph, this is a matter of personal opinion. I was simply pointing out that moving a layout is not a trivial exercise, and after having moved a layout, I have frequently questioned the wisdom of even bothering. The old layout just didn’t suit me in the new house for a whole variety of reasons, some of which I gave.

You are correct, that it takes time and money to build a quality layout - even a small one. Frankly, model railroading is particularly ill-suited to frequent relocations. Yet I’ve seen that even those who are blessed to be in the same house for decades find the lifetime of their layout to typically be 15 years or less. Those layouts that go past the 15 year point typically undergo heavy revision. And most of us don’t keep a given layout going for more than 10 years, even if we do keep the surrounding house for longer.

My theory is that the cumulative changes as we grow in the hobby, and the cumulative changes in our lives and what we enjoy, eventually cause us

16

I designed and built my four-part, boxed and bolted, Seneca Falls layout to be moved with about an hour’s work in sawing through screen and goop scenery and cutting some wires, plus the lag bolts. Unfortunately, while what I had intended is entirely possible, it is no longer particularly desirable. About the only thing that I like about what I see in front of me today is how I placed the turntable and roundhouse. There is nothing except my vast radius curves on my folded loop main that appeals to me today…I have moved on. So, I can understand completely what both gentlemen have said. Life injects variables over time, including learning and experience, which contribute to the seeking of new interests. I can tell you that I have ‘done’ the duck-under experiment. Don’t regret it still, but I know I won’t repeat it. That, in and of itself, will mean that what I had hoped to break apart surgically and restore elsewhere is moot.

I already have the dream plan, but once again I am ahead of myself. Who knows what I will have to work with when I move in the next year or so?

Crandell

17

This is what I was trying to say. Most layouts have concentrated switching areas and these are usually towns, industrial complexes, yards, and engine facilities. If you build these as being self contained modules or sections, not necessarily meant to be attached together except perhaps for the yard and loco facilities, you can set them a trains length apart on some bench work and have a new layout up and running very soon. The areas between the module sections is new and gets new scenery, and this can be changed from what was there before. In this case you save the modules when you get ready to move. And the room size doesn’t matter as much because you can adjust the space between the modular sections.

18

Caveat - barring some natural or man-made catastrophe, I am living in my last-in-this-lifetime house and building my last-in-this-lifetime layout.

That said, my layout can be disassembled into either macro- or mini-assemblies. The macro-assemblies (five in number) will fit through the layout room door and load into a 24-foot bobtail… The mini-assemblies are things like yard throats or (when I build them) specific scenic details. One, the 15 by 96 inch ‘end of the short line’ module, has been in semi-regular operation for almost 30 years now, and will continue in operation for the forseeable future. (It ain’t broke. Why should I ‘fix’ it?)

If I DO move I will still be modeling the same blurred point in space-time to the same standards. That has been set in solid granite for over forty years and is extremely unlikely to change. Also, the new home of my version of Central Japan will be large enough to accept the present layout, with a few additional feet of wiggle room all the way around. If it can’t be arranged that way, I won’t move.

It may be true that the ‘average’ layout has a seven year half life, but there are Forumites who have been building and operating their dream empires for much longer than that. John Armstrong’s Canandaigua Southern lasted for better than a half century with no significant change in concept or mainline track plan. For mine to match that record, I’ll have to live to see my 118th birthday.

Well, why not?

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

19

I have a general preference for smaller, more manageable layouts and thus would go for a modular design in any case. Although it requires a careful planning of the overall concept, a modular design is more flexible and responsive to changes in interest.

20

Hi Mike –

You don’t say what scale you are in.

But if you want to build a small shelf layout that later will become a section, I would check with the wife if you can change your 3 x 4 foot section into a 6 x 2 foot section or an 8 foot x 18" section, or even narrower in spots.

Same square footage, but it has the following advantages:

  • You are far more likely to be able to do some kind of interesting running in a longer and narrower section (or pair of sections) than you would in one short and deep section. For model railroads, we tend to run out of length before we run out of depth.

  • It probably will be easier to scenic not so deep sections to the point where they look more finished for the wife.

  • A not so deep shelf may looks less intrusive for other uses of the room, and it may be easier to sell taking it from e.g. the initial 8 feet to a full wall (11 or 13 feet long instead of 8 feet), and later taking it to two walls, or taking it to three walls and so on and so forth.

Btw - nitpicking, but the difference between section and module