I have been working on a plan to go all the way around my new layout room. The idea of a large table was brought up by you fine folks, but the wife likes this ideas better. Don’t ask me why. She saw a show on TLC where somebody did a train around the room for a kid. She thought that was a neat idea. She has a substantial amount of books that she would like to display. I’m thinking of placing bookshelves below the long extensions of the layout. The areas that have to accommodate her office will be dealt with in a different manner. I’m hoping that the only imposing areas are the lift out and the lift gates. The reason for the projecting bench work at the top of the room is to minimize the length of the lift gates. As I have said before, this is our ‘messy room’. The angled entrance to the bathroom is not even that important. The bathroom has another entrance from the master bedroom. I don’t want to block the entrance, but there is another way to access it. I know I could add a lot more operation, but the idea is to have a long run in a rural setting. I’m adding a small town that was a source of grain and passengers. Granted, it wouldn’t warrant a full size passenger train, but I don’t plan on running a full train. I’m actually combining the C&NW area of downtown Mankato with the rural run that was Milwaukee Road territory. My question is this, is this a totally ridiculous idea? It’s not complete, but am I on the right track?
It sounds like you lean towards the “railfan” end of the layout design spectrum, so I think this arrangement will work fine for you. I’d work on the “sine wave” S curve in the lower right-hand side. If I remember my Armstrong correctly, there should be a straight section between curves going in different directions. The rule of thumb is that the straight section should be at least as long as your longest piece of rolling stock, which will allow it to finish one curve gracefully before starting another.
The radius’ starting from the top curve are 87, 49, and 58 inches. Do you think that will be a problem? I thought it was rather gentle as far as ‘S’ curves go. You are correct on the ‘railfan’ observation. I could always switch to operations, but I already have a job![:)] I was hoping to have a little of both to tell you the truth.
Perhaps consider “a larger picture” with all that room-space:
Is it feasible to include a helix in one room corner to go multi-level? The location would be the upper left corner, or the lower right corner, and the middle of the room is still left wide open.
You could have “self-contained” continuous running on two levels, let alone using the helix, for a third train consist with continuous running. The helix could have two tracks - one for going down and one for the return trip. There should also be more space for staging.
You could dogbone either both upper level ends, or both lower level ends, to have only one doorway bridge, still leaving only a one level duckunder (swing-out or lift-out) bridge to construct.
If you build it as shown, use a long flexible stick to layout that S curve on the right. That’ll give you easements from one to the next and elimitate any abrupt changes. In fact, you should lay out the entire railroad that way. Rather than sticking rigidly to the plan, except where you are doing something specific, let the bent stick determine exactly how the transitions lay. If I’ve completely lost you let me know and I’ll try and explain a little better.
My suggestion is to take the section opposite the trestle and put the railroad on a very narrow shelf (or widen the shelf by 6") and then put 2-3 double ended staging tracks behind the scenery. Hide it with a low backdrop, line of trees, low hills, etc. You can then stage 2 or 3 trains back there and swap them out easily as you watch them orbit.
In the off chance you want to actually operate, instead of railfan, it will allow you to do that too.
Thanks for the ideas guys, I appreciate it. None of this is set in stone. I went with a one foot depth for the extended portion to mesh with possible book shelves. I don’t own this space so I have to be careful with how many holes I put in the walls. I think a combination of free standing, wall mounted, and book shelf top will allow me to pull this off. I think that my Minn. Lake could be developed further. I was hoping that a grain elevator/coop could share the siding with a small passenger/freight depot. I’ll make sure to add easements to the curves. That may change some of the setup, but it should add to the reliability.
You’re on the right track. Lots of run length, the ability to make it point to point if you want, and keep a continuous run, as well. Lots of room for visitors and no claustrophobic feeling coming from cramped aisles. Good job.
Dave H’s suggestion is a great one. It doesn’t matter whether you want to railfan or operate that staging he suggested will increase your enjoyment tenfold.
On the S-curves, do you have mountains or will that follow a river? What is the landscape reason for the curves?
half an hour with some drywall compound , then sanding and repainting the room will fix any holes you put in the walls to support the layout . compared to having the layout fall off the wall because it isn’t screwed to the wall … well you can make the comparison . the work to fix it isn’t hard
I have experience with drywall, so I’m not too concerned with holes. I just wanted to keep it to a minimum. There is no reason for the s curve. I was trying to not have a straight run along the wall. Adding staging right there would be an excellent idea. A large part of this area is in a river valley. I suppose I could add some hidden staging behind a small, lift out bluff. Any other thoughts on how to do hidden staging? I suppose I could not hide it.
SpaceMouse, no mountains in Minnesota !! [swg] However Mankato is in a fairly deep valley cut by the Minnesota River with some twists and turns, sounds like the trackage is following the river.
Corey, I would check out the series of articles Don Spiro did about building his new layout, it was in I think the Sept-Dec issues of RMC in 2005(? I’d have to check at home to be sure.) He built an around the walls shelf layout, using the space below for his office with books and computer etc.
Frankly I didn’t know where his layout was, but if I remember correctly just above you where the 8 crosses the border into WI there are some knobs that might with a stretch of the imagination pass for semi-mountainous hills.
If the layout is only meant to be viewed from inside the loop, you could hide your staging behind a 1/8" masonite divider, painted with sky and country scenery on the viewing side. If you want to view the layout from both sides, you could have a low rise with a bunch of tall trees & scrub between the tracks to block the view.
Whoa, I think the conversation has got off track in here with all the discussion about s-curves and everything. I’ve read a few of your other posts, and think we need to be back on the main topic: is a free standing, around the room, layout (with two lift-out/duck-under sections) going to work?
Okay, it seems like everyone else who has replied has been positive, so I’m gonna sound like a downer, but I think you’re crazy.
Duck-under and lift-out sections are a serious pain in the neck. I think they should only be used when absolutely necessary. They may seem like a good idea now, but just wait until you are coming up the steps at the lower left side of the room and have to get to the bathroom at the upper right and have to duck twice to do it (and remember there may be times when you are in a hurry!). Now think about how happy your wife is gonna be when she has to do it!
All it’s gonna take is one time that someone is in a hurry and stands up too quickly for trains to come crashing to the floor. If you aren’t going to have sections bolted to the wall, but only connected to each other, one section bumped is going to disrupt the ones hooked to it like a bunch of boxcars going off a trestle.
Even just the one lift-out section at the lower left is going to be enough of a problem. I assume you are going to have to leave this off all the time so your wife can access her office area. That will leave two long sections of your layout freestanding. Either one could easliy be bumped out of position. Or even worse someone might hit the edge of your Red Jacket Bridge Section and you hear a “SNAP”!
I’m not saying you can’t pull this off, but just that it may be more trouble than it’s worth. Think about it, and good luck!
Hey also, just a few hours after this was posted, somone else came into the “layouts and layout building” forum talking about liftouts. Read that and see if you still want the trouble.
Don’t worry about the lift out, or duckunder. Depending upon layout height, you can easily build this thing to be a “nod under” or even install a lift out, drawbridge or as I will be doing, use a “drop down” in which the benchwork is attached by a hinge and drops down toward the floor to open the access.
There are a lot of concerns for lift outs and duckunders, the most notable being the ability to hit yourself on the benchwork too many times. Lift out concerns include loss of alignment, etc., but there are several excellent MR articles on sturdy, well-designed and well built lift outs, or swing bridges.
A little care goes a long way. I am 52 years old and duckunders have not been and still aren’t a problem for me, although they may prove challenging for others.
I still think I am the voice of reason here. This is not a attic, a basement, or a spare room. It’s a room that is going to be shared with your wife as an office, and a room that has to be travelled through regularly to a bathroom and bedrooms. AND you aren’t going to anchor it firmly to walls!!!
I hate to be the negative guy, but think about it! You plan on putting in hours and hours making your best effort at a model of Mankato Depot and the Red Jacket trestle, only to place them in a risky location? If it were me, I wouldn’t risk it.
Okay, again, yes I agree, it can be done, but is it worth it? That’s all I’m saying.
Start smaller with something more managable, and work toward your ‘ultimate’ layout…
