The hardest part of all this is the initial thinkign outside the box (or island, as the case may be). Realizing that nearly every beginenr book on model railroading recommends some sort fo solid tabletop for the layout, it’s a hard habit to break out of when you’re ready to go on to bigger and better things. Especially if you don’t have a huge space to fill.
My old 8x12 layout was a big donut. The middle was 4x8 - so the 8x12 occupied the space normally required for a 4x8, allowing 2 foot aisles (a bare minimum) to walk around it for construction and operation. By going to the open donut form instead of a 4x8 table, I was able to have 30 and 32" radius curves. Try that on 4x8 - the best you can do is a 22" radius curve and that gets the ends awfully close to the edge.All things beng equal, the space gained for the railroad by putting the layout at the edges and working from the ‘inside’ gains you a LOT more railroad while using up no more ‘real’ space in the room.
Thank you all for your time convincing me there had to be another way to set up my track. I ended up having a nook in the basement just over 110 inches long I can tuck some track into if I move the television. This will also free up the ping pong table for the board games!
If I impose a once around the layout rule between leaving the yard and servicing the industries this layout will have my trains doing some running and them reverses even more!
I do have a couple questions.
My access / command area in the center is 32 inches. Would that satisfy most of you all?
Using my current ping pong table set up as a guide I found my tall self to be ok rerailing railcars at 40 plus inches, my longest reach to that back left corner is 48". Too far to lay track on but I think I can manage, during operating session if I have the track in place or use a stool??? I have just a few more inches I can angle in that top left corner perhaps.
Is there a better way to set up the yard in the bottom left? I was thrilled to get all them switches off the main line and limit the need to back in off the main like you must on my current layout.
Oh, and yes I am going to dork it up and put the roadway / slotcar track in. Just another chance to get out some more toys.
How long is your reach at layout height? Try to keep tracks and especially turnouts within 24" (max 30") from where you will be standing, unless you have room for some contraption that will allow you to hang in the air above the layout to reach things you need to work at.
For your space and chosen scale, a doughnut shape with a liftout is probably a better idea than a folded dogbone. This is what I did in 11.5 x 6.5 feet in H0 scale:
you will have to be close to the tracks, probably while operating as well. Coupling and uncoupling on curves need manual help. And quite some straight track before and behind an uncoupling device when hands-free (un)coupling is wanted.
You obviously have given up the other room/space for modelrailroading. The pingpong-able is 9x5. Allowing room for moving around the table, the sporty use of that table probably requires a 18x9 space. Much larger then the nook you are going for in your latest plan.
IMHO many tracks are to close to the walls. To have some scenery between the tracks and the wall 3" or 4" of space should be kept clear of tracks. Just as with the reach-in distance (no more then 30" at most) sticking to standards is not unwise. The standard width for an operating pit is at least 24", though 30` is considered better today, since our bellies are growing over the years. Mine did!
Layout height is another issue. I know opinions on it differ a lot. Most layouts are built between 45" and 50". It influences reach-in possibilities in a major way.
From my own experiance is what looks good on paper does not always look good in real life. I would start with your main line, run your trains some and then work your way in.&nb
If the unmarked brown building near the yard is a depot, it would make more sense to switch its location with the intermodal area in the NW. No tracks to worry about reaching anymore either. Intermodal tracks would tend to be near a yard, and a depot would tend to be near a passing siding (where the passengers sit while a frieght passes on the main).
By moving the depot to the corner and the intermodal to the yard, you can extend the siding in the NW to where the intermodal switch is now.
You should run the yard off of the track that now sits in the lake instead of the track that’s way up the mainline. You’ll have more track to switch the yard with and not interfere with mainline ops.
The shortest yard track on the left is useless and just adds clutter, as does the switch that returns the yard back to the mainline.
You’ll need to angle the yard a bit if you follow my suggestions, but that might even look better since it wouldn’t be so straight up and down.
If you make these changes you’ll greatly reduce the clutter on the left side of the layout and not change ops much at all, while probably making them slightly better.
I hope you have Avalon Hill’s Rail Baron, Mayfair Games Empire Builder, 1870, Eagle Games Railroad Tycoon, and of course Winsome Games Rails Through the Rockies and Lone Wolf’s Silverton. I participate in at least one railroad game tournament every year. I got Rail Baron 2nd place in the USA (GENCON) way back in 1987, and 2nd place in Empire Builder in 1988.
The problem is that the year and all those turnouts are on the “far” side. It is the area that will require most hands-on action.
