This is my first layout and I have zero experence but have frends who could give advice. Imagine there is a wall in front of you, it is 117 inches wide(9 9/12 feet) and your space comes out 52 inches (4 4/12 feet). There is a window that is 23 inches (1 11/12 feet) off the ground, it is 36 inches (3 feet) from the right wall and is 44 inches (3 8/12 feet) from the left wall makeing it 37 inches (3 1/12 feet) wide. The window needs to be accessible and the base must contain a bureau. everthing before this is the space i have and the requirments, outher than that there is no restrictons on scale, time peroid, or location. Please post any ideas you have no mater how stupid or unhelpful they seem. Thank You, a new but enthestaic model railrader.
Wow, welcome to the Forum ! [#welcome]
No offense, but in addition to building a layout, I think you need to take a basic course in Typing. LOL
I particularly like “enthestaic model railrader” which we all are.
Seriously though, you should get a lot of advice, ideas and suggestions “no mater how stupid or unhelpful they seem”.
Tell us some of your preferences regarding time period for your layout, steam versus diesel, location and prototype. All such information will be helpful to those responding.
Rich
Welcome [#welcome]
You’re looking at a 4x8 layout. As noted what are your preferences?
If you do a search on 4x8 layouts you’ll find a bunch of them. There’s some great stuff people have done with them.
I would suggest starting simple, so you actually get up and running fast, and then take it from there.
Here is e.g. a H0 scale track plan that is 6 x 1 foot, with only three turnouts.
In N scale, you could do something like this in about 40" (3’ 4") of length, and a foot of depth (i.e the equivlent of a 20" of depth for a H0 scale layout).
One set of feeders - where the two turnouts in the center of the layout stand foot to foot.
And yet you can do a lot of modeling for the buildings, scenery, maybe a road and a parking lot and so on and so forth.
And there is room for plenty of switching - have a look e.g. at Jack Hill’s O scale layout for some ideas about switching a simple track plan like this:http://oscalewcor.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-full-op-session.html
Smile,
Stein
sorry about my spelling. What i ment about “new but enthestaic model railroder” is that i wakeup in the middle the night because of a dream about a cool track plan. I like early transion era locomotives, moutian railroading and industeral designe (designed for pure efficiency) not shure if that is the correct word. My favorite locomotive is the Y6b and i like the southern pacific in the late steam era. I also like shay locomotives. hopefully this helpes. Thank You.
Are your misspellings, your idea of a joke? Have you ever used spell check? It’s hard to take your posting seriously with the misspellings. If you are serious then you will get a great deal of good information here. Good Luck.
I’m dyslexic so when I type I can misspell a word and even on proof reading, it can look “correct” to my eyes. Spell check doesn’t work on here for me, and often I am too lazy to type into MS Word first and use the spell checker there AND I have found that a MS Word DOcument copied/pasted here doesn’t always translate well. I am also guilty of mistyping or leaving a word out here or there. SO I put teh disclaimer in my signature to “excuse my dyslexic typing” so people would not just think I was a dunce.
I see many other mistakes others make here too, including misspellings, mistypings, and left out words or words spelled phonetically to the writer, but I fail to see any reason to lambaste the writer for such.As long as you understand what teh author is getting across to you, there is no reason to belittle them.
At least MOST people here do not type in “text speak” whr thy leve out letrs 2 get ther idea acros 2 u in 140 chrtrs or les leving out vwls & such!!! {translation: where they leave out letters to get their idea across to you in 140 characters or less leaving out vowels and such!"}
Now to Bering:
You have to give us more information to go on. SOme you have supplied, stating your preference for transition era and steam locos, for instance. That gives us your ERA you wish to model.
You have tried to describe your available room, but frankly, I was unable to understand it. Can you draw a map and post it for us?
Have you decided on a scale yet? THe scale can help determine what room you have to play wiht.
Do you have a list of “givens and druthers”? DO a “search our community” for “givens and druthers” which should turn up some threads where new members {or older members building a new layout} have spelled out their “givens and druthers” very well.
“givens” are things you really cannot change such as amount of space available for your layout, obstacles in the way, etc. Is it to be a 4x8 in the middle of the room or an around-the-walls shelf type?
“Druthers” are things you wish for on your layout. For instance mountainous terrain as found in teh north-east coastal railroads, or desert like conditions found out in the south west. DO you wnat DC operations or DCC? DO you want circles of track or switching only or both? DO you wnat a yard? WHich railroad or segment thereof {if any} do you wish to model? Do you want to freelance?
When you have a clear list of your “givens and druthers” and give us a clear picture of your space, we can be of more help to you. ALso, when you get your inspirations in the middle of the night, draw them out and finalize what you think you really want. THEN post a pic of that for critiques. OR do a google search for various sized model railroad plans. The most common starter is a 4x8, but many will go around-the-walls, or witha 4x8 cut into pieces and put together witha center pit to get a bigger layout.
I am not trying to rain on your parade, but Enthusiasm is great, but you still have to do the “bean counting” first to determine what you will
So if I get you right, you have a 9 1/2 by 4 1/2 foot super closet to work with. My first thought would be to do an around the walls layout with a lift-out/swing-away bridge to cross the doorway. Around the walls layouts don’t have to be very wide, you could allow a 2 foot aisle down the middle and 1 foot wide layout down both walls.
The window sill at 23 inches off the floor strikes me as a little low. You want your layout surface more like kitchen counter top height say 34 inches or a little more. It has to be high enough to permit you to work under the layout to install wiring, switch machines and whatever. That makes 34 inches as low as I would want to go. You can also make it higher, up to eye level for an extreme case. Trains look good when viewed with the eye right down close to track level. Any how, after you have decided on layout height, you can deal with the window by having the benchwork stop at both sides of the window and have the trains cross the opening on a bridge. A bridge (or just a narrow section of layout) crossing the window at 34-50 inches above the floor (11-27 inches above the window sill) should let you open and close the window, put up screens or storm windows, that sort of thing.
The doorway lift-out/swing-away section does take some carpentry skills. Be aware that wood expands when moist (summer) and shrinks when dry (heating season) You want a good close fit, but if you do it in the winter, and get it too tight, you won’t be able to open it in the summer. One old cabinet maker’s trick is to bring the wood into the room and let it “normalize” (gain or loose moisture) for a few days before cutting it to size. Lift out is easier to make. Allow space for a couple of C-clamps to secure it in place.
For benchwork that is only a foot wide, you can support it on 12 inch angle brackets, which are cheap at p
i guess that i was not clear with my discripiton. the space i have is about a third of my room, there is a wall on three sides, and acesable from the side across from the window side. it is a old house so the celings are low. when i posted i was hopeing for tips, tricks and advice. Thank you for you help
i guess that i was not clear with my discripiton. the space i have is about a third of my room, there is a wall on three sides, and acesable from the side across from the window side. it is a old house so the celings are low. when i posted i was hopeing for tips, tricks and advice. Thank you for you help
Mmm - trying to visualize your room and desires:
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You have a room that is about 12 feet wide x 9’ 9" deep, and want to use the far third of this room (a strip 9’9" long and 4’4" deep, with walls along both short sides and along one long side) for a layout.
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The middle third of this 9’9" wall is a window that needs to remain “accessible”. What does “accessible” mean in this context? And what is the bureau in the base you mention?
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In a later post you mention a low ceiling. How low?
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Your have decided on an era - roughly the late 1940s/early 1950s, but have not yet decided on a theme - you like both big steam on the Norfolk and Western, the Southern Pacific and logging locomotives (like Shays) in mountainous terrain.
You will have to think some more about what you want to be able to do on your layout, as a layout made for watching big steam pull manifests or long coal trains down a mainline at speed are quite different from a layout where a Shay slowly lugs log cars to a sawmill.
Here is a list of questions a professional layout designer might ask you to help you organize your thoughts on what you want to have on your layout, and to get the information he would need to make a design for you - would be a good idea for you to think through this as well: http://www.layoutvision.com/id13.html
Smile,
Stein
Steinjr,
I love the inglenook layout. This was a design I was considering for an industrial shortline (Bachmann Spectrum 45 tonner) marshmallow factory layout.
Well, technically it is not an Inglenook layout.
But you certainly can play the inglenook game on it (as you can on pretty much any layout with at least two trailing turnouts), if you block off part of the lowermost or middle track on the right, and not use the spur on the left, so you get a lead long enough for an engine+3 cars, and the spurs holding 5, 3 and 3 cars respectively.
Smile,
Stein
I would operate it like an inglenook. I would use sidings F & G as the engine service area.
You will get more running track if your layout is along the walls. The longest that you can reach things is about 24 inches. Thus quite a few folks make their benchwork 24 inches wide.
What I do for layout design (have done so far) is define my area and benchwork first. Next I decide on a theme. (Mainline running, with a branch line(?) or other special interests.) Then I put in a mainline. I am fond of twice around the room types divided by scenery and grades.
Next 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.
Because I freelance, I don’t worry about town and city names etc., but if you want to model a specific prototype, you can name the towns as the railroad you are modeling would, and build or plan you scenery to suite the area you want to model. Also, some of the industries that may be recognizable in a town you choose to name from a real one may have to be built or otherwise implied to achieve the “feeling” of the real town.
When building starts, I try and get all of the benchwork built first. Then plan where the towns will go and install the mainline to get some trains running. Then I work on one of the yards so I can store stuff when not running. Then I plug along on the other track work and scenery design and continue from there.
Hope this helps.
Bering,
Remember the old saw: “A picture is worth a thousand words”? It’s good advice.
Really, I’ve been posting on these forums a long time now, and I have yet to see anyone accurately sketch someone else’s layout space correctly on the first try. Several people have asked you to sketch your space and post it. It doesn’t have to be a Van Gogh – just use a ruler and a piece of graph paper. Add some measurements, and clearly mark the obstacles.
So you want tips, tricks and advice? There is probably enough of each on this site to rival Encyclopedia Britannica. But see, we really are trying to help, we’re just suffering from information starvation. So I’ll get you started with one of each.
Tip: Respond to people who reply to your posts. If they ask for a drawing of your space, give them one. Or explain why you can’t do it and ask for help getting one.
Trick: Asking specific questions will get you specific answers.
Advice: People who post here like to help; we’re not so keen on doing it for you. Show us what you’ve done, and ask for suggestions and ideas. “I’m enthusiastic and new, so help me out.” doesn’t go very far. And above all, read, read, read. As much as you can find on the hobby.