I’m looking for a little…OK, well a lot… of guidance in my first layout. I’m currently living in a rental house and the only space available is inside the single car garage. This is limiting my layout to a 4x8 sheet. I’m open to both HO or N scale. I want to run DCC. I would like to have at least an option for continuous running, but this is not a necessity.
Positives for HO are better quality on board sound; larger scale, easier for my aging eyes; and there seems to be a greater selection of accessories. Positives for N; more track in the same amount of space, I’m sure there are others that I can’t think of at the moment.
Following some suggestions by SpaceMouse on this thread, I post the following:
Era of the layout: Current
Location: Utah, New Mexico or West Texas.
Roadname: This would be a freelance roadname, Renaissance Rail Management. This would be sort of holding company of smaller railroads. Kind of like the Genesee & Wyoming.
Purpose: This layout would be a sort of industrial switching layout, using small switchers.
Industries served would be a gypsum plant (mine), a sulfuric acid plant, a hazardous waist dump and possibly a nuclear waist facility. The first three of these industries are actual industries located in the county I grew up in. The gypsum and sulfuric acid plant share the same spur or branch line and are located about 2.5 miles from each other in real life. The hazardous waist dump is about another 70 miles away. There was a proposal to build a nuclear waist facility in this same county that would also
To model that nuclear waste facility you need: 1. 163 miles of dedicated railroad, from a small town in the heart of nowhere to a tunnel into a mountain even deeper in the heart of nowhere. 2. A scale model of a LARGE tunnel boring machine to sit in the tunnel’s “front yard.”
No other industries, no towns and not much vegetation. Not much operation, either. (Estimate is one train per week, maybe - assuming Congress doesn’t kill it - starting ? years from now. So far, nobody has moved a crumb of earth or laid a millimeter of track on that dedicated railroad.)
Your other industries don’t sound unreasonable. One thing I would provide is a couple of tracks of hidden staging yard - your industrial area’s connection to the rest of the country. If you can arrange them as cassettes (removable boxes with track in them) you can move a lot of rolling stock on and off the layout without handling the cars. (Several cassettes can be stored on a shelf under the layout, in addition to the one in place.) Your “through” track could be a loop with 18 inch radius curves, which shouldn’t give you problems as long as you embargo long cars. (an articulated stack car will handle tight curves, but auto racks and hi-cube 89-footers won’t, in HO. If your friends are starting to refer to you as that Spaniard, “Senor Citizen,” N scale might become a visibility challenge. Reporting marks in 1:80 are beginning to challenge this ** year old.)
Chuck (who is operating in less than 2 x 8, using cassettes. No continuous running loop.)
On a related issue, design and build the layout in two attached 2x8 sections. I have lost two nice layouts because I could not move them. Losing some plaster is not the issue, make the table work so it can be sepparated in sizes that go in the doorsand down the stairs.
One thing to consider is a 4x8 with a scenic divider down the middle, to physically separate the two scenes. This would also allow you to do a “loads-in/empties-out” setup–a spur on one side, leading into a cavernous underground nuclear waste facility on one side, leads directly to a spur on the other side where nuclear waste is removed from a reactor.
I have a small room to work in also. Instead of a table, I chose to use a C shape out and back layout. The right leg consists of a modest size yard with a large city rising behind it. The center section is a tunnel serving as a divider to give the illusion of distance. The left leg is a town with a large industrial complex. Each section is only 2 foot wide. This gives me the feeling of coming from someplace and going to someplace. If you have barriers such as doors and windows, the sections could be made removable and stackable when not in use. I’m running in N scale, but an allignment such as this would adapt itself to other scales as well. I don’t have continous running capabilities, but it could be designed in if wanted.
Sorry but after a laughing fit I ended up rolling on the floor after I realized you weren’t making fun of my tummy.
Or a few modules that can be put together and disassembled?
You might want to play around with some plans before deciding.
Longer trains.
Any reason (other than your choice of industries) why you don’t want to model the Genesee & Wyoming branch out of Trinidad CO? Really cool railroad and right in the type of territory specified.
Hmmm, not many small switchers running around these days. Did you have a specific loco in mind. Most of the industrial railroads I know of are using rebuilt 2nd hand equipment of older GPs or SD units.
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Industries served would be a gypsum plant (mine), a sulfuric acid plant, a hazardous waist dump and possibly a nuclear waist facility. The first three of these industries are actual industries located in the county I grew up in. The gypsum and sulfuric acid plant share the same spur or branch line and are located about 2.5 miles from each other in
Tom, I have taken a look at that site and it has given me some things to think on. I’m going to measure the space I have available in the gararge this weekend.
The local club is in the very early stages of building a modular layout, which has also got me thinking about building my layout either modular, or sectional or a combination.
Jetrock and Otto Ray Sling: I am considering both of these ideas, thank you for the suggestions. As I may have mentioned, this is in the VERY EARLY stages, so things are quite fluid and subject to change.
I really would like to model the Utah area, my home state. I chose freelance because, at this point in time, I don’t want to be that closely bound by reality
I didn’t know that. No specific reason for switchers. I have a older GP in both HO and N, but
I am also building a 4 x 8, as my space limitations are great. I can’t say how many people have refered me to something else, but ya know, the 4 x 8 is all I have. Anyways, I would recommend HO scale. Even though N can put alot more track on a 4 x 8, it is very hard to see, and I feel just too small! You also mentioned your eyes are ageing, so there is another point. Everything sounds good, and as someone else has mentioned, I would do a split scence, with a backdrop somewhere, not nessessarely being in the middle. I believe that your nuculer waste would fit with the split scene backdrop technique, along with the others.
Texas Zephyr mentioned that there are no small switchers. I fail to know what “small” means, but Model Railroader did a review on Atlas’s EMD MP15, found here. I’m probally going to get that, as it is offered in a gold series DCC with QSI sound. Model Railroader brings me to another point. No one has mentioned it, but if you aren’t subscribed, i would suggest doing so. Also, since the reference books as the hobby shop are so expensive, I would recommend going to your local library and seeing what model railroading books they have, along with archives of Model Railroader. You’d be suprised what you can find.
If you are looking for some help on a 4x8, I have two threads. One is about my building, where you can find a good, reliable way to build the 4 x 8 benchwork, so far. It’s found here. I also have a thread on trackplans. It’s found here. I also have my latest trackplan here, which explains a little bit about mine and the backdrop technique.
I have been following one of your threads. In fact that was what prompted me to post. I am a subscriber, and I have purchased some of the reference books also. I’ll take a look at the Review you referenced. A split sceen is something I have been considering, but if I can find a way to work in a different format I’m going to try.
Thanks for your suggestions and I’ll look at your other threads for some more inspiration and guideance.
Excellent website, Tom! I bookmarked it even though I abandoned my first 4x8 and am putting the finishing touches (i.e. I can almost actually run trains) on my new sectional, around-the-walls layout [swg]
Kent - if one of your primary interests is in switching, you are better off in HO scale. N is good if you like long trains rolling through huge scenery - HO is better suited to switching because of its larger size. The website Tom referenced gives a good primer on good alternatives to the traditional 4x8 in the same amount of space. I might go one step further and suggest you build your layout in shelf-type sections along the wall (instead of dealing with layout peninsulas in the middle of the room). That way, you can mount it to the walls with shelf brackets and it can be easily moved or expanded if necessary.
Like your final track plan. I got side-tracked when trying to respond earlier. If I may suggest one small change:
On the cross-over at the bottom left - if you make the turnout on the inside track part of the curve using a left hand turnout instead of a RH, you will save some space. Instead of the inside passing siding taking the straight route it will take the curved, and the cross-over will take the straight in the first turnout. This also avoids an S curve series.
I think the other replies have pretty well covered things. A 4 X 8 does lend itself to creating two scenes if you use a divider and continuous running or better still, one scene with staging. You could have, for example, a yard on one side and open country on the other - my favorite example is the city of LA on one side and a section of the “Surfline” on the other.
But, being a proponent of linear layouts, I’d second the suggestion of looking into shelves around the walls, with or without a continuous running connection. Build one or more sections to N-trak (or whatever) standards and you can bring it with you to club meets.
Not sure what a “nuclear waist” is unless you’re talking about the really, really big guy that hangs out at my local Taco Bell. [(-D]
I just now realized what you guys are refering to. “waist” should have been “waste”. [:I] I was going to edit my OP, but decided to let it stay. Probably not the best way for a newbie to the forums to make an impression. I guess I’ll forever be known as the “nuclear waist” guy… Hmm… maybe I should make that part of my signature.[:D]