HO Scale
7’X10’ with 2’X5’ “pit” for the operator and his 3 year old assistant…
24" rad. #6 T.O.'s on main #4 T.O.'s on branch/siding
I’m no expert at this track planning and this is my first attempt.
What I want:
Continuous operation
Lots ‘o’ Room for scenery & structures
Run the engines I want (and Thomas/Percy for the assistant)
No specific locale/era at this time
At this time I’m relegated to the garage–that should be fun in Houston, TX this summer…oh well…better to have heat, humidity, and expansion than nothing at all…
Benchwork plan is to build on open grid, with splits to facilitate moving in 5-10 years…to fit into a “bigger & better” environment.
I know the duck under isn’t nice, but it’s fine with me for a while.
Any thoughts?
Changed IMG’s to URL’s…sorry…first post with this image stuff…
Hey Aggie,
I like the layout and the thought of the assistant’s trains running. Looks like you have some nice room for scenery. One thing I would ask is what is the grade on the rise from the staging yard to the main?
Hi. What era? I ask because if you were to cross that lower right industrial spur, the one that wyes toward the lower left, closest to the inner bench edge, you could put a nice engine terminal in the space. So, if you were to cross that track from the inner of the two mains that you have, at the lower right corner, you could have some engines drive righ onto a TT and into a house if you are in the transition era or earlier.
In all seriousness, I think within 2 or 3 days of getting it up and running, you will be cursing the ‘operating pit’ unless you are a stick man. 24" isn’t much wiggle room…
I don’t understand reason for the configuration of the inside curved track on the lower left. Seems an whole lot of track only to “terminate” into an industrial spur that is reached from another point anyway…
That was a thought…a TT and RH are my son’s (three years old mind you) two favorite things right now…I would love to have them both in there…even in my “diesel” era…
It’s only the first revision…and I fully expect about 40 more…
I am undecided on that one and the possibility to include the roundhouse and turntable for my son (who, by the way, only weighs about 29 pounds soaking wet…no problem squeezing him in the pit…his dad…well…). I originally put that in to just have another siding for industry…without that siding/spur (i’m not as technical as you as you can plainly tell!) I had thought about terminating that spur near the 6L/6R on the main line for an industry…
Thanks for the constructive comments…too little room to fit everything I want in there!!!
Houston in the summer ain’t too bad[:D]! Seriously, for under 80 bucks at Wallyworld, last year I bought a small GE window unit. A couple of them would keep a double car garage tollerable. Especially if you had a circulating fan.
Believe me, I’ve thought about it…our nice little HOA won’t allow it…but then they don’t do anything about people letting their grass grow about 3 feet high…
If the layout lasts more than a year, I will bet you you will appreciate those extra 3 inches on each side. A 30 inch wide pit is reasonably comfortable.
Along those lines, I would strongly recommend that one end or the other of the pit be accessed by a narrow (less than 12 inch wide) swinging gate or lift-up bridge. this doesn’t have to be the full 30 inches of the pit - a 24 inch gate or bridge will work fine if it helps with the track plan.
I say this because my father worked on a 12x13 ft layout with a duck-under pit for about 9 years. Then he suffered a back injury which made ducking under quite painful for about a year. By then, the backlog of work that needed pit access was overwhelming, and coupled with residual health problems, caused the layout to die a slow death over a period of about 3 years. I am now eBaying all his unbuilt kits and other useful items - the layout will be dismantled and salvaged for track and wiring by a local club.
Having also had duck-unders on an earlier layout of mine own, I will put up with a smaller layout before I will put up with a duck-under again. The most aisle obstruction I will tolerate is a gate or bridge which will be left in one position or the other for an entire operating session. The hobby is supposed to be fun!
I agree with Jawnt with building in the garage in Texas. I’m in Cedar Park just north of Austin. Temp outside right now is 50. Temp in the garage is a doable 60. While we don’t have quite the hummity as Houston it does get up there.
I started painting walls etc. in the garage this last November. This year has not been cold. During that painting spree the outside temps ran in the mid 80s to low 90s. I found the secret was to keep the garage door closed all the time. This made a big difference. Also, my garage is below the upper level (two story house) and I had it insulated when built . The aluminum garage door faces the west, so it (the door) gets hot. My solution is to put extruded styrofoam in the panels of the garage door.
Except on really extremely hot days, I think the above and a fan will get me through. Time will tell.
