All right I need some help with a layout. It’s my first one and I’m not really sure where to start. I have a space lof about 12X17 but With a tunnel I have access to another room that would total to about 12X29. I’m not really sure where to set it, I would really like to put it on the Eire Lackawanna any where between the 1930s and mid 1960s, bur I am having a really hard time finding prototype information. Another option would be a present day norfolk southern line. Yet another would be to freelance the eastern carolina mountains. So where do I start??
Welcome to the forum. You have a nice space. There are so many things you could do. Start by picking a scale. Then do some reading. Some of the planning books are helpful. The ballance between track, buildings, mountains, yards etc needs to be determined. You can have a lot but not everything. Then determine the table style. Then draw some track plans. In the mean time build some buildings and rolling stock to see what you like doing. You will get a lot of advice. You do get to make your own choices.
I don’t know your age or skill level, but you have a HUGE space compared to most. A layout THAT size could be complicated and frustrating for a newer modeler. (you did say it’s your first) Look before you leap and know what your going to be landing in! A nice layout can set you back around $100/sq. ft. with all the bells and whistles. Make sure you and your wallet are up to the task.[2c]
A good place to start is my “Beginner’s Guide to Layout Design.” Click from my signature. It will take you about 5 minutes to read and might start you asking yourself the right questions.
“Track Planning for Realistic Operation” by John Armstrong is a great book to have in your collection. My suggestion is to read it twice. The second time through, it comes together. This book is a study of how real railroads do things, and how your track plan can model these operations in a smaller space.
Think about the industries which you’d like to model, and the era when they were appropriate. Coal was, and still is, a big-time railroad cargo. Livestock transportation has largely disapppeared today, and this was primarily done west of the Mississippi. Container traffic is a modern thing.
I was firmly set in the 1960’s, but then I fell in love with steam engines, and my layout is now dual-era. I can change between the 60’s and 30’s by swapping out the trains, automobiles and, in the future, a few buildings. With a bit of planning, you don’t have to lock yourself into much with this hobby.
I know I intend on useing HO scale and as I said there are three different areas I would like to model.
The thing I need help with is finding prototype information. Then actually designing the railroad.
Have you tried google? Have you tried the prototype forum here, or the trains forum here?
Until 1960, the Erie and the Lackawanna (DL&W) were separate railroads. They merged on October 17, 1960.
Yes, Yes and Yes. The info that I am looking for may not even exsist such as what locomotives were used and what the scenerie was like, not to mention it is nealy impossible to find a DETAILED map of the erielackawanna.
http://www.erielackhs.org/Lackawanna/LackawannaSmallMap.html
http://www.erielackhs.org/Lackawanna/LackawannaPrototypeInfo.html
http://www.erielackhs.org/Erie/ErieSmallMap.html
http://www.erielackhs.org/Erie/EriePrototypeInfo.html
You have a massive amount of space to work with.
Dont run out to the hobby shop and start buying stuff just yet. I spent years buying rolling stock and engines until light came on and I started to focus.
Start in one corner. then a wall. Dont put anything down until you have tried it and like it. I used Kato track. A bit pricey but it allowed me to take my small railroad through 8 generations of change until I got it settled to point of scenery work.
Plan your expenses in a cascading fashion. For example I have a Scenic foam on order this month, some DCC items the same month and wood peices to finish the front of the layout. That is enough to keep me busy all Janurary. While Im doing this Im already thinking what I know I will need by Feburary.
Last year my list was simple. Wads of money buying trains at impulse. OOh, ahh. recent new release announcments were particularly expensive becuase they FINALLY released stuff I wanted for 30 years. Ugh.
Never pay full retail on sight. If a choo choo arrives at 500 dollars, wait 6 months and get it on hobby shop discount or on ebay. A year or two from now it will either settle to a 200 'is dollar value if it is a good engine or fall down into the 30 dollar range if it is a junker engine or very old run. (Cracked gears etc)
Hobby Shop may offer you a Layaway policy for pricey items. Try to put some money down and have the rest ready when the item comes in. Dont rely on Layaway too much.
You are already displaying a strong preference for your railroad. It is a fine railroad and you model it the way YOU think it should be modeled. Select only small LDE type sections that you know you WANT and keep an eye on oppertunities to take care of a few extras.
Extend into the new space AFTER you know what exactly you are going to do. For example I
As usual lots of great input from fellow modelers,I especially liked Loathers take on the cost; 100.00 a square ft. ,I’d never would of thought of that ! I best not do any figuring on my project. Getting back to the subject, I suggest easing into the project, as You do more research, You may change Your mind on what is preferred. Best of luck…
You would be giving a completely new meaning to the term “freelance” if you attempted the building of a railroad thru those imposing “eastern carolina mountains”.<Sorry! Couldn’t resist.>
I will ditto loather’s comments: your 12X17 is probably a managable portion while that additional 12X12 space could prove just a little bit too big a bite for your first modeling effort. These two rooms–the 12X17 and the 12X12–are ideal sizes for layouts and I would try to design a layout that would allow for easy expansion into the other area. The hobby press has published numerous articles on this very subject: a design that allows for future expansion. A smaller layout will give you experience in honing all of the skills necessary to a successful model railroad. I know a number of people–by a quirk I ran into one just a couple of months back–who bit off a health morsel of railroad and gagged their way right out of the hobby.
I am a freelancer; my railroad is–will be would be a more adequate description–set on the west slope of the Appalachians in West “by god” Virginia. Depending on whether or not I decide to knock out a wall and collect two rooms into one I will have between 300 and 400 square feet of layout space available which should render me somewhere between 200 and 250 square feet of actual layout surface. This is more than I have ever had available before. I am somewhat of a dreamer–my first wife always said I ran around perpetually with my head in a cloud–and over the years I have dreamt of completely impractical layout spaces; at least impractical from the standpoint of one man construction and one man operation. My new layout, when it gets built, will most likely be my last. I frequently borrow ideas from other layouts for incorporation into these fantasy layouts.
In coming up with a practical plan for your future layout you want to b
The cost mentioned earlier by someone per square foot is going to be up there. I think so far in my 12x7 space, I have approx around… 600 in track, 400 in DCC and counting as the final phases are added, thousands over the years in rolling stock and engines. Most of which are either sold off and the proceeds used to finance improvements or other needs for the house or train room. Im running about 100 or a bit more each month on train things. It has slowed a bit call it about 1500 per year. Keep in mind that the train stuff on budget is the very last thing ahead of everything else. The buildings were several hundred dollars and I guess the tools and associated stuff like clamps etc is another few hundred dollars and increasing. I feel that one good buy I got was a sears craftsman 4 peice tool set. Drill, battery, 5 inch saw, battery, work light, battery etc. $155 out the door I probably will sink about 200 more in special tools from (DARN YOU… Micro Mark) and others for offering very useful things to build train rooms with. I used to joke that scenery bottles like those from Woodland Scenics will cover a one foot by one foot area of ground or 3 feet of track in three shakes or 5 bucks per. Glue and other stuff extra. It’s not about the money. It’s about being able to do things and enjoy the experience and forget about real world job or other problems that might have put me into a hospital long ago. One thing you need to consider. Neatness. I did some foam work cutting sheets last night. By the time everything was cut, I had beads all over the floor. Wife saw that and didnt say anything but felt the chill. I got the vacumn cleaner, cleaned up every last bead and proceeded to finish the rest of the home in a few minutes time. The hug that I recieved was worth it. Nothing was said but the intent is clear. Good things come to those who keep neat train rooms if they have a spouse or family. Oh my cost per square footage is about 48 dollars so far based on 84 square feet and increasing at a
Don’t build more than you can maintain. Remember that track will move, electrical connections will fain, wheels will get dirty, the whole layout will gather dust – and if you put off housekeeping, you will grow tired of a railroad that does not run smoothly. I am retired, have lots of free time, and my 10x12 layout is about all I want to take care of by myself.
Appalachaingreenbelt, welcome to the site and the hobby. You have been given some good advices. I have been in the hobby for a little over 3 years and have made ever mistake there is to be made. Here are some of the ones that I truly regret.
1 If bench is against a wall, do not make it wider than 3 foot! Mine is 4 foot and is a pain in the caboose to work on.
2 Don’t use 2 X 4 lumber, there is no such thing as a straight 2 X 4. Good bench work is a big part of the puzzle and more than you may think. A level bench with no bumps in the wood working will help stop derailment problems before they happen and trains will pull more. In my case, my trains is in the garage, bench is 38 inch tall, so it should be level right? It’s not, turns out the garage floor had it’s on grade to drain water out, so my bench now all so has a unwanted grade.
3 Make sure you have the needed tools to cut, lay track, measure the gage of wheels and coupler height. It is a lot harder to pull a 25 car train than a 5 car train.
4 Stay away from old TYCO, Bachmann and Life Like (Life Like Proto stuff is great) you may see on E-Bay unless you like to fiddle with stuff to make it work. I bought a lot of the cheap stuff and caused a great amount of my early problems. But, for me in the long run it helped, I had to learn how to fix stuff and did enjoy it. Now when when my better stuff has a problem I can fix it. But, at one point it all most drove me out of the hobby.
5 Bigger the radius of the turns the better off you will be. I wont say you cannot run bigger engines on 18 inch turns like some will, I have ran some every big engines with no problems. But after a while they will start to look goofy to you like they did to me.
This not a hard hobby, but is sure does have a learning curve to it. That is why folk
quick question is it better to lay a piece of plywood across the hole bench work or just put it where track will be and the use another medium for the scenery. (I have seen both, some have a combination)
I have used plywood for support then added 2 inch foam insulation board on top. It is easy to carve to add some depth to the layout. All so can be used for hills that can be removed if there is a problem in say in a tunnel.
Cuda Ken
More or less its what ever works for you, right?