Hello everyone!
It looks like the time has come for me to make my 5x9 ho scale layout into a larger layout. I’m not really sure how I want to go about this. Here is a link to what my layout looks like right now (there have been a couple of minor changes on the very inner track, but it’s the same basic idea).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UNIGLS2H-4
I’d like to be able to have a 3rd mainline running that uses 28" curves or larger and maybe have the 3rd mainline do more than just a basic oval like the 2 mainlines do now. I also would like for all 3 of the mainlines to be able to connect to each other via crossovers.
Right now the layout is just sitting on top of some old tables that my grandfather made back in the 1940s. I have a pingpong table that is no longer being used that I could put my board on top of if I really need to.
My thoughts right now are to take the main 4x8 sheet of plywood that I’m using and buy a second one to lay beside it and place both of them on the pingpong table in the garage. Does anyone else have a good suggestion for this project? Please let me know. I’m really eager to get this to the next step and then start putting down the scenery. Thanks!!!
[:-^]
Hi R.A.N.,
My only suggestion to you would be to use your whole room. Get rid of the table idea…
It looks like a nice space , but if you took the layout to the walls in no wider than 30" max and leave the center of the room and layout open, you would have a much larger main line, much easier to landscape.
Put your control panel in the center and use a duck under or a drop down bridge where you come into your room. In the long run you would be much happier, I believe as it gives you far greater options for changing your scenery because of the distance run, putting two towns on it now makes more sense as the run distance between them is greater.
Yes, this is my idea and you can do as you please. I am speaking from years of experience and frustrations that I’ve run into and with my layout I am now well pleased with this configuration and would never go back to the center of the room other than for a peninsula coming in from the wall for a small warehouse district or a wharf. I came into the center on mine for a helix to get down to the third level.
What is the make of your power supply and controller?
Have fun, it’s a great hobby, I’m still in it after 60 + years.[sigh]
Johnboy out…
Gidday, While I’d have to agree with Johnboy, if I was to add another 4 x 8 sheet, I’d be building frame work from dressed 4 x 1 inch timber under both sheets.
Just my two bobs worth, Have Fun, [:D]
Cheers, the Bear.
And when you are able to build a frame I would never build a 8x8 table.
Don’t fear the saw, the 8x8 will have severe reach-in problems. So why not use the ply and the saw to create a 14x8 with a central operating pit.
Paul
I can’t/don’t watch videos for information, so I don’t know what your current plan is, but if you are set on this “two board” concept then Atlas actually has a plan for expanding a simple 4x6 into a “Real” railroad. That would be their plan #204 which ends up being ATL-10016 on their web site. http://www.atlasrr.com/Code100web/pages/10016.htm. The expansion is described in the book Custom Line Layouts for HO Scale Railroads.
The concept is to open the outside track into a lazy figure-8 on the second board. With three passing tracks the outside “loop” can handle three trains adding much more operating interest rather than simply adding a third loop.
Its possible the concept could be applied to the “outside” loop of your existing plan.
Take a tape measure and measure your arm from arm pit to finger tip. THAT IS HOW WIDE TO MAKE YOUR TABLE! A 4x8 is ok if you can stand on either side of it, and 8x8 is not, or at least it is the same as a 2’ wide table around the edge of the 8x8 and nothing in the middle.
If you want to use 2 4x8s put them end to end.
Ping pong tables are not a good idea for what you want. They will be far too unstable. Yes the LION did build a layout on two ping pong tables, and that table 5’ wide by 18’ long, But tables of LION wer custom made in school shops, very heavy, very stable. But no the LION cannot reach the middle. In the middle, at the moment is a pile of junk. It will be cleared out and a static display of New York Penn Station will be UNDER the rest of the tracks (as per prototype), But for that I’ll just make the elements of the station on several foam strips and just slide them into place.
And if you build around the edges you can make several levels.
Anyway, here is layout of LION:
On the RIGHT of the above photo is an open fram table that was 3’ wide x 28 feet long, now it is 6’ wideand 14 feet long, but as you can see, there is nothing in the middle. To the left of that is the pair of ping pong tables, end to end and raised much higher. Again the middle is vacant. Then all around the room is the three level “Mane Lion”
ROAR
I had a 5’ x 10’ I expanded by placing it as a peninsula with a 16" shelf running off one narrow side around the room and a liftout at the doorway. This allows me a large area in the center to model a city with surrounding scenery and lots of countryside and mountains around the perimeter of the room. Your room doesn’t look large enough for this but in the garage it might just work. I left a minimum of 3’ for aisle so it requires a 14’ x 14’ area.
Your layout is 5 by 9, but with the isles on three sides it is more like 7 by 13. I would suggest making a 7 by 13 “U” shaped layout with all the access from the center. The shelves would be about 2 feet to 2.5 feet wide with the exception of the very ends of the U, where it would widen to about 4 feet to accommodate the turnback curves.
Bachmann sectional track works OK, but I personally have had problems with pickup, no matter how often I clean my track. For more reliable and more realistic operations, I would suggest switching to flextrack for your next layout. Sectional track is easy to put together, but it has its limits in respect to track plans.
Building benchwork for the layout will make a sturdier and more stable layout.
S&S
Ditto on the plywood sheets connecting on the ends, you really don’t want to live with an 8x8 I started with a 4x8 and got bored right away, now I’m doing a collection of 2’x8’ sections to for a rectangle with either a duck under or small lift out… Matthew
I have to agree with some of the other posters here about ditching the ping pong table. you’re best off building bench work that can be custom fit to any size and dimensions you desire. What’s more, it is much more stable. For the most part, the lumber is inexpensive and some of the techniques for building it do not require a professional carpenter (I can attest, I am not one).
For my benchwork, I consulted Lyn Wescott’s book (Kalmbach Publications) “How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork”. I found this book very instructional and easy to follow and I highly recommend it. It will also give you some ideas on how you might design your layout as well, from a basic conceptual strandpoint.