i am attempting to try and model sandpatch grade in a very modest space of 15 x 13 feet. i am struggling with the track plan trying to get all the key features i can in like sand patch summit hyndman falls cut and so on. does anyone think this space is too small or should i press on
i am kind of stuck at the moment. the prob with my space is that it is kind of l shaped as well as the fact i cannot have a double decked layout as it has to be movable… any suggestion would be greatly appreciated
Hi Dan, You did not specify whether this is to be an N scale , HO scale, or O scale model railroad layout. DC or DCC ? Make a drawing of the room, with door and window placement. 13’x15’ should allow for peninsulas and,perhaps, a C or G shape, or (around the room, with a tilt ot lift out entrance.) What is the "era, theme, “druther features”, that you desire. There are plenty books on possible layout designs. Do you need help in Posting a diagram or photo ? Bob Hahn The hand drawn diagram is of my 24’x24’ HO DCC layout today. I started out with the 13’x15’ upper left corner, as my original layout, that in 10 years, expanded to it’s present size. 13’x15’ is not small, if you design it right. !
i have looked at the track plan form the database for the multi level sandpatch layout but because my layout needs to be movable i have kind of ruled out multi deck. i model ho scale in the early 80s. the area i have as i said is 15 feet long but there is a sliding door at one end and access to it restricts me to 6 feet wide at that end tapering to 13 feet at the other end. there is no window restrictions. i am not very good with track plans so any help would be fantastic.
What are you planning to do with the trains on your layout? How long trains will you run? How many?
Have you planned what essentially is a display layout, where the same (or a few) trains will run around and around a loop, past one or more scenes from Sand Patch, or have you planned something else ?
essentially what i am looking for is what is in the double deck plan … basically from hyndman to sandpatch with the key scenes. 15 car trains the ability to use helpers… i would use the double deck plan but my need for transportability kind of stops me. unless someone know how to make a double decked layout movable.
Let’s first concentrate on what you want to be able to do with your trains.
You want to be able to run 15 car 1980s trains in H0 scale. Trains - plural.
How long will your trains be - what are you thinking about engines - two or three units on front ? What kind of cars are we talking about here - 60’ cars or 89’ foot cars or what ?
A 60 foot car is about 8" long in H0 scale, making 15 of them about 10 feet long - before you add the engines up front and helpers at the rear end. That’s a couple of feet extra. An 89 foot car is just a tad over a foot long in H0 scale, making 15 of them a little longer than 15 feet.
How many trains do you expect to run in a session - are you essentially going to let one train loop in one direction on one track and another train loop in the other direction on the other track ?
Or do you want to e.g. have a session consist of say three eastbound and three westbound trains or some such thing ? Will these trains come from and go to “somewhere else” ? Ie, have you given any thought to how much space you want to dedicate to staging - to hold the trains that are not running at any given time.
First decision you should make is whether it makes sense to attempt to cram in what took two levels to do on that layout in Model Railroader in a smaller room, using only one level.
I would very seriously consider going N scale if you want to run 15 car modern trains in your room on one level, in a configuration that is fairly transportable.
15 60-foot cars take about 5 1/2 feet in N scale, 15 90-foo
