Hi All,
I would value some input on my track plan for a door layout in N-Scale, I have adapted the Atlas No. 6 layout a bit.
Kind Regards,
Justin
Justin,
what to say about this layout? It is a typical beginner´s layout, as suggested by a manufacturer. It´s a toy layout, which does not mean it is bad per se. If you are just starting, this could be a good way to enter the hobby. I am afraid you will outgrow this layout pretty soon.
There are other nice layouts which could fit into the space you have available. Here is a plan I have adapted from a HO scale 4 by 8 layout published in MR some time ago:
It´ll be way more challenging to build a layout like this, but it´ll be at least twice as rewarding!
If you´d like to go for something simpler, this may also fit your bill:
Or how about an adaption of MR´s famous Beer Line project layout:
hi Justin,
“better” designs for your space are done by Byron Henderson. Not better then Ulrich proposals, better then most done by Atlas.
I like this one a lot: http://www.layoutvision.com/id48.html
Paul
Hollow Core Door layouts fall into two basic catagories:
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Up against a wall length-wise (front-only access)
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Island (walk around) or peninsula (short end against wall)
When it’s #1 and you have access and a viewing position only from the front, you need to design it so you can reach the back (no mountains in front) yet also compose the scene to disguise the “toy train” appearance that the oval and having all the track visible at once creates.
If you have the space for #2, then using a scenic divider can make your layout appear much bigger with less track, since the train “disappears” to another scene / distant location every time it goes to the other side. With this set up, each side can act as staging for the other.
David K. Smith as a few HCD-size layout designs on his site, and Trainboard and Nscale.Net both have HCD-specific layout design groups.
So where will your layout be, and what kind of scenes do you want?
Welcome to the forums.
I agree with the other posters, there are better plans. This one has a lot of track and turnouts, but what does it do?
Think about what era and the location (part of the country, city or rural, mountains or plains) you would like to model. What do you want to do with your layout, railfan (watch trains run), switching or a little of both? If you don’t have a preference, that’s OK, but some folks can give better advice if you tell them what you’d like to model. None of your choices will be wrong, they are what you want, just easier for others to help if they know your preferences. Some folks have nearly bare layouts and just want to run trains, others have wonderful scenery and buildings they have built and run their trains a little through the world they have created. Most fall somewhere in between, blending some operations and scenery into something they enjoy.
I have a small 4x6 layout in HO. By using a scenic divider, mentioned above, my trains go somewhere, out of sight. Since I have a passing siding on each side of the divider, I can run two trains and one can disappear then the other appear (same or different direction). Makes it kind of neat when you have an audience to have them looking one place and the train comes from another. Currently the “front” is scenicked, the “back” is not, but I think I will eventually do the scenery there. I have only 6 turnouts, but the layout can be fun to run, which is what the hobby is all about.
I am in the planning stages of a N scale layout on a door or two sections of door. I have seen several rather simple display layouts with nice scenery on one side and the other side a bare plywood surface staging area. That is good for a display layout, so you can change the trains that the audience is watching. You can take the same basic design, build a yard for switching on one side and have the other a more rural setting with just
Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated.
I was wanting to do a rural layout with a small historic “tourist” town, farm and a few industries.
I am in the middle, wanting to operate a bit and have some interesting scenery
I will certainly look at a few other layouts before committing to one.
Not a bad idea - rushing in never pays! I´d recommend to do a little reading, collecting as much info as you can swallow, before going on a shopping spree.
Marty McGuirk´s book “N Scale Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby” is a good resource - you´ll find it here
Enjoy!