Hello all,
Not sure if this has been covered before, but I’m wondering what the average layout size it. What kind of room are you all taking up to do your layout. I’m looking into putting my layout together and it seems like it is going to take a lot of space! I’m trying to work out something with three lines. One line is going to be O27 for my older engins (becuase I have a lot of O27 track that I do not want to waste) and the other lines will be O54. Thanks for you input!
Welcome willy1094,[#welcome]
I have been using an extra bedroom for my layout. Have lived in two or three bedroom houses and have managed to get an extra bedroom anything from 12ft by 16ft to 9ft by 18ft(backporch one time). 027 will work great for older stuff but if you have some longer cars 027 switches may interfere with them. One thing that I have done with 027 is to use track clips underneath to make better connection, Lionel brand or Ives(old company now out of business).
Currently I have an 8ft by 11ft half inch plywood with an upper level 6ft by 4ft with one track overhanging supported by 1 inch by 1 inch wood.
Lee F.
I’m on a modular benchwork table in a partially finished attic room (no it’s not ideal, but I have it!). The layout is 6 X 8. A bent back dog-bone design covering two layers with 4 sidings (eventually to be 5).
Personally, I have two spare bedrooms, one is very large about 18 x 25. In that room, I am building a layout 12 x 18. But if you read some of the books and look through some of the magazines, you can really be creative and build quite a layout in a limited space. They had one guy in Brooklyn, NY who had a floor to ceiling layout that had better than 5 levels of track, mostly along one wall with some reversing loops. I would suggest looking through these layout books and developing your own ideas. You will find talent you didn’t know you had.
Best of luck,
Dennis
Thanks for all the posts!!! I have two rooms I can choose from. One is a little larger than the other but both seem pretty small. I never really thought about making layer I guess. It will be a while before I get the $ to get a good layout going and I can’t wait. I tell you what though. So far this site is a wonderland of know how and insight!!! I thought I knew a little about lionel. Turns out I’m totally lost 
At least now I don’t feel so tied up having limited space!
Robert
Most of the guys in this hobby have some what limited space for a layout. Some of the layouts shown in CTT magazine are of people who have lots of money, I would rather see some of the smaller layouts.
Lee F.
I have a 6x10 table with an outer loop of 42" radius track and an inner “pretzel” of 027. I can get a continuous run of nearly 2" for one lap, yet also store 22 cars and several locomotives on sidings. It’s bigger on track than it is on scenery, but it’s not too cramped.
My layout is about 4 x 12. It’s built on either side of a wall in my basement. After years of trying to figure out where I could squeeze in a layout, I finally secured this space. The following photo shows the horeshoe curve, my office to the left and main room in basement to the right.
The train returns to my office through the wall hidden by the tunnel at the end of this run. The track is on the countertop of a wall of cabinets.
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With accessories and a backdrop and lots of lights it becomes a layout.
If space is a concern, (and when isnt it?), shelf type layouts use less space and ussually give you longer runs. Shelf layouts also are somewhat easier to construct as the benchwork necessary is more smple, often just shelf brackets. Take some time to really think through what you want, and can afford, before you plunge in to construction. Good-luck. Lots of good advice and help on this forum when you need it.
Willy1094, I have always had small layouts and have learned to make the most of small spaces by being very creative: cutting, kitbashing and chopping down accessories, cutting down the footprint size of the 027 turnout, etc. My current layout (last one having water damage during heavy rains back in June) is built entirely on blue styrofoam insultation board with a light pine frame, designed to have add-on sections easily removed and the whole thing is light enough for me to move alone.
Don’t be fooled by the train mags or the train companies or what you read on the forums. As Phillyreading said, the vast majority of participants in this hobby are tradtional operators with small to mid-size layouts. Even the train company execs know this. The command control and scale segements of this hobby are a drop in the bucket as compared to all us others. Command control users are still estimated to only 25% of the hobby… not great after more than a decade.
Just work with the space you have and have fun. And even looking at the articles on larger layouts in the train mags can give you ideas for your layout. Check out this website for more ideas:
Mine is “L” shaped, 12’ long on each leg, and each leg is 5’ wide. I’m using what all my neighbors in our condo complex describe as their “storage” area. It was completely unfinished and unheated when we moved in, but now has wall to wall, track-lighting, and baseboard heat. Jon
I have a two room layout, old layout is 6’-8" X 10’. Added a shelf layout 12" X 12’ went through the wall to the unfinished basement and added a 5’ tappering to 4’ X 13’ layout. Now have about an 85’ run on the main line.
Paul, I see your picture is on page 75 of the December CTT. [:D] BTW, that is a neat idea for a layout.
[;)][;)][;)][;)]
John,
Yes I noticed that. I find it offensive that a fallen comrade would be found to be humorous. I am now consulting my lawyer to see if we have a case against CTT and Arttista.[;)]
Thanks for the compliment on the layout.
Paul : I didn’t know that was your layout !! Congratulations & hope that guy that fell off the ladder is ok !! Boy, nice layout you have !! [:D][:D]
Thanks, John
I’m using a raised rock-filled crawlspace that is about 11 ft by 29 ft. and was otherwise used for storage in my unfinished basement. It’s now been sealed for radon gas, so I have 7 4x8 foam boards on top of the seal and indoor-outdoor carpet atop that. All 027 track. Before that I had a simple train set oval on a 3 by 5 ft. table. So you can see space is relative. Unlike what you might read in some of the other gauge modeling magazines, O gauge works well in all sorts of settings.
Hey John,
My layout is a few posts up. I hope you dont think the one in CTT is mine. By the way did you bring a train home from work yesterday?
Paul : yes, I thought that was your layout on page 75 !! Now I get it !! [:D][:D]
Oh, no, didn’t bring a train home yesterday, just repaired a couple freight cars is all !! There’s a pretty nice coboose at work I wouldn’t mind having, though !!
Thanks, John
willy, a layout I’m currently working on for someone is in a 12’ X 16’ spare bedroom. The benchwork is around the walls, with a diagonal at the door corner with a liftout bridge. The layout is approx. 2’ wide from the wall, maybe 3’ at the widest point. He used Fastrack and has 2 main lines with a couple of sidings. My previous layout was L-shaped about 9’ & 7’ on the long sides with 9’ being 5’ wide and on the base side 4’. It provided many fun hours until I had the space for my current 15’ X 26’ layout.
My layout is about 6’ x 17’, a folded dogbone with its ends stacked almost on top of one another. Inside the upper loop is a siding, and spur, and the lower loop of another dogbone, this one not folded, of On30 track which rises high above the middle bend of the lower dogbone. The On30 will have a spur, a mine complex, and a small servicing facility. A station sits between the O and the On30 on the level they share.
My layout is in a finished basement that has a guest room in it. The train table is roughly 6’ x 12’ (four hollow core doors right now). My layout is about 6 x 9 and runs on Lionel O-31 tubular track. I have a little room left to expand the layout.
Chris
Man! Now I can’t wait to get started. Thank you all for sharing and for the pointers. Now I just need to be directed toward a glossary for layout terms Like dogback etc. Man I’m pumped!