I’m nearing the end of some trackplanning work based on footprint designs supplied by Byron Henderson of Layout Vision. Given my druthers and constraints, he came with several appealing ideas utilizing my space very well. I have a fairly narrow room, so one of the limitations is aisle space if I try to cram too much benchwork in. I know that a 2-foot minimum is sort of generic standard, but I’ve been cautioned by Byron and others that 24" is in actuality too narrow - especially if it’s anything more than a a “squeeze point”. One caveat was along the lines of their suitability only for “dwarfs & gnomes” … Although my plan is for a single-operator layout; I don’t want to hem myself (and others) in. I’m looking for feedback from those who have some experience with 24-inch aisles. Are you comfortable with them or would you do it differently the next time?
I am a fairly tall and big guy and although I can (still) get by with an aisle width of 24" inches, I feel uncomfortable being “trapped” in there. If your space allows for a width of, say, 30", I´d say go for it - you will feel much better!
I’m an average-sized man and I had 24" isles around my last layout. They worked fine for me for walking around and operating the trains. They became narrow when I wanted to get a shop vac around the layout or do some more complex building on the layout. However, it was easy to get up on top of the layout (and back down again) to crawl around because the walls were close enough to let me brace a hand against them. All said, would I design 24" isle spaces again? No, if I could help it. They were really a PITA when there were multiple people in the room - as someone else just mentioned.
-Timboy
In the end, like so many other things in model railraoding, 2ft aisles are a personal decision.
In my case, living with a 2ft aisle would allow me to do without a duckunder or liftout section - another evil in my book. Since the bottom of the benchwork is at 55" and most track is at about 60", a 2ft aisle has a different meaning at that height. A mockup would be absolutely critical to making the right decision for myself.
I started with stacking cardboard boxes stacked about 60" tall spaced 24" from the wall. Somewhat claustophobic, but tolerable and not unreasonable to somebody who has dealt with cramped spaces on sailboats for many years. The big issue was turning around in the aisle comfortably, with shoulders and elbows being the rub points. My expanded waist wasn’t as big a deal as I thought. What surprised me was that moving aisle out to just 28" was sufficient to get rid of elbow and shoulder strikes.
For the next step, I have built a portable test layout, put extra long legs on it to put the track up at 60". I am currently experimenting with the test layout at various distances from the wall. I needed to try where the legs were not extended to the edge of the layout, and my elbows were below the layout fascia. This is also a trial for the practicality of the 60" rail height - I need the space underneath for 2 computer work stations and my modeling workbench.
The final test will be to add a wall shelf at the same height as the test layout. The wall shelf vertical standards will be used for th
2 Layouts ago I had 2ft and 2 1/2 ft aisles each 12 1/2 feet long. The layout was 58" high. I found that the 2 ft aisle always felt cramped and closed in and I tended to walk slightly sides ways. The 2 1/2 ft aisle was better but still only marginally adequate.
The last layout was 50" high with 3 ft aisles. I really like that.
I have moved and my next layout will have 3 ft aisles except for 2 short (couple of feet) choke points at 2 ft wide. Doing this will require narrower benchwork in many places than I otherwise would like, but it’s a trade off I’m willing to make.
Good Luck
Paul
Two-foot aisles are suitable where there are no person “meets.” Thirty-inch aisles allow “intimate” squeeze-bys. Three feet is suitable for multiple operators, but it is nice to have four feet or so where multiple operators tend to congregate.
Nevertheless, John Armstrong’s opinion on the matter differed. Many/most of his plans had too-narrow aisles. Choose your own “poison.”
Mark
I can only underline Mark’s statement.
I have one spot with 1 foot aisle. In front of the yard there’s about 3 feet and it’s still narrow:
Wolfgang
One thing to avoid is having multiple yards or industrial switching areas along the same part of the aisle unless aisle width is very generous. The layout pictured below has three yards/switching areas at the same part of the aisle, and the three operators focused on only one of the areas takes up the whole aisle. A pity if someone wanted to operate the other areas.
Mark
I used to do space planning in the 1-1 world, never go below 30", never!!! To show what I mean measure your width with arms at side from the widest part sideways and you will find your personal min. width.
for a service isle 24 inches is fine. Otherwise I’d do minimum 30.
I was a 29 inch waisted guy who wore 30 inch waisted jeans with 30 inch inseams as well. {Try and find 30-30’s!!!} I also weighed a mere 135 lbs. I did so from high school on and would have thought a 2 foot aisle perfect for a “forever aisle”.
Until I hit the big 4-0 6 years ago. Then, either by age, or the fact that I had 4 major surgeries in 3 years and never “reduced the gas” they pump in your abdomin for surgery after teh last surgery, I began to gain. I also turned pre-diabetic and began to gain weight. I am now a person who strugggles to wear a 46 inch waist under my belly {where all my weight is} that are only 29 inseams {try to find a 46-29!!!} and now weigh in at 236 lbs. {I diet well, but can’t loose the weight and due to other health reasons can’t excersize very well to loose this darned weight}. I now guage a restaurant as to whether or I not I can comfortably sit in the booth between the backrest and table and not on its food! [swg]
So I would say you never can tell what the future will deal you and a 2 foot aisle may turn out to be too tight for you somewhere down the road to be a “forever aisle”. Also if you ever DO decide to invite others to either see or “play with your trains” you may regret the 2 foot aisles.
SO I would go minimum 30" and preferably 36" for any aisle I created!
Just my experience, yours may vary.
If your one person a 24" isle should be no problem just stay away from the donuts.
On this layout I go from 29" which will be reduced down to 24" shortly to provide adequate room for a lean in yard track with 2 other isle being 36" and the center portion of the layout the isle is 48". I am larger the the average bear and I have no trouble negotiating the 24" isle by myself but put another person in there and we have a problem. We’ve been working on the track plan for the large operations layout which is going to be built in an out building I have on the property and we all agreed that the minimum isle width will be no less the 48" when your running operations it’s not uncommon to have 4 or more people working in one area so more is better. Most have the need to gain as much space as possible so the isles are the first place to suffer of course. Even if you made the isle lets say 30’ is that extra 6" going to hamper your track plan any? Everyone is touting these days that bench work should be no deeper the 24" for a multitude of reasons how realistic that figure is can be debated till the cows come home but no one has a standard for what the minimum isle with should be wonder why?
Arm length vary less than waist …
Smile,
Stein
The thing to keep in mind when dealing with any aisle width is that the “stuff” that juts out into the aisle from the fascia is going to take up space too.
Gonna put throttle holders on the fascia? They’re going to take up space.
Gonna have push-buttons or turnout control rods sticking out? They’re going to take up space.
Gonna have car-cards or a clipboard for train orders & such? They’re going to take up space.
Gonna have cup-holders for beverages? They’re going to take up space.
You get the point. 
Excellent point.
The second part of these fascia mounted items is the visual sight lines needed to use or operate them. If your belly or chest is so close to these items that you have to crane your neck to even see them, it’s not going to be a very pleasant experience. If the labels on your turnout controls are vertical, then they need to be above neck level if you are going to be in close confines to your layout. Same for car cards and similar - the lower the layout, the futher away from the layout edge you need to be or the more horizontal the arrangement of these items need to be.
The third part of these fascia mounted items is the lighting arrangements for them. The more vertical the controls, the less effective spill-over layout lighting is going to be.
The bottom line is that space and lighting is needed in front of the layout for the controls - both handheld or mounted - and any other items needed to operate the layout. It’s not just the space needed for bodies. To me, this is important enough to warrant mockups to make sure the final effect is going to be what you wanted - just like setting minimum radius, track spacing, and maximum grades.
my thoughts, your choices
Doing a mockup is a must.
Mess up on the aisle width and it’s going to haunt for a long time to come.
I am a lone wolf, diabetic, well-aged (like a fine wine, the barrel for which I resemble…) On my home layout I’m getting along well with 600mm operating aisles - close enough to 24 inches for most purposes.
HOWEVER, that’s 600mm of clear space, not 600mm between fascias. The place where many designers drop the egg is that, having designed track right up to the fascia line of a 24 inch aisle, they forget about toggle switches, cup holders, car card boxes… On my layout all of those little impedimentia are OUTSIDE of that 600mm ‘person clearance.’
On the off-chance that there may be more than one person in the aisleways, the main aisle along the main yard is a clear 800mm, and the zone panels on opposite sides of the narrower aisles are separated so that operators won’t be playing bumpsy-daisy with each other.
I do have two choke points where the aisle pinches down to about 500mm. There is no reason why anyone would stop at either location, and in both cases the aisleway beyond widens out to ‘people passing’ clearance. One is only needed for scenery access, but may end up with a panel if I develop a second level for the slim-gauge logger. There’s plenty of clearance in the ‘blob’ of aisleway inside the 600mm radius turnback curve.
OTOH, if your layout will regularly host an operating staff, including train crews which move along with their trains, aisleways with a full meter of clearance might not be wide enough…
Chuck (Lone wolf modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
My aisles are 3’ or larger; as I have a multiple desk railroad and expect operations to have about 6 or so folks, not including the dispatcher.
There is 1 choke point where the aisle goes to about 26" or so, but it is only 1’ long, so it isn’t that big of a deal, really. This is also around the end of a large turn back type curve, so I’m seriously considering a “Bellina Drop” in that area.
24 inches works fine for my husband and I. We are able to get around just fine and model together without getting in eachother’s way. It’s a little cozy but we are working in a 13x13 room and wanted to save the pace for our layout. No complaints here. Biggest road block: our puppies that think of our benchwork as a very large dog house!
I’d gladly trade your on-the-ground puppies for my cats who think the layout is a giant playground.
Thanks to all for the feedback - it seems that what works for some may not work for all. I plan to try a 1:1 mock-up plus try to shave and inch here and there to gain wider aisles while preserving the trackplan.