I have recently accquired some very valued AC’d realestate in the form of my extra bedroom ( right now renovations supply leftover storage) I’m not sure how to post plans but I will be descriptive in fireservce directions. My room is 9.5 wide and 12.5 deep. The door is an inward swinging with right handed swing and angles in on the alpha-bravo corner at 45 degrees. on the bravo wall jabout 18 inches from the entry is a 24 inch outward into the room closet door. on the charlie wall there are no obstructions just one window. on the delta wall (12.5) there is one window. back to the alpha wall there are no obstructions except for the spece the door occupies when it is open.
Givens-
Era is steam to diesel transition
Road- Primary ATSF with provision for UP
Motive power-
2- like like E-8’s
2 kato PA/B
1 kato F-3
3 altas SD-7
Bach- 2-8-0
Bach- 4-8-2 light mtn
Bach 4-8-2 heavy mtn
Kato 2-8-2 mikado
Bach 4-8-4 northern
Proto Y3 2-8-8-2
Athearn 4-6-6-4
as for frieght my only wish is to have the articulatges pulling reefers i could care less about anything else. Im not picky.
For the layout room I still want to be able to put a twin sized bed or a “futon” type sofa to set up for guests leaning towards the latter. I have bee fighting between a shelf layout or the door type.
I want some form of continuous running with a double track main if possible
Where can i find a map to pic a location as well as some reference photos. As for the carpentry and modeling skills, I think I have that covered. I have been professionally doing wargames (gamesworkshop ans privateer press) stuff for a while. I decided to delv into the model RRing stuff. Hence the kato unitrack. not really into all of that track work but I think I can make it look decent. I live in FL and am not really familiar with the southwest so I do need help in that area. anybody that needs photos of swamp, gators and mosquitoes I can do that!
I’ll let Space Mouse do the layout work with you. Do have a couple of ideas though.
An inswinging door can be a pain, but it is also easily replaced with one of those accordian type doors. They don’t protrude in either direction and don’t use up a lot of door space either. On the closet, if it is not very active you can crawl under and pop up in the closet (hopefully). If you are in a rental that does not allow adding that type door, just take the one there off and hang a curtain.
Since you want continuous running, you can find several different types of “gates” by going to the search box to the right. “gates” “swing gates” “lift gates” “lift outs” “tip ups” will all get you some ideas. Duck unders are usually frowned on except in very high layouts. If you are still flexible you can make a “gate”, but duck under it, until mother nature tells you to lift it. Be sure to wire any removeable section to kill the power to the approach tracks on both sides to keep trains from doing a swan dive onto your floor.
As for light weight construction, I like 2"extruded foam (pink or blue insullation) board. If you are going to move a lot, I think I would put a thin piece of plywood under it for protection, along with a light frame. You should also be sure to use a facia to protect the edges. Modular layout ideas can also be found using the search function.
This is a photo of a “tip up” gate. The chains are to hold the gate in the open position after the 100-degree rotation. Note that tracks are on different levels. The free end is wedge-shaped to preserve alignment in the closed position. I wonder if/how the owner will disguise the hinges. Unlike a horizontally-swinging gate with a diagonal support, one can crawl under this one in the closed position.
The tip up gate I see at a show near here disguises the hinges with a piece of old, well worn carpet with scenic materials added. It looks like a very poorly kept field. (A piece of grass mat could also be used.) It is a traveling modular layout, the entire gate is on one section. It is wired to cut off power each side of the gate for some distance. A building or hollowed out piece of foam sceniced on top could cover the hinges also.
Im not to worried about the doors I think I am going to go with lift up bridges and I will lay the track on it and cut it. But I have been toying with a door layout as well. I guess my big thing is do I want around the walls or a freestanding layout. I am having planners block.
I believe you haven’t said so explicitly, but implicit in you thinking about doing a loop on a hollow core door is the choice of scale - we are talking N scale here, aren’t we?
Main design challenge - the 9.5 x 12.5 foot room you can have your layout in also needs being available as a guest bedroom.Okay.
Have you considered doing relatively long and narrow shelf or table along two or two and a half walls (with turnback loops at the ends)? Turnback loops are feasible on 30-32" deep shelves/tables in N scale.