Well, I’m planning on building a new, larger layout and I have 3 options at the moment:
Model certain scenes from the movie Unstoppable; engine yard where 1206 started, industry where 1206 picked up 20 cars, Fuller Yard, Stanton elevated curve, freelanced industrial area where 777 was headed. Freelanced based on movie scenes.
Milwaukee area: Milwaukee airport to Milwaukee downtown station, downtown CP yard, Jones Island, UP Butler Yard, small portion of WSOR. Mostly prototypical, some freelancing.
Model Railroader’s "Glenwood & Sierra RR.
Any and all comments and suggestions are appreciated.
I’d be interested in working out which scale you want to do first - N and O are pretty far apart, kinda like saying your either going to buy a Cooper Mini or an 18-wheel semi !! If you want to do a layout with lots of mainline running, lots of scenery etc., then N is your best bet. If you’re going more for a shortline or branchline layout, where detail is the main thing, then of course O is the best bet.
Or split the difference and go HO. Small enough to have a decent layout in a garage or room and big enough that you can see the detail and work on more easily.
Yeah, why not compromise and build an HO scale layout where so much more product is available to you including structures, locos, rolling stock, and scenery.
What do you mean by “larger layout” ? How much space do you have and how is it configured?
Your subject line says “N or O scale layout”. Your text does not discuss that aspect.
The N scale Glenwood & Sierra, as shown in MR, seems like it would have reach issues for the yard and staging in the room it is shown in - benchwork seems rather deep for the main part along the upper wall, and the aisle seems a bit narrow to muck much around with one of those topside creeper contraptions to reach things.
Don’t drink the HO Kool Aid. Try the Unstoppable theme in N Scale. It could be pretty fun. O Scale would be good for the shortline, since you wouldn’t need as much equipment, and can spend more time detailing.
In addition to N or O scale, you now have suggestions to go HO or S scale. That leaves N or G scale yet to be recommended.
Since you are trying to model real areas, the best way to recreate the look and feel of the prototype is to go HO scale. The amount and variety of structures available to you in HO scale along with the greater selection of locos and rolling stock makes HO scale a logical choice.
Forget O scale. That third rail will look more like an urban mass transit system than a real railroad.
Forget S scale. There is too little to choose from in the way of structures and locos and rolling stock.
Forget N scale. It is too small and too finicky to operate.
Believe it or not - there is more to O scale than just Hi-Rail, but still the choice is somewhat limited, as with S scale.
N scale is a viable option - it is not “too small and finicky” to operate. Take a look at David Popp´s wonderful layout. There is only one trick that should be considered - bring the layout as high up as possible!
I was into N scale ever since I was a kid. A few years ago I switched to O scale and I don’t regret a thing. I have a small back bedroom to use so I don’t have a large system.
Anyway, I’m NOT going into HO, S, G, Z, TT, T, TY, etc. regardless of what anyone says, as I am on a budget. And a have barely any N scale: 3 engines, 40 cars, and a few pieces of flex-track. I have like 4x that in O. Also, I have very rare O scale items, that I would like to run.
I could probably get around 16’x10’. However, I would the layout to have walk-ins and all.
If you actually read the post, you would notice that I didn’t mention a thing about choosing scale. It was about LAYOUT PLANNING. Hence the category I put it in. Gotta read stuff to get somewhere in life… [N]
au contraire, I did read the post. It is titled N or O scale layout and asks for any and all comments and suggestions. That sure implies to me that you are trying to decide between N scale and O scale.
Anyhow, lighten up, I am just pulling your chain. [Y]
Okay, so you have 10’ x 16’ of space (presumably wall to wall, rather than in the middle of a floor, with another 3 feet of aisles all around that area), want O scale (as opposed to just O gauge), and you are seriously considering a walk-in design (Glenwood and Sierra, from MR Oct 2010) that seemingly was somewhat cramped and had reach issues in 7’6" by 13’ in N scale?
The Glenwood and Sierra had about 20-24 parallel track at the most - with center-to-center track distances of 1.25", that could be shoehorned into 30" of depth (or a bit more, since that design has a little space between groups of tracks) - let’s say about 36" of depth, maybe. Which is already a pretty deep shelf to reach across, with no room for a prairie dog hole style access towards the rear.
A decent turnaround curve in N scale - say 13" radius or 15" radius, can be done in about 30-32" of depth.
If what you want is 0 scale, and your room is 10 feet deep, and you want continuous run with a walk-in-design (i.e. no duck under, swing gate, lift-out or lift-up), then you might have a problem - the blobs with the turn back loops will have to be pretty big.
What kind of center-to-center distances between adjacent tracks do you need for O scale? What kind of curve radii are sensible for 0 scale trains of the type you want to run - I would expect
a design starts with the scale and the space among other topics. I do not like words like: " i could probably get around 16 x 10. Put a drawing of your room on here, with all obstacles clearly indicated and all dimensions written down. Not words, but a drawing.
Maybe just as important as dreaming are skills, time and money. Looking at the Glenwood & Sierra the 50 switches with switch motors alone will cost you a fortune. Layouts like that will cost you a decade to build, if you have the skills.
I know you are a very young teenager, staying in your parents home, probably not very experienced in model building. If money is not a big issue starting all over in HO would not be a bad choice. In N scale you will have to be careful not to chose a to complicated layout; in O-scale a donut would be a good choice. 16 x 10 is about 8 x 5 in HO; with the center open for an operating pit a nice quite build-able layout is possible.
A footprint like this is possible, whatever scale you will be using. The original design in HO is by Andy Sperandeo, executive editor of MR magazine. In O scale:
In N-scale some thing like the next one is possible. It is a HO design, so it has to be redone.
One more issue, what kind of trains do you like to run? Modern 89 feet long auto-racks and passenger coaches? Remember some rules of thumb. The minimum radius should be 3 times the length of your longest car, especially in N, and the prototype length divided by 10 is a good indication for the appropriate switch-number. A 60 ft car in O is 16" long and needs a 3 x 16 = 48" radius (a bit less is possible too, at least 2,5 times the car-length) and #6 switches. In N-scale the minimum radius woul
Just a few more thoughts towards O scale. Although you maybe able to fit in a satisfying amount of trackage in the space you quoted, you have to remember that structures require roughly four times the footprint of a HO scale building or 16 times that of N scale. O scale buildings are huge and you may have to make do with backdrop buildings and relief structures if you want to go down that path.
Wow! Paul, I’m impressed! I really like the O scale design. Can you throw an Atlas 24" turntable in there somewhere? Also, double main possible? Yes, I am completely modern, autoracks and all. Maybe a DDA40X soon… so 72" diameter (3-rail) is definitely in order. The longest car I plan to run is 20", longest loco is 35" (Big Boy). The BB can negotiate 72", but as a mnimum. 72" is about as large as I want to go. I’d like to have at least 10 stalls on the TT, and 3 staging yards, 2-3 industries, and 2-3 passenger tracks (that center inlet). Most of this you already accomplished. As I do have internet problems, this is being typed on my iPod. Lol. Thanks for the happy Paul. And happy National Train Day!
