the Lionel set i had as a kid was the typical Christmas train set without any turnouts that i didn’t have much choice but to make into an oval. I typically pulled it out of the box in the winter months and didn’t have a permanent layout. (around junior high i built a small table top HO layout).
kids typically don’t have much money. They may be able to get a few turnouts, but may not have a permanent layout. They may just have a box of used stuff given as a gift.
knowing what you know now, if you had a box of sectional track and some manually operated turnouts, what kind of layout would you temporarily construct on a wooden bedroom floor if you had from 5 to 8 turnouts? Since it’s on the floor, it wouldn’t need to fit within a 4x8’ space and could be spread out.
what do you think would be the most interesting layout design for a kid with 5 turnouts? would it include an oval? what if you have 6, 7 and 8 turnouts? (assume a locomotive with front and back couplers).
since you aren’t really constrained by space (assume you have a big bedroom) would prefer a long lengthy layout, or would you prefer something with an oval? A few structures might help the imagination.
It would be easy to rearrange and try different things. It might be significantly different with the addition of a turnout. (with a little guidance, imagine how much you could learn).
Actually, whatever size you are talking about, I would seriously reconsider a layout on the floor. Too easy to step on things, kick the track, thus damaging it and then there is “stuff” from the floor getting into the gears of the loco.
Yes, many of us did have our Lionel on the floor, but I remember pulling stuff off the axles of the locos and cars. HO is more sensitive, the track joiners would soon loosen up and you would have electrical problems. HO track isn’t nearly as rugged as the old tube with pins of the Lionel era. You can try a few different track plans, but you will find that the rail joiners don’t take kindly to being pushed together and pulled apart often.
If you are not ready to do a layout with much scenery, I would still consider a 4’x8’ sheet of plywood that could be put on a table or even having it on the floor, then standing up when not in use to protect it. The kids could learn how to run trains and take care of them. If they keep their interest, they could start by painting grassy and dirt areas and making a hill or two, then add some buildings.
I would do an oval, kids often just like to watch the train go (just like some of us older folks). You could even do a double oval with a couple of crossovers. A double ended siding with a small yard off from it in the middle would give them a chance to switch a few cars around. A single siding off the main on the other side could serve an industry.
Ah, yes…I remember my Lionel train running around on the hard surface floor of my bedroom many years ago. One downside I remember was that due to the hard surface floor I had no way of anchoring the track. This severely limited the speed of the trains–if I went too fast, a large section of track would shift (an O27 earthquake?).
I would start with a basic oval (since kids generally like to see trains moving at all times). This actually would not have to be a true oval. For instance, it could be bean shaped or amoeba shaped or whatever but trains would still go 'round and 'round. With two turnouts (a left and a right) I would add a siding so that one train could be parked while another runs around the oval. With another pair of turnouts you could build a second siding half way around the oval so with care tow trains could be run at the same time with meets at the sidings. Or the second pair (and any number of additional turnouts) could be used for spur tracks with industries or a small yard.
I have found that young children most enjoy seeeing trains run. As they get older, some become interested in simulating operations, classifying cars in a yard and/or pulling and spotting cars at industries.
For a ‘track on the floor’ HO layout, I’d prefer one of the sectional track on roadbed products.
(Quick! Somebody get the smelling salts for Styx!)
The reasoning is fairly simple. The quarter inch of fake ballast would raise the track and wheels above most of the microjunk on the floor. Also, the inter-section joints are a lot more secure than push-together rail joiners.
As for a layout, I’d take a look at the industrial district north of Craig Road and east of I-15 in North Las Vegas, NV. It would be simple to add one turnout and graft on a loop to the north above the western 1/2 of the long triple track spine. Industries could be represented by boxes labeled with Post-it signage.
Even for a temporary layout on the floor, it’s not hard to find prototype inspiration.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on permanent steel benchwork)
The kid in me would like 2 ovals running parallel to each other. The larger the better. This allows 2 trains to “race” or run opposite to each other. 4 switches are needed for the 2 crossovers. Add 2 more switches for a passing siding to park a 3rd train or store cars on.
The engineer in me would like the track attached to thin narrow sections of plywood. This will keep the track together and can be used to route and attach the track wiring to. Instead of putting the track in a box when they loose interest, the sections can be hung or stood up.
I second the idea of using the track with the roadbed attached It will make for a much more secure layout. The old Lionel tube track for example has given way to fastrack which I use around the Christmas tree. In HO I would Kato Unitrack which I think is the best of the bunch. Bachmann EZ track will also work but plan on tweeking the turnouts with a file.
I wasn’t so concerned about the practicalities of building a floor layout. I was really hoping to hear what kind of track design might be built with a lot of track and just a few turnouts, by a person with experience and a lot of space with few restrictions.
Imagine if you didn’t have to worry about minimum curve radii, have plenty of room for long sidings, long spurs and don’t have to worry about aisles because you can just walk over the track to get from one end of the layout to another.
I’m sure most of us don’t want to crawl around on the floor to connect track and uncouple cars. But what might you do with a box of HO tack, a few turnouts, freight cars, a couple engines and DCC, that comes out once a year and is set up on a floor for a few months in the winter.
I was expecting to hear about a long pt-to-pt layout with several sidings and frequent stops to coupling and un-coupling cars, instead of watching a train go round and round.
I have this box of track and some turnouts and engine,cars,etc,what kind of plan would you suggest for a floor layout?? How could anyone realistically advise you about something like that without you providing more infomation??Is ,it sectional track,the radius of said track,type of turnouts,etc…
Even though you indicated you aren’t too interested in round and round, here’s one suggestion using that as a basis. Have your loop as large as you can with one large (several tracks) yard with through and stub ended tracks… Have it so trains can come in or leave in either direction. You could set some sort of engine servicing there too. Along your main have a couple of passing sidings and a town or two with one or more customers to service at each. By doing this you can make up and break up trains in the yard and have trains moving in both directions picking up and delivering cars to customers.
Another suggestion would be point to point with a yard at each end. Have the stub ends of each yard in the same corner of the room, with some sort of divider to separate them visually. The main line could be the same as above With this you would make up trains at each end, pick up and drop off cars at the sidings and deliver cars to the other yard. If you are using steam, you might want a turning facility at each end, though there were plenty of short lines that ran steam in reverse. Diesels can be turned or not, your call.
In either example the size of the yard and number of sidings would be determined by the total number of turnouts you have.
If you want to use more of the center of the room a long spur could be a branch line servicing a lumbering operation, quarry or other large industry or town with industries.
One large layout I have visited has a similar plan as the second one, but in the corner where the two yards meet has one track go behind buildings to disappear and reappear from behind another building in the other yard. This is in case he wants to have a continuously running train to watch. To disguise the disappearing trains you can use buildings, hills, trees, tunnels or overpasses to create the