I’m working in HO scale, have a 6’x13’(+/-) space available to use. Following is my givens:
HO scale
Southern Railway, 1957 era
Continuous running required (for benefit of “Jr. Engineer”)
Cars will be 40’ max. length, locos are 4 axle diesels and short steamers
Minimum radius 22" if possible, 18" if necessary
Space has 3 finished walls, no doors or windows, one 13’ side is open (room is 13’x25’)
NO DUCKUNDERS! However, removable tracks of some kind would be OK.
I was thinking along the lines of maybe a folded dogbone, but the loops at either end would require a 4’ wide table (butted against the walls), meaning if (when) the trains derail at the back of the table, I would have a difficult time reaching them. Not to mention laying track, doing scenery, maintenance, etc. I’d rather avoid having such a long reach. My other thought was having a twice around loop, with a lift out/drop down bridge section to enter the center of the layout. I would raise one loop to cross over the other instead of using a crossing, but I’m at a loss on scenicking it… for now. I’m open to other options.
Here’s some of my ideas, what else did I miss thinking of?
To get max ops and scenery, I would go 30" along both ends and the wall opposite the door. The door wall I would go 12" and have a 6" lift-out in front of the door.
Is my favorite configuration. Im not too certain how to equip that particular track with runarounds, yard and sidings for some industry.
Off the top of my head you can probably just use a little bit of a yard on one side (Top of plan) and maybe a bit of industry two or three spurs in a town to the bottom. The overpass on the left side will be a scenic area. The right side? I dont know that depends on your results.
Another option will be to Helix one corner with a turn or two or three to reach a second level that is of some height for a branch line to a mine or something. Nothing too complicated.
I think of East Broad Top style of operation. Take a Mikado or Geep from the engine house, assemble some empty coal cars and take it to the mine. Swap for loads and bring back to yard. Then in the afternoon build a 10 car train local to the town and switch those industries and return in the evening.
Or just put Thomas and let him run round and round. Perhaps as Daddy works around Thomas using DCC. That jump throttle might come in handy.
The yard? Well you can create a 4 track yard about 5 feet long and store approx 20 cars with a arrival and departure long enough for a 10 car train plus engine. The town can have a siding capable of holding one passenger train or a local freight’s work keeping the mainline clear.
You can sneak a track off behind hills and trees for a length and call that interchange with the rest of the world. There you can have a train come in, arrive at the yard and return… or… have your mine turn enter and get the loads without having to actually model a mine.
I favor simplicity with a purpose without making Abe scream on the dollar from trying to make one track be everything.
twcenterprises, my bench is much like the first plan you posted. Little bigger but same idea. One thing I did is I added a second line. A & B lines pretty much follows the same route. B line has a passing section with factorys and loading docks in the center. A line all so has a passing section and is the main freight line.
My bench is U shapped but a little deep at 4’. It is 19’ x 13’ x 8’.
I think you may regret a duckunder. Have a blob on each end with staging under the layout. You could have two fair sized switching areas or one plus a yard. Your little engineer could run the main while you are the Yard Master.
[quote user=“Safety Valve”]
Your plan known as Trial5
Is my favorite configuration. Im not too certain how to equip that particular track with runarounds, yard and sidings for some industry.
Off the top of my head you can probably just use a little bit of a yard on one side (Top of plan) and maybe a bit of industry two or three spurs in a town to the bottom. The overpass on the left side will be a scenic area. The right side? I dont know that depends on your results.
Another option will be to Helix one corner with a turn or two or three to reach a second level that is of some height for a branch line to a mine or something. Nothing too complicated.
I think of East Broad Top style of operation. Take a Mikado or Geep from the engine house, assemble some empty coal cars and take it to the mine. Swap for loads and bring back to yard. Then in the afternoon build a 10 car train local to the town and switch those industries and return in the evening.
Or just put Thomas and let him run round and round. Perhaps as Daddy works around Thomas using DCC. That jump throttle might come in handy.
The yard? Well you can create a 4 track yard about 5 feet long and store approx 20 cars with a arrival and departure long enough for a 10 car train plus engine. The town can have a siding capable of holding one passenger train or a local freight’s work keeping the mainline clear.
You can sneak a track off behind hills and trees for a length and call that interchange with the rest of the world. There you can have a train come in, arrive at the yard and return… or… have your mine turn enter and get the l
It’s been a couple weeks, and we have re-negotiated the layout of our room. I now have an extra 2 feet of width to work with. I was in a bit of a quandry trying to figure out how to get a decent width on each side of the layout, and still have a usable aisle. So, with an 8x13 area to use, I’ve solved that. I’m leaning more and more towards the “trial5” concept, but with a twist. I’m thinking of using a “no-lix” to add a second level, but not all the way around, rather, just one side. I will design this with NO DUCKUNDERS , but will probably use some sort of drop down, or swing out arrangement. I’m still planning on a staging yard of some sort, still working out the specifics on that.
I’ll have a new thread shortly, about where to model.
I’ll see what suggestions come up, then go from there.
Having re-arranged the “layout room” along with the computers, shelves, and other furnishings, and along with further discussion of the matter, I now have my choice of the following 2 options. I can either have my 8’x13’ area, with one 13’ side completely open, or I can use a spare 11’x13’ +/- room (sort of an “L” shape, will post scale drawing later). The trade offs? The 8x13 area is more or less completely finished, except for the ceiling. The 11x13 room is completely unfinished, and there is exposed plumbing about 4 feet off of 2 walls (sort of in the middle of the room, I will depict on drawing). The walls are bare concrete and bare studs. One wall will have a half-height (about 3’) storage “compartment” under the stairs (will show entry on drawing). The plumbing may be able to be relocated against the wall, I will consult a professional plumber on this matter. The plumbing would have a small “false floor” to cover it up, or possibly a raised floor for the room (except around the doorway). If this is possible, then I would have essentially the whole room for myself except for providing access to the storage compartment.
This is starting to sound like a no-brainer, but I wanted to run this by the forum members first to see if there’s anything I didn’t think of or might have missed. I’ll see what I can do about a scale drawing.
EDIT Here’s a drawing, rudimentary, but gets the job done.
