this is a place to share your thoughts for your first layouts. If you already have a layout then share your thoughts for improvements.
My thoughts are about a western theme with pine trees and a few hills and mountains, some small creaks, tunnels, and just the right texture to make it seem real. Im just starting a 4x8 plan, and im wishing it will go well. I wish i could go bigger, but hey, its a train.
Main thing is do not make it a 4’ X 8’ aginst a wall. That is the main thing I did wrong. Talk about being a pain to lay good rail and detail! Make it dog bone shape if it is aginst the wall. If I could do it all over, no wider in the center than 3 foot and not aginst the wall.
Cuda Ken
Hello Indiana_Railman. To begin with, Cuba Ken is giving you some good advice there. You don’t want to built such a wide layout if it’s going to be up against a wall unless you’re about nine feet tall and can reach across it without any problems… What really caught my eye about your posting was how you would like to go with a western theme, which is what I did. I’m an N scaler, and my layout is only 6 1/2 feet long X 3 feet wide, yet I have a blast with it. It’s modelled after the south western US as in west Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, southern California and alike. The surface is sand tan, and it’s covered with scattered scrub brush and pine trees in just the right amount and in the right places. It has two tracks with an oval on the outside and a figure eight on the inside. Both tracks run through tunnels on the mountain at the left end of the layout that a friend of mine says looks just like Mt. Shasta… On the right end is a small town with all the staple businesses that a small town might have. By changing out the automobiles, moving a few structures around and changing the trains out, I can go from the 1930s to the 50s to the 70s to modern day in about thirty minutes. I even have airplanes from the various eras that I also change out to match the period. Good luck to you. I hope everything turns out like you want it to. Tracklayer
Cuda Ken, Tracklayer, that gave me some good advice on not putting it against a wall like i was going to do. This is my 1st layout, 2nd attempt also. Im going to model this with my uncle, and we are using his basement and ill have to tell him that. Im 14, so i dont have much experience with model railroading. Thanks
I’m working on planning my first every layout. It’s a corner layout, so it’ll be against a wall, but I’m seriously considering putting it on wheels so I can pull it out from the wall when I need to work on the back side. I have plenty of room to maneuver it when I need to, and being able to pull my 8’x6’ “L” shape out by myself smoothely seems much less earthquake-like for the layout.
I’m thinking locking casters to prevent rolling that can be height-adjusted for levelling.
my layout is 7 ft wide and 16 ft deep and this is my first layout for the 20th time, always learning how not to do something each time.
Stick with this site and you never be steered wrong, ask alot of questions there will alway be answers
My layout is two 4x8s, connected by a 2x20 shelf. The point is that the back of both 4x8s is totally inaccessible. I solved this by using take out mountains made of styrofoam to cover crawl under hatches for access. This is a big headache but the way I solved the space issues.
I’ve been trying to get a layout designed for the last three years! Started out with a 4x10 but after reading the magazine articles and he forums I found out that wasn’t the way to go because I couldn’t access all sides. My room is 9X12 but the chimney comes up through part of the space near the entrance. So then it was a shelf layout running along three walls with a fat part on the chimney side for a yard area. But I kept thinking about continuous running and how boring it might become turning the trains at either end. Besides, in HO, this space doesn’t give a lot of room to run. I’m free lancing a branch line loosly based on a prototype so I don’t need to go fast but I would like to be able to run a little bit before having to turn around. So . . . Now it’s a shelf layout with the open end closed off for continuous running operated from the inside (approx. 5X4ft.). The shelves are 24 in. wide and a little deeper around the chimney. If I could figure out how to post the layout, you alll could take a look at what I have so far. I’m trying to make the track work make sense and keeping in mind the sizes of the turnouts so they’ll fit. Would like to quit drawing and start building at some point but can’t seem to put the pencil down!
Great Idea - ‘Rookies page’.
NOTE to all rookies:
1. ACCESS - Your arms are only 31" long. Any reach over 3’ is ‘stretching it’. A 7 ’ wide layout may sound ‘cool’ but without an access hole won’t be much fun after your 1st derailment’.
2. Ebay is not your friend. People get rid of their ‘dawgs’ here. Want to inherit other peoples promlems?
Money spent at a LHS can pay dividends: Advice, exchanges, new friends, and sharing similar experiences.
3. Model Railroader Magazine offers HOW TO articles every month. BUY it.
4. START with popular brand products. Stay away from the ‘cheapest’, and ‘most expensive’. ‘Mess-around’ with Mr. In-between.
5. Small rooms VS. small layouts: A 10’X 12’ room does better with ‘N’ gauge, same for a 4’X 8’ board.
(signed) ‘Old Farht’.
If it is going to be 8’x6’, putting casters on it is a must.
Get large ones because the smaller wheels are hard to roll over carpet.
Oh yeah, ACCESS HATCHES AND DUCK UNDERS GET OLD REAL QUICK!!!
Is there a industry standard hieght for layouts? or is it whatever length wood you have handy?
my project is 28" high, was thinking about raising it
There are no standards but you’ll get a lot of recommendations. 28" is definitely on the low end of the spectrum. Higher benchwork brings you closer to your trains. Instead of a bird’s eye view, you will see them more from the perspective you see real trains. Some like eye level layouts which depending on your height could be 5’ or more. That’s a little too high for me. My lowest level is at 4’ and grades take it up as high as 56".
This is certainly sound advice but I would not make it an absolute rule. I like deep scenes so my around-the-walls benchwork is 3’ deep in most spots. I have some track very close to the backdrop. On the rare occasions I need to put my hands there, a step stool makes it a comfortable reach. When reaching in that deep, you have to be concerned about damaging your foreground scenery. That isn’t a problem since all of this track is across the main from my yard which has virtually no foreground scenery other than ground cover and ballast.
I really pushed the limits in my urban area. There I went 4’ deep with access hatches for emergency reach. So far I’ve never needed those. The last foot really is nothing more than a 3 dimensional backdrop with no track in those areas. I am building this area before any scenery goes in front of it. I find that with my step stool I can reach to the back wall.
Here’s some of my mistakes I’ve made so far in building my first layout.
The ceiling in my basement is not covered and it took me a while to figure out that wouldn’t work due to dirt and dust falling from it. I put luan board up to help with that issue.
Two of my walls are concrete blocks. At first I thought no bid deal, then another person posted pictures of his concrete walls and you could really see the lines in the blocks. I didn’t like the look of it so I took a picture of mine and sure enough it looked bad too. Again, I put luan board up on the two conrete walls.
Now I have to paint all the walls and ceiling which wouldn’t be so bad except I have had my benchwork up long before I discovered these problems. It would have been a ton easier to put up the luan board without the benchwork in the way. If I had to do it all over again I would have taken a few pictures of my basement and posted them on here and asked what needs to be done first!? Either way it’s coming together slowly but surely.
DO IT
BUY IT
That outta scare em straight [:-^]
Everyone has an opinion, the E-Bay remark is one sided and simply not true. Like anything, buyer beware.
Agreed about the ebay remark. Never had a problem there. Just takes using a little common sense is all.
As someone who is wrapping up our (son and I) first layout, two general bits of advice.
A lot of people dwell to much on details, wanting every answer answered beforehand, etc. Pick a SIMPLE plan, and start it. Breaking the inertia by simply starting is a huge step.
Finish the layout, period. If you don’t like something, change it. But don’t quit all the way, finish it.
Following #1 above makes this easier 
what type of road came first the ashpalt or concrete
kinda like the chicken or the egg huh?
bump