Without going into too much detail this is just a morsel of background information to set the stage. Hurricane Katrina threw the proverbial “Monkey Wrench” into the original game plan, and now 9 months later it seems that things are finally getting back to where we can see the light again. Moving from New Orleans, LA to Wake Forest, NC without having jobs first was a bold move, and it took guts and a lot of faith! So, where does HO gauge model railroading fit into all this?
Just one month before Katrina hit, major renovations has just been completed on a room at the house in New Orleans that was to be the brand spanking new “Train Room.” Markings on the wall showed where the multi-levels of the layout would be placed and the ceiling was painted a light sky blue color in the template of where the layout was going to end up. Many months were spent on creating the track plans in the 3rdPlanIt track planning application, having created many variants, version control was big having dipped into some software development techniques learned from two C+ programming classes.
So, in going back to the drawing board with the model railroad plan, our new house has a room that is a little larger than the original “Train Room,” so going back to square one has its own hurdles to overcome at this stage. Having started creating preliminary versions of the new track plan last month, we are reviewing all options at this point, such as keeping it on one level, or going with two levels again. The original plan was to incorporate main line runs and switching, the best of both worlds, but the only way to do it was with a multi-level layout. Getting all that activity on one level is quite a compression dilemma. How do you get a convincing HO gauge main line run with long consists on one level in a room that is only 16 X 14 feet?
The dog bone plan with a cross-over or over-under seems to be the foundation plan for main line runs at this stage on a single level. The only drawback on this plan is that
I’m not sure I followed the entire description here, but why not cheat on the aisle width in a couple of places? While 3 feet is the normal target, having short stretches that are 2 feet shouldn’t be a major inconvenience unless you are planning to have tons of operators. I have 2 foot wide aisles in my layout and if I’m running the railroad by myself I find it is a reasonble amount of space. Anyway, just a thought.
I dunno…3ft seems like an awfully long reach to me. Maybe doable with no scenery or structures, but a bear if you have to reach over anything–especially damaging to stuff along the edges.
The Voice of Experience: 3 feet is too far to reach. 30 inches is generally quoted as the maximum. Since the center of my free-standing-table layout is 30 inches from the edge, I can say that even 30 inches is awkward, but possible. If the last 6 inches are scenery-only and you do it all before you put anything in front, then you might get away with it. You can climb on traditional plywood-on-2x4 benchwork, but not on foam.
Since you’re talking about actually being able to build a layout, I assume your job situation is OK. Congratulations on that, and welcome to the East Coast.
Glad to see you’re able to resume building a dream layout, considering what happened to many of your N.O. neighbors!
I faced a few of the issues you’re dealing with and, like you, am not thrilled with the idea of having a multi-deck layout. Since my minimum mainline radius had to be no smaller than 30 inches, duck-unders were a necessary evil for me. But I still wanted people without my own physical agility to be able to reach the ‘inside’ of the layout perimeter, so I designed lift-outs.
My benchwork forms a closed ‘E’, so at the ‘open’ ends, I installed subroadbed sections that can be quickly lifted out and popped back into place in ~5-10 seconds. Here are some pix I snapped early in the construction process.
First, a view of one of the pop-outs (the larger one):
Here it is in its ‘native’ environment:
The same location, with the liftout removed:
A closeup of the combination anchors/electrical connectors (the extra set of contacts is for the protective power-interruption mechanism):
Is there any possibility of your posting a GIF image of your trackplan?
Maybe if you thought about making the rails not parallel to the edge you could have most of the track near the center, but have your curves more toward the back.
whitman500, spacemouse, and MisterBeasley,
Benchwork over 30 inches wide is quite a strech, but I am still in the planning stages. Point well taken, and with turning 45 in October of his year I am not getting any more limber either. Thanks for the responses.
Hey Ken,
Thanks for the pull out suggestions! I totally forgot about your layout, and thanks for reminding me that you have a successful demonstration of such as system.
Here are a few of the original and one of the current plan.
These were the original plans in the New Orleans “Train Room”
Original plan for the lower level;
Original plan for the upper level:
Very basic version of the current dog bone with duck under and cross-over plan in progress:
Now that I’ve seen your plan[s] I have a whole new perspective on your situation - glad you posted them!
With all of the switching and interchange activity you originally planned, maybe the twin-level plan is the way to go. It seems like all of those yards and trackside industries use a large amount of real estate - the double deck approach provides that. [It looks like Plan A also required duck-unders in a few places.]
If you’ve already gotten as far as you did on the plan for your Algiers train room, why not just stick with that? Unless the thought of building a helix is too unnerving…
I am glad you got the Whole Package view with reviewing the original plans. I have thought of just expanding the original plan into the new room, might just need to add a few feet of straight track here or there for build it out. The helix thought is quite a challenge, so I met that with the original plan by having the outer double track (also shown as greyed out for hidden) making the transition between the two layers. I will have to double check my original files, but I think the grade is close to 3.7%. That is a rise of 16 inches over a 35 foot length of track. Another dilemma for running long trains.
In the now defunct NO plan, you would have had a problem reaching the MO Betta Mine tracks when problems occured. I’ll bet the ADM grain mill would have suffered.
With the current plans a drawn, I don’t see the need for 36 inches. Like Ken, I think movement back towards the original plan might be an idea.
As for reach, it depends. I have a psgr yard that’s 57" high and I can rerail a car on a track 30" from the edge w/ a train on the track nearest the edge w/o distirbing it. W/o a train along the edge I can comfortably rerail a car 36" from the edge. The secret is having some strategically located folding 3 step stepladders to stand on. If your benchwork is waist high the stepladders become superflous.
As for fitting the curves to the benchwork, that strikes me as back-assward. The logial way (IMHO) to design the RR is to figure the trackplan first and then to modify it where needed to fit available space. The area were you seem to have the most trouble, around the lower left corner, seems to have ample space to expand to fit any radius (w/in reason) needed. There might be a door or some other factor that doesn’t show, but, lacking that, all you would need to do is expand the benchwork into into that, apparently vacant corner.
The 3 ft min for aisles is a good idea (I went to 4’ on mine) but it needn’t be an absolute restriction. If the aisle in a given location is only a passage (as opposed to a work location where 2 people will have to pass) there’s no reason why a short restricted space can’t be used.
Ryan,
I had another look at your lower-level N.O. plan, trying to see the “nolix” track you were referring to. I notice there is a turnout behind Sparkys LP Gas depot - sort of in the middle of the grade. Is that offshoot line significantly higher than the surrounding terrain?
Jim R had a good idea about using a stepladder - except on my layout, a small step stool does the job beautifully for my hard-to-reach areas. I do share Chip’s concern about the ADM grain elevator though - that might get ‘clipped’ when somebody leans over it to reach Mo’s Betta. Any chance you could swap locations with a much-shorter lineside structure?
Looking at the new plan, if the door swings into the room (as is usual in residential design), a drop-down, hinged on the same side as the door, would get you past the door opening. Once the wheels begin to roll, you’ll appreciate the lack of duckunders between control points.
You might consider reducing the width of your along-the-wall shelves and adding to the size of the peninsula. If two-level operation is finally chosen, the upper right corner or the base of the peninsula would make good sites for a helix. With 24 inch radius and 3.5 inches per turn of climb, a helix would have a 2.33% grade, not too much problem for a reasonable length train. 3.7% is a bit hairy. (I have 3% grades, and locos that have problems with the equivalent of a 9-car freight. On 4% I have to doublehead anything over the equivalent of 3 cars!)
Good luck with your new layout, new home and new life.
Ken,
The offshoot behind Sparkys LP Gas Depot is slightly higher, the track levels and terrain on the plan is represented by the colors, in 3rdPlanIt the landscape is known as “Mesh”, the green color represents the flat and lowest level of grade, the slightly tan/green mix is just an inch or two higher, and the totally tan areas are at least 3 inches or more above. The darker the terrain represented translates to higher grades, such as ridges or mountain type areas.
As far as the ADM grain location, that is a great point which I had not considered, with the Coal facility behind it that would definitely present a “reach” issue. Thanks for the heads up on that one!
Chuck,
The new room is actually an attic that was converted to a room with AC, and is fully built out. There are stairs up to the room, but there is no doorway. It is hard to describe the room so here is a photo of the new “Train Room”:
Just off the right side of the photo is a half wall that butts up to the top of the stairs, the room is actually larger than shown in the “new room plan” in my previous post because the stairs is dead space. The remaining area i
