Yes, I was still trying to upload them when I posted. By the way, is it just my computer, or is there a way to make the top picture smaller? It is not resizing like yours is.
I like the third layout Paul posted, it is interesting. I am still looking for the Jerome & Southwestern.
Exactly!
I will try to post a picture of my room, I really can’t get any bigger than 4x8, if I could, I would make it bigger. I’m not quite sure what I want for a signature scene. I am building a layout because I enjoy trains. I like planning, modeling, building, and operating, and I have always had an interest in trains.
As I said, third plan posted by Paul gets what I want, I still have to find the Jerome & Southwestern but it sounds intresting too.
If you say that you’re limited to a 4X8, you may need to think a bit more about layout configurations that don’t use more space overall, but make better use of the space that’s available, as others are suggesting. If you haven’t already, look at Byron Henderson’s discussion of “Why Waste the Space on an HO 4X8?” at his Layout Vision site: http://www.layoutvision.com/id28.html .
You’re getting some good advice on trying to re-think what your goals are. If you’re the beginner you appear to be, you could be setting yourself up for discouragement by designing a layout that will be very complex to build and offer few operational or visual rewards, if any. Inexperienced modelers often can’t see the interest in simple, prototype-inspired track designs and dismiss them as “boring.” To set yourself up for the long run, you may be best off building a simple layout as an exercise in acquiring skills, and try to visit as many good quality layouts as you can to get a feel for what’s really buildable and workable for you as you develop your abilities.
You could also consider switching scales. Those 18" radius curves that limit your equipment in HO scale are more than generous in N scale. Your vertical clearances wouldn’t be as tight either so you could reduce your grades, and have a longer mainline run. I know you said you were pretty set on HO scale, but I would at least consider what you could accomplish in N scale with the same layout space.
Does anyone know of like an online preview or something of the book Building an HO Railroad With Personality? $30 is a bit expensive for a book I might not use.
I have a similar situation with the layout room having to serve multiple uses. All that I can say is that if I were in your shoes, and I’m pretty close - give up the 4x8 dream. It turns into a nightmare. Why?
if the drawing is close to scale, you don’t have room to move it out from the wall to get adequate aisles to work on it.
a movable layout means (unless you are really gentle and have engineered a way to slide or roll it very smoothly on the bedroom floor) 9.0 earthquakes on the layout every time you move it. Chances are all your rolling stock will derail or have to be removed/replaced for every session. Hidden or difficult to access track is deadly in this situation.
if the layout is built above waist level, it will dominate the room and make it feel very claustrophobic for the other purposes. I don’t like waist high layouts - they are hard to enjoy watching from a helicopter view point. I had to prove this for myself. I built a 60" high 4x6 because I had to have a 2nd computer desk where you have the layout. I gave up, I couldn’t make it look good.
I ended up going with a series of shelves around the room in a U shape. Where you and I have a window (mine’s 60" wide), I will use a removable unscenicked section to link the shelves. If you are going to build a shelf over top the desk and file cabinet and use a connecting piece across the window, then move the bed over by the door, and have it point east-west instead of north-south. This will give the who
It seems as if I am always making it harder.[:(] Sorry, I forgot to tell you that the room has sloped ceilings. The slope goes over the bed, dresser, and layout. Another slope is over the desk, bookcase, and closet. I thought about going around the room but the slope goes all the way down to the top of the dresser, so I couldn’t put anything on top. I am planning my benchwork to be at 40" plus 2"-4" for scenery below the tracks. That sould fit under the slope.
I’d say N scale would be a great way to go. I know you say you have track and a few cars in HO, but those are easy enough to dispose of on eBay or wherever. It doesn’t sound like you’re in too deep to bail out of HO and make something work in N. I’d strongly consider N if I were starting over myself.
Get rid of the H0 scale track and cars, get some N scale track, engines and cars and go do a hollow core door layout in the spot where you have placed your 4x8 now.
30" x 80" in N scale is about the equivalent of 4.5 feet x 12 feet in H0 scale, and a 13" radius curve in N scale is about the equivalent of a 24" radius curve in H0 scale.
I would agree. Last year I got rid of the majority of my HO stuff with the exception of a few pieces. I’m getting ready to start construction in a couple of weeks on a 36x80" hollow core door layout it will be set in the corner of the room so I will have two sides blocked off, I have decided to use the track plan from the Carolina Central. Here are some examples of HCD layouts.
The N scale Juniata Division follows track plan done by MR in the early 90’s Link
Several versions of the Carolina Central Link There are 27 pages on this topic in the Atlas forum.
Here is the Dallas on a Door layout present by Byron Henderson it was featured in the 2010 Model Rail Planning (you’ll have to scroll down the page to find it) Link
The Jerome and Southwestern has the qualities you are looking for in an HO railroad. The links provided above show you what opportunities are also available.
I can also only recommend a change of scales. I am in a similar situation as the OP - to little space for a “decent” layout, let alone for something as intrusive as a 4 by 8 layout. My solution to the issue was changing to N scale and building a layout based on mini-modules, which I can assemble in a different ways - like playing a game of dominoes It is fun to do, the layout can easily grow, building a module is not a messy task, so the room is still a room, and not a construction site for years to come!.
It seems that the Original Poster may be a young person, who may not be in this space for a lot of years to come. In that case, the advice received so far, such as considering N scale or a smaller switching-style layout in HO, is very good. Modules such as Free-mo would also be a good choice, as these can be used with a group later or as part of a home layout.
But even in the current room, interesting alternatives to the HO 4X8 “sacred sheet” exist – but only if we view the space, not a rectangle. Sometimes there is not room for a 4X8, but there is room for something that is larger in some respects.
This quick-and-dirty sketch is still 18" minimum radius, but potentially offers a lot more room for scenery, much more achievable grades, and does not require moving the layout for construction, operation, or viewing. There might be an opportunity to increase the radius, I didn’t explore that.
The good old “waterwings”-style layout often fits where a rectangle will not and offers a nice walk-in “cockpit” for viewing and operation.
One would need an access area in the bottom-right corner. This would be tight because of the ceiling slope, but building the layout a bit lower would help. And you would only need it for emergencies if the rest of the layout was planned well.
Again, the better choices in that space are probably N scale or an HO Scale switching layout in the corner like this one.
I went to the hobby store today and looked at some of the N scale stuff. I will probably switch scales because of the possibilities. Now I need to come up with a track plan. I searched for N scale track plans online and there are a lot of spaghetti bowls out there. The Erie RR at Herbton that appeared in the December 2010 issue of MRR catches my attention. If you are a subscriber you can see it here. If there are other suggestions they will be appreciated. The guy at the hobby store said that I should probably pick a road name too. I want my layout to be located in Northern US. I was going to pick Virginian but there are not a lot of models out there. I am looking to still model the 1950s - early 1960s. Thank you for your help.
As someone who prefers to do things myself, my own way I can appreciate what you are trying to do, but you might just want to reexamine this one.
Cuyama, er Byron Henderson designs model railroads professionally. He knows his stuff.
Paulus also is worth his salt.
I designed a spaghetti bowl of my own a couple of years ago… I didn’t heed their advice, it really was too tight and too steep too close and or too crowded pretty much where they said it would be.
I am all for doing things myself. I am all for learning from people who know more than I do. I’d encourage you to really look at the grades and consider practically your choice of #4 switches and these very tight radii. what are you running?
Unless your planning on shifting ore hoppers with a yard goat, I’d recommend using the 8x12 space needed for a 4x8 with very conservative 24 inch aisles by running it around the walls of your room as an L or U shape…
You’ll figure out that we’re trying to help, but it might cost you a few hundred dollars in the process… It cost me.
Start with a list wants needs, givens and druthers and design into it with the flavor of the plan you like, but make it yours and build it smart so you don’t tire of it a week later…
you plan you have chosen ain’t bad, but why did you not explore Byron Henderson’s idea? As if anything other then a rectangle is beyond your possibilities.
Just a quick drawing of a N-scale plan in the space he found. It is looking so much larger the the traditional platform.
So many alternatives are possible, not included is a staging yard however. I would try out some alternatives and post the best on here.
