
MikeyChris
Dad bought a couple MARX O-27 sets for ME when I was about 2 years old. He would set up the track on the floor when we lived in old Detroit, and later built a 5’ x 10’ train table in our basement when we moved to Redford. After several years we moved to Tampa - bad news, no basement! He sold the old MARX stuff and bought a MARX HO set. He built a 4’ x 6’ layout on casters that rolled under my bed (I had an old hospital bed for years - the only thing good about it was the high clearance underneath and the width).
I had the common diversions when I was in my mid- to late-teens, and did not have a layout for a few years. After marriage and while serving in the Air Force (in Las Vegas - a tough assignment, but somebody had to do it [:D]) I built a 4’ x 8’ layout in our apartment living room (my wife is a Saint!). When I shipped out I dismantled the layout, and we moved to Montana when I returned. I was hoping for a basement, but the house we bought had no basement. However, the garage was large enough to house a 5’ x 12’ layout at one end (the hood of the car fit under the benchwork). After 18 months, I was assigned to Tampa, so we were back to no space for a layout again. By now we had two boys and I really wanted to get them interested in trains, so I bought them a LIONEL set for Christmas. We set it up on the floor, but didn’t have room for a permanent layout.
After about 6 or 7 years, I was transferred to Louisiana, and we bought a house with an attached garage. I insulated the room, added a heater/air conditioner in an outside wall, and built a pretty nice (to me) 13’ x 18’ “L” shaped three level layout. It was a folded dogbone with reverse loops at each end. The loops were stacked, and the lower level was totally hidden. It wasn’t as problematic as I had anticipated, but I would not recommend it! Each loop was totally automatic - an approaching train would be detected and align the turnouts, then progress thr