Howdy all,
I am setting up a doorway layout. The door is 32" X 78". I have come up with some of my own designs, but there isn't much action. Any suggestions on how to maximize space and locomotive action?
Thanks for the help,
Brody
First suggestion - put this question in the Classic Toy Trains forum, where the Lionel tinplaters live. You might get some action there.
Chuck
Yowza, 32" is a bit restrictive, but presents a welcome challenge. Since you are comfortable working with O-27, what kind of equipment are you running, and what generally are you envisioning...?
I agree with Fife. How about a perimeter mainline with a reversing loop? Simple and some action can be had.
This website has a lot of small plans to get you started:
http://www.thortrains.net/index.html
The door layout page is here:
http://www.thortrains.net/marx/drlaydex.html
... and it's always fun just to lay the track out on the door and see what you can come up with on your own!
- James
I'll be doing small freight operations. I intend on getting a postwar Lionel steam locomotive, either a 1666 or a 2056. Some sort of midsized locomotive. I want to have a rural setting with fields and a couple tractors (small town kid here). Is there room for this idea?
I also have 1 right handed switch and 1 left handed switch.
Starting to cook up some ideas. What is your favorite railroad, and which rural region are you from...?
Small town Kansas. And I don't care which railroad. How about a 1940's theme during wheat harvest? Yellow fields with a thundering black locomotive in the background.
Hey, Grandma is a Wichita gal.
I like the idea of a 1940 theme, with lots of Woody Guthrie flavor (yea, I know he was on Okie). I'm thinking we overemphasize the obvious, with slow running mixed freights, headed by AT&SF steamers. Industry wise, I love the idea of having a stockyard, with several LIONEL cattle or horse loading pens side-by-side. Also, Beech Aircraft was in Wichita, and you can have a siding of LIONEL airplane flats, as if being set out for interchange. And, wouldn't it be cool to be the only kid on your block with a Buffalo Park...?
www.kansasmemory.org is a fabulous site with great old photos and postcards.
Done right, this door layout could be a show stopper.
But with a doorway layout, how is there room for a stock yard and a siding? So would the mainline be an oval? I love the ideas, but I'm just seeing trouble with a width of only 32 inches.
You'd be surprised how much railroad you can fit using just O-27. You can do the oval thing, and run your siding(s) on the inside. Or do return loops on each end, and run a siding along the front edge. Or do a figure 8 using a 45 degree crossing, locating sidings on front and back.
It's how you "terrain" your layout that will create the illusion of distance. The only thing flat and level should be your roadbed, as well as the "footprint" of your structures and operating accessories.
I say since you're just getting started, lets spend a couple nights laying track down, until you see which plan you prefer. I would suggest not limiting yourself with trying to know the exact track piece count you need. Pick up some O-27 sized 42" and 54" curved pieces just to have on hand. If nothing else, you sill have ruled out won't fit today (but will be available tomorrow).
Don't forget to use some sort of sound deadening material like cork or homasote. Laying track directly on a hollow core door will be rather loud when the trains are running.
George
For those who might want to play with door-layout designs, the standard American residential interior door is 1 3/8" thick, 80" high, and has a width that is 30" or is a multiple of 4". Widths of 30" and 32" are probably most common.
Bob Nelson
Heres an idea running off of fife's put a siding with horse and cattle yards and on the other side of the loop ( have cattle siding on back side) put a train station and a section of straight track behind it and put bumpers at each end and put a trolley on it or a # 50 gang car going back and forth
With O-27 track you might even be able to put a 1/2 straight in middle of each curve area to take you out to the edge and give you about another 4" withe
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
The door I'm using is completely solid. I found it in the garage, so I didn't need to go get one. Does the fact that the door is solid deaden the sound at all?
That I don't know for sure. I would think that the solid door being heavier would dampen the volume but I'm not sure never having actually done it. You might just lay a loop of track on the door temporarily and run a train over it for a few minutes to see how it sounds.
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