Armchair Hobbyist Dream Layouts?

[IDM1991]

I have only a very modest O Gauge layout in my basement.  Two loops of tubular track, four hand-thrown turnouts, and a few static and/or operating accessories.  A vintage KW handles power requirements and nothing is permanently affixed to the green-painted plywood tabletop, which covers a space of approximately 69 square feet (roughly 6' x 11 1/2').

Yet, like many (most?) hobbyists who are limited in space, the temptation to let one's imagination run wild is ever present.  While this topic has probably been discussed elsewhere before, I would be curious to know what other armchair modellers have dreamed up (that is, not actually built in an attic or a basement or a garage or a spare room, but in the imagination).

My own "layout of the imagination" is loosely based on the T-shaped, sepentine blueprint of the HO scale Canada Central Railway in Montreal (see here: http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.canadacentral.org/&prev=search), but is generously expanded to fit a 250, 000 square foot space (that's roughly 500' x 500'!).  The complex CCR track plan shown in this drawing would be discarded in favour of a simple double-track main with about half a dozen major industrial spurs and a major yard based on the CNR yard in Belleville, Ontario, as it looked in the 1950s.  Track would consist of wide-radius GarGraves and RCS products, all laid out on a level surface.

Enormous, tree-laden mountains and hillsides would host a few sizable tunnels (though not too many), while a long trestle bridge would dominate another corner of the layout.  Accessories would all come from the Lionel line, while most structures would be scratchbuilt.  Power requirements would come from several postwar ZW transformers (275 Watt), a few KWs, and a few ZW-L units, plus TMCC, Legacy, and whatever else.


Where have others allowed their layout imaginations to take them?

- Ian D. McKechnie     

[jwse30]

I think that rather have an enormous layout, I would have several small layouts with different trains and themes.

 

I would have a postwar Lionel layout, perhaps just a bit larger than the 8x12 I have now. Maybe one side or level would be tubular track and another for Super O.

 

I would have a Marx layout that would be for my 6" tin cars mostly, though new Marx would have to be able to run on it as well. This layout could be just a 4x8, or maybe even smaller (The one I have now is only about 3x5)

 

I am starting to get into postwar American Flyer too. A postwar style layout for these trains would be neat too. Or adding a level to the Lionel layout mentioned earlier could work.

 

Another layout would be just for Christmas trains and the Polar Express. This one I would want to be fairly large, as that thrice around mountain would be a highlight of it.

 

Having a Timesaver-like switching layout would be fun to have too. This would be the only hirail layout out of the group probably.

 

This could be a fun thread to follow!

 

J White

 

[richhotrain]

Dreaming is a big part of model railroading as far as I am concerned.  

As a kid, I had two American Flyer train sets, and I still have them.

About 10 years ago, not long before my retirement, I got into the HO scale side of the hobby simply because more resources were available in HO scale than S scale. 

Now, I have a fairly large HO scale layout, but I still set up a smaller S scale layout on occasion in my basement.

And, most importantly, in my mind, and on paper, I have continually mused over my so-called Dream Layout, an HO scale layout, that replicates the stretch of track from Alton Junction to Dearborn Station in Chicago.  

But, I will tell you this. If the six road names that inhabited Dearborn Station were available in S scale along with the more important structures, I would build an S scale Dream Layout in a heartbeat.

Keep dreaming, just like the rest of us do.

Rich

[scrambler81]

I don't really dream big, I tend to limit my dreaming to things that might actually be within reach. My layout is only 7 x 12, and I wouldn't mind it a little bigger but I'm not looking to use up my whole basement. Mostly, I think about having more realistic scenery. The problem is, I'm not very creative, and I'm even less patient. My layout right now is green painted homasote, with painted on roads. I like the look, and I have room for a bunch more accessories. However, I have one spot where I cut away the tabletop and ran some bridges over it. I have a scene in mind for that spot below the bridges, so if I can just get that part the way I want it, I will have reached one little dream.

[Penny Trains]

I've often dreamed of what I'd do with "my lottery winnings" if I ever had any and it's probably why I don't have any!    But I'd also go with the many rather than the one.  I'd like to have at least a 4 by 8 for each of the major scales: Z, N, HO, S and G.  There would be three O gauge layouts: prewar, postwar and scale.  The prewar layout would be simple, based on the scenic railways of the 20's and 30's.  The postwar layout would have to be a recreation of the 1949 Lionel showroom pike.  And the scale layout would be an homage to Cleveland and the NYC's Cleveland Union Terminal.  The biggest table though would be reserved for standard gauge.

[rtraincollector]

I guess my biggest problem is I don't use a track plan my plan is in my head that way as I go if I don't like something or change my mind I don't have to go to computer and re work it out to specific diamention And I do use Gargaves track so I still have to make it fit as I use fix curves I don't bend my own at this point anyway my next layout maybe as hope it is bigger as hope to move in 5-6 years so there's my thoughts for me right now I basically have 2 loops on mail level with one siding on the outside loop and 3 switches on the inner loop. then I have a 4' x 6.5' upper level in back corner with no power to it at moment and a ceiling/shelf layout around the room ( 14' x 16' ) by the way main layout is 8' x 16' but thinking of cutting it back to 8' x 12' it has green indoor/outdoor carpet on it for grass and that's about as far as gotten and no plans to continue as plans up at beginning of moving in future. I'm not very creative either but not really worried about it as my layout is for me not to be judge by others no problem showing it to others but it is what it is. and new will be what it is. I'm not trying to impress anyone now would I like a layout like you see in the magazine of coarse who wouldn't just not in my pocket book.

If it is in your I'm very glad for you and will be first to tell you haow great I think it looks. To me were here to have fun and a big part of it is to sit in that chair put your favorite album on close your eyes kick your heals up and dream of that layout you know you probably never can have it's part of it but also dream what you really can do to yours to make it that one touch better this month so you can figure out something next month to do to it.

[traindaddy1]

Interesting question:

Pretty much satisfied with our O27 postwar and HO layouts.

But, when asking about a "Dream Layout", I guess I'd have to say that (stepping out-of-the-box) a detailed Garden Layout.

It would start at the right rear lawn Tiki Bar,  go along the pool deck to the left rear lawn, then down to the brook over the foot-bridge, circle past the putting green and return.

You DID say "Dream Layout" !!!!

Thanks for asking.

[IDM1991]

I have been a CTT subscriber since 2003, and the largest layout I have seen in its pages since then is that at Trainland USA in Colfax, Iowa (approx. 44' x 96').  About half a dozen years ago, OGR did a piece on the New Jersey Hi-Railers layout in Paterson, NJ (approx. 30' x 185.5').  The largest layouts in CTT tend to have a maximum length of 40-60 feet, with the width varying between 15-30 feet.  Has anything larger than this ever been featured in the magazine?

What, in a purely theoretical sense, would some of the logistical challenges be for constructing and operating layouts of, say 100' x 100'+?

[traindaddy1]

Hi!....Off the top of my balding head......Access, power and cost (construction supplies, rent for facility, utilities and maintenance) I suspect it would require some commercial assistance or maybe a club or a winning lottery ticket! Would be nice to see and be part of the building experience.