Layout

[rclick9]

I am planning my layout and I a small area for my garden railway and I want to know some ideas for my layout. Anyone have any?

[tangerine-jack]

Oh, I've got lots of ideas, some even fit to print!  What size exactly are we talking about here?  Small is a relative word in the Garden world.  What does your terrain look like and how much time/money are you willing to invest?  My quick and dirty advise to you is to have a theme for your railroad and a name for it.  Even if it is only 8ft of single track, if you haul a "commodity" from point A to point B, you will get far more enjoyment out of it than a simple circle of track with no purpose.  Everything after that is gravy...........................

[Anonymous]

Depends on shape - but previous post says most - a plain circle is not a railroad - End to end with auto  reverse  works well especially on small locos and  rolling stock

If you have a plan  or an area  I am sure lots of suggestions could be made  tho  garden railways can integrate into paths , flowerbeds etc and you may find more possibilities than you imagined. mine is kept to a minimum on one wall to give a dog and child friendly garden. takes little space but gives a longish run. By uk standards it is average - by us standards it is tiny.

 

 

try to think laterally when looking at possible space.

wish you well with your layout.

[vsmith]

Had a bit of experience with small layouts...

 

How big an area is the most important thing to start with , where is it located, access to one side/all side?

 

Let us know, were glad to help...

 

[rclick9]

It is about an 8'x8' area.

[Anonymous]

Attached is one of many possibilities for the space.

[kstrong]

With a space that small, you'll be hard-pressed to fit much more than a loop with perhaps a siding or spur. The drawing above is probably about as much as you can expect to fit in that space. (Though I'd be tempted to put a spur or siding on the opposite side, so I have two industries to run between.)

A few things to consider:

1) the largest commercial radius track you'll be able to use is LGB's 16000 (R3) curves. These have a diameter of just under 8'. Using them gives you a circle, and that's about it. LGB does make switches that match this radius, so you can do a circle with spurs to each of the 4 corners, but that may not be the most aesthetically pleasing route to take.

2) Taking point 1 into consideration, you'll probably end up opting for the tighter 15000 curves (5' diameter) or even the 11000 (4' diameter) curves. I'd go with the 5' diameter, just because. The downside is that LGB does not make switches to the 5' diameter, but they do to the 4' diameter. I'd use the 5' diameter curves and the tighter switches, unless you have room for the wider 16000 series switches instead.

3) Such tight curves are going to limit you in terms of what you can reasonably expect to run in the garden. All of LGB's products are designed to fit around their tight curves, though the overhang on the long pieces may keep you from having any plants within 6" of the track on the curves. Personally, I'd stick to the smaller, industrial equipment. I've seen many well-executed industrial railways in small spaces that pack in more features and look larger than many medium-sized railways.

With your small space and your probable reliance on standard LGB track sections, you owe it to yourself to get one of their track-planning templates. That will allow you to sit down with some paper and play with ideas until you find one that you like.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Later,

K

[Anonymous]

Hello again,

Our layout designer went to the "Less is More" school  when it comes to small layouts.

To add interest to the layout why not include a small ready-made water feature, run the tracks across it on a bridge and then add some structures.

For interested readers: all features on the plan are drawn to the proper dimensions.



What is still missing? Scenery!

[Anonymous]

Hello again,

The following is how our layout designer would scenic the 8 ft by  8ft space.



Regards

ER

[Anonymous]

Hi rclick9,

Thanks for the email, we're glad to hear that you will have more room available.

More room means less of a challenge. ;)

Regards

ER