Assitance to select/design/build Large Scale Indoor Layout ( Fon an Attic) Rev 2

[balusita]

Thanks Peter/Gregg for the quick answers,

The is point I have experiencein building garden railways in my backyard ,and I know there are books availabe for Garden ( a lot ) , but little for indoors , so here are few  basic questions on some aspects to decide early in the game:

 Layout Hight - Floor mounted vs. elevatedone ( Weist hight),

Obviously having close to floor sloped roof ( Attic) the closer to the floor the more plan area available  to build the layout , on the other hand the higher the layout the plan area area will be reduced, So, if floor monuted what will be the minimum elevation of track respect to floor level if neccesary ( Jut the roadbed, one foot ?).

Track Radius

What would be minimum radius for two concentric ovals conneceted by switches, I own LGB tracks of the smaller radius ( Sectional), same for switches , is this ok for running different loco sizes?

Roadbed Of whay type ,

The floor is made of wood , I guess very noisy at the time of running trains , like drummers box , is 1/2 " plywood , styrene , cork , ok ?

Thanks - Juan

[vsmith]

Personally, indoors,  I think the higher the better - but you have to decide how far over your back will co-operate putting a 5lb loco onto the track

As for noise, are you going to step on the track area? If not then using 1 inch of foam as a base for the track will really cut down the sound, if you are going to set on the track area, use a plywood deck then use something like 1/4 inch cork to help cut the sound down.

I have found that MOST of the noise indoors comes no from the base, but from metal wheels rolling over brass track.

Are you going to scenic this like a smaller layout? I'm not clear what your long term goals are.

[balusita]

Thankd for the help;

On scenicing , the answer is yes, I love that part of the hobby and I have been practicing over the years with WoddlandScenics Materilas on HO ans N ,  do the same priciples apply to for large scale ?

On hight , I have to check how much plan area  to sacrify to go higher and protect my back at the age of 61.

 

Thnks very much - Juan

[vsmith]

61? ...go as high as you can, you may regret not doing so later.

On scenicing, its exactly the same as any smaller scales, I'm using the shaped blue foam technics and am very pleased with the results. You can see the results here:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/98019.aspx

 

 

[DennisB]

I met a gentleman in Halifax that had back surgery and was forced to take his layout indoors. Here is a link to his web site. Some great pics and info. http://biglittlerailway.blogspot.com/