Hey Nevin,
I am getting ready to add a section which will be 18"-24" shelf section to my layout, but it will be lower than yours. I considered that height also, but didn't like it. If I were you, I personally would put a piece of shelf up at the 60" level, stand up close with the track and train on it, then back up a few feet away, then judge for yourself by your height, if it is going to look good, or if you will have to forfit the 17" extension and keep it at 54" height. If your layout is just for adults, it will be great, if for kids, you will have to keep a stool handy. Good Luck!
60" isn't too high if you don't go too deep. I'd be careful about going over 18" deep. You can always keep a little stool to work from when you need to reach back. Switching and uncoupling can get a little frustrating specially with buildings or trees in front.
Nevin,
I spent a lot of time thinking and fussing with this on my new version 3. I wanted it at 54" so my benches below would be 'open' to work around. However, althought I am 6' 2", the 24" depth was just uncomfortable to work on without a stool. The thought of working on a stool for the next few years as I finished my layout was enough to get me to go to 49". Since my layout is being built as modular with adjustable and removable legs, I can raise or lower the layout in the future with some help and ingenuity.
My strongest suggestion is to make the framwork modular and adjustable. Nothing is permanent and I seem to change my mind as my skills and desires change.
By the way, like Art pointed out, children are an important consideration to me and my layout so I am planning on portable 'viewing' benches so they can enjoy and see the layout at eye ball level.
Good luck!
my 2 cents, worth nothing more
Joe
Mine will be at 60" and no ifs buts or maybes. The workbench is going under there along one wall.
If I have to, I will use one of those portable stepstools out of the laundry room.. one of those big plastic collaspable things you stand on.
The railroad isnt expected to be pernament. Changes will occur in the future.
I built my yard at 54" and the rest of the layout only a few inches higher.Uncoupling is my only concern. It does get tiresome uncoupling in the yard as I have not installed any magnets yet. Reaching that high will wear you and your operators out. The only other place where there is reaching issues is actually 54" high and I will install magnets there also, but its only three sidings.
I am 6'2" and like my results. I did build a 4' long two level step for those requiring a little lift to see the action. I have had three kids running trains while perched on it with no problem. Some people see trains soley as toys( oh, they are ), but when viewed at eye level it takes away the toylike feeling.
I think you need to do an experiment as suggested above and make it an operating lab. You need to know how you will see turnout alignment, car spotting, and things of that nature.
John
I'm 5'11". My current layout is 58" high. This is great for the duckunder into the room and viewing the front train up close. But it's not so good for working on the layout and viewing a second train or anything behind the train in the scenery. My next layout, currently under construction is 50" with no duckunders. This is an experiment to see if I like that height better.
Enjoy
Paul
If you can't raise the bridge, lower the river.
You posted that you were happy with a layout 5 inches closer to the deck than you are looking out now -
NO PROBLEM!
Just put bindings on a couple of 12 inch chunks of 6 x 6 (actually 5.5 x 5.5) and walk all over God's heaven - or your layout room, whichever is more accessible.
Then, when you operate, take 'em off, and enjoy the near track level view.
Chuck (thinking outside the box, and modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I am in the process of building my shelf layout as well. I have a 24" max width shelf around a 10X13 room with a peninsula 36" wide coming out of the center of the 13' wall. I have the shelf bottom set a 54" abov the floor. I came to this number in a most scientific method. While sitting in my hobby work bench chair ( an old office wooden one, actually my Dad's from the 1950's) Ihad my wife measure to see how tall I was. she measured me at 51" and then I added 3" for clearance. With this height I can now sit in my chair roll under my "roll unders", work on the underside of the layout all while sitting in the comfort of my chair. Likewise this allows me to be able to see what I am working on using my trusty trifocals glasses without always having to strain my neck in some very unpopular ways. I grant you that this now gives my layout surface a height of nearly 60" (2.5" steel studs + 3/16ths luan plywood + 2" pink foam board. But with one of the handy stools built from plans in Model Railroader to look like a stewards stool I can reach anything comfortably on top. by the way i am 5' 11" tall and 58 years old. So I know that in the future I will still be able to function on this layout.
By the way the steel studs as bench work are terrific. but that is the subject of a diffrent thread.
If your name is "Magilla The Gorrilla" and if you have arms that are 4 feet long, go for it. But myself, I am 6'6" amd I have a "long range reach". And the club I belong to just finished "rebuilding" the club layout. Things were "cut back", "shortened", "re-engineered" as to make the layout easier for the club members to operate, maintain, and overall, get rid of "hidden" areas that would be to hard to maintain track wise and electricaly. When designing a layout you have to think access,access,access. Here is a good example, say you install a switch on your layout WAAAAAY in the back. Time comes for some "needed maintenance" on said switch. Layout is "done", buildings, scenery,trackwork are finished, and all your construction tool put away. You will "almost" have to "deconstruct" everything that is in the way, and you "start over" at square 1
60" is too tall for me. It's 2" under the top of my head.
Don't expect me to come to operate.
Your question is best answered by asking yourself what do "you" want from the layout.
When I planned my benches, I read many comments from modelers on many threads on this same subject, as well as some very good info in MRR books.
I decided on a base height for my tables of 38" with 2 1/2" of foam glued to the top of the plywood top, giving a total height of 40 1/2".
I am 5'-9" and get under the tables easily, and, I wanted the grandkids to be able to see the trains at a nice level for their eyes. For the little ones there is a safety platform to stand on.
This works for me, good luck with your layout, you have taken the first correct step, gathering info.
I think you're going to find that extra 5" to be a problem. You say at 55" your last layout was perfect. Although it only sounds like a little, that extra 5" will limit your reach quite a bit.
As suggested make a temporary 24" table and try to reach the back. I'm 5' 10" and at 55" I do just fine. However, add that 5" to make it 60" above the floor and now my arm pit is even with the table making it hard for me to reach over anything to get to the back.
Personally I don't want to use a stool everytime I want to reach the back of the layout. That's a real hassle.
17" in length isn't much to give up to be comfortable with the height.
Just my 2 cents.
Bill
I am 6'8" and my own layout height is in the mid 50 inches. I like the perspective since I am still above the trains looking down. On the other hand my wife, who is 5'6" says she cannot see everything I am pointing out to her. (or maybe that is just her way of saying "yeah great bridge, can I leave now?").
My first choice for height was 60". I use the David Barrow domino approach so it was relatively simple to shorten the intermediate legs ( 1 x 4 lumber) that come up from the initial framework to the upper frame work. I did not have to shorten the actual 2 x 2 legs that go to the floor. I think I had three dominos finished before I decided I had made them a bit too high.
I operate on a layout where the upper portions are probably 60" high. They are OK but even for me a bit awkward -- and that is just operating, not track laying, wiring, or maintaining. On the other hand it might be my tennis elbow that makes it awkward for me
The guy who has this layout has purchased a step that is about 3 ft long by 16 inches wide. I think it is intended for exercising. it might be made by Rubbermaid (?). Most of the operators use it to switch that very high part of the layout. I would use it but I would scrape the top of my head off on the duct vent.
Tony Koester advises trying things like this out. Do you have a bookcase with a 60" high shelf? Empty it and build a little diorama on a cardboard base. Try laying some cheap sectional track on double sided tape, run some freight cars around with your fingers and try to uncouple them. What would it be like to solder a wire to the outside edge of a far track? If at the end of the day you think "yeah I can do this" -- well that gives you a comfort level.
Dave Nelson
I'm 6'4", and I plan to build my next layout with the track at 54" off the floor. I have worked on layouts that require using a step stool to reach to the back of the benchwork. This gets to be a pain, especially as you get older. If 55" worked for you in the past, why not use it on your new layout? Is gaining another 17" of space worth the inconvenience of the 60" height? With regard to having the height of the layout at a level that a child can easily view it, I'd remind you that children do grow. I'd build the layout at a height that is convenient for you. If the children involved need a lift to see the trains running, build them a sturdy bench to get them up to train height.
Bob
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
I do have a couple of possible solutions.
1. Make your layout in two different levels. 60" where it have to be it and lower for the rest.
2. If the 60" height is dependent of the access of a panel, make those last piece of layout removable.
3. If it is a switch behind the extra length of layout, make a "waist" on the layout so you can access the switckes behind the backdrop.
My N-scale shelf layout is 15" deep and sits at 57" for the upper level and 43" for the lower level.
Shaun