Hello everyone: My name is Mike Pedri and I am currently serving a year long tour with the WV Army National Guard in Baghdad Iraq. I am about midway through my tour and all I can think about is getting home and beginnin work on my HO scale rr.
I would like to seek help from professional etc in designing a track plan which makes the most use of the space in my layout room. I have a prototype in mind and a location I would like to model.
I currently have a room above the garage which measures 12'6" X 29'6". I perfer a walk in layout without a duck under etc.
Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Mike Pedri
Dear Mike
I like the work of Byron Henderson. He has a tremendous webside, whitch answers probably half your questions. You have a great space to work with.
Wish you all the luck you need and come back in good health, may God bless you and your family.
Paulus Jas
I would suggest that you contact an active model railroad club in your home area to establish friendships, get good ideas and "help", to "Dream-Plan-Build" your possible, rather extensive, layout.
My HO scale layout is an around the room 24'x24' garage loft layout with an inside stairway at one end. My suggestion is to plan a layout that can be expanded, as time and finances permit. Before even starting the benchwork, you will probably have to insulate the loft and install electrical outlets on all four walls, and wiring for overhead lighting. I used 10 double-tube shop lights, (which cannot be dimmed and in Michigan are senitive to cold temperatures) Where are you located ? I would suggest using canister lighting). I insulated the space between ceiling raftwers and installed suspended framed insulation fiber board, with the 10 shoplights with random pattern plastic light filters. I, then, began installing Luan backdrop, around the four walls. The hip roof brought the two side walls to within 24inches of the top of my 38" layout top. I purchased 7"x11" SceniKing sectional continuous photo panorama packets, of low hills,farms, and urban settings, with uniform sky color at the top of each section. I matched the sky color at the paint store, and painted the entire four wall backdrop, before using a giant glue stick to attach the SceniKing sections. I planned the entire 110 switch, maxi-switching DCC layout, with six reverse loops, which allows for over a dozen different routes for 6-8 locos to travel independently. I built the layout, in four stages, as four independent Power Districts using dead turnouts, in anticipation of later expansion to the pre-planned, present around the room layout. Your 12'6"x29'6" space should allow for opposed peninsulas for industries and an around the room mainline. Perhap, the photo of my layout will provide you with some ideas. Click on the photo to enlarge it, and then click on the photos on the left, to view parts of my layout. Bob Hahn
Paulus Jas...Byron Henderson. He has a tremendous webside
Which would be www.layoutvision.com.
He also very graciously posts advice and critiques on these forums as cuyama. I would definitely check him out as a professional resource.
Mike
Nice to see you are getting comments. May be you have the last 2009 MR Planning magazine. Nice to compare Lance Mindheim's Miami downtown spur with Bob Hahn's layout.
So many boys so many tastes.
Paul Jas
Hi there
Without hesitation I would recommend Lance Mindheim for layout planning.
http://www.shelflayouts.com/
I had Lance plan my layout ( 16' x 12' ) and I have to say he did a really outstanding job.
He starts out with a fact sheet that you complete, asking questions such as scale, layout size, what era, scenery considerations etc. The more info he has the better for him to come up with the "perfect" plan.
What follows are various ideas he has before both parties settle on a final plan.
The pack that follows has complete layout dimensions, amount of flex track required, turnout #'s, wiring and scenery ideas.
Once construction has started I found Lance to be very accommodative when it came to asking follow-up questions.
Perhaps it was that his approach to modelling is similar to mine, but the overall service and advice Lance offered was fantastic and highly professional.
As the old saying goes " you get what you pay for" and in my case it was certainly worth the money.
Good luck
I second the recommendation on Lance Mindheim. He put a plan together for me awhile back. Both the final result and Lance's service were top-notch. You'll see Lance's work throughout the pages of many model railroad magazines.
Tim Fahey
Musconetcong Branch of the Lehigh Valley RR
Well I have to say that I am flabergasted at the number of people to seek "professional" help for track layout design. To me that is the most interesting and enjoyable parts of the hobby. Perhaps I should go into that business.
Texas Zepher To me that is the most interesting and enjoyable parts of the hobby.
To me that is the most interesting and enjoyable parts of the hobby.
Perhaps it is for you and me (well, to me it is one of the more interesting...), but not for a lot of other folks.
Mark
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
I find it highly interesting to see, that quite a lot of people, and that includes myself as well, are seeking help in designing their dream layout. There is a lot of information available in This forum and otherweb pages, and most people i have encountered are really helpful.
IMHO, it all boils down to finding out what you really want. The will to own and run a model railroad is not sufficient a foundation to design a trackplan, that will give years of enjoyment in building and operation.
I found the lack of knowledge on prototype operation the biggest shortcoming for designing my dream layout. I do know quite a bit about railroading in Europe, but if you model US prototype, it is just different. We run ´em trains differently, her over the big pond...
A check list, that would lead us model railroaders to be through the decision making process, is a big help!