So some of you may remember several years ago I posted a question about designing a layout in my basement. The responses were great and it gave me lots of ideas on how to progress with the design.
Well I got some graph paper and drew out in detail the 2 rooms in question. I found some excellent ideas for track arrangements in several areas and was coming along nicely. I practiced carving foam for scenery, was gathering boxes of lime light hydrangea flowers in the fall and sedum in the fall. All in an effort to gather materials while I was planning. Along came life and 2 boys. Both of which are very much into trains. Said layout became a 4x8 on our unused pool table with a couple sidings for building and storing an extra loco or 2 so I would not have to walk back to the shop so many times.
Well this past july we moved and everything came to a hault. I have been busy building shelving wherever I can find a spot to put some up. I got a lot done but still have a few more to go to get everything where I want it. That means it will free up space for a railroad. S
So right now said railroad is a double track dogbone with one crossover( to power both the tracks) and one switch that leads off to a shop and some storage tracks. All this being on the floor. And it is in my workshop area. I am working on clearing some things off rubbermaid shelves to shelves I have built to give me more room to build.
The boys are enjoying it imensly but I am not so satisfied. for one it is on the floor but that is and will be changing as I get space available. I plan on making it in sections for easier removal if needed. My not so satisfied self does not like what I have got so far. My dilema is in the fact I will need room to get into the shop and possibly and eventually need to move wood in and out so isle width is very important. The loop de loop work for the boys as there is no having to go back and forth and move care from one end of the train to the other all the time. I would like a shelf type layout but would also like to just let em run. At some point in time at this house when the boys get older their current play room could be used as the layout room hence the modular type construction.
So my question here is what do I do? I have no planning experience and have not built a layout before. If I posted dims would you all like to chime in with what would work in the space like you all did a few years ago. This I think would get me thinking outside the box like the other house and maybe come up with some good ideas on where I should go with this project
As always thanks for your help and input
Mike
alco's forever!!!!! Majoring in HO scale Minorig in O scale:)
"What do I do?" is a question none of us can really answer, Mike. The real question might be "What do I [you] want to do?"
We can all give you tons of good advice, all filtered through our own perspectives. The difficulty is that they won't match your perspective. Key here is to take what advice seems to fit, and ignore that which doesn't.
So...
Are you a "roundy-rounder" kind of guy (someone who just likes to watch the trains run), or an "operations" kind of guy (someone who likes making up and breaking up trains, switching cars into and out of industries, etc.)? Somewhere in between, or have no idea? Any answer is fine, and I think most of us were in the "no idea" category once upon a time (some of us never leave it!).
Since you've never built a layout, you might consider starting with something simple and compact. The often-maligned and somewhat dreaded 4X8 sheet of plywood may help you there. A bit more flexibility might be obtained with a ping pong table (that's 5X10 or something close to it, I think). Look at some track planning books - there are tons of them out there, showing layouts of every size. One of the best is still 101 Track Plans, written by Linn Westcott probably 60 or more years ago.
In any case, build the layout (lay your track carefully - bad trackwork and constant derailments can ruin your enjoyment very quickly) and run some trains. Consider this first layout a testbed that's not meant to be permanent. Change it around as you try different things, then when you have a better idea of what you want you can start something more "permanent."
Read about others' layouts, watch some Youtube videos, and maybe sign up for MRVP. Seeing in person what others have done is a great way to help you decide what you want to do, so go visit some local area layouts, if you can.
Sorry - long-winded. But maybe that's a bit of a start...
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Ditto what Mark said.
What I would suggest is to visit a local model railroad club. They are usually made up ofa wide variety of members with a wide variety of preferences. In other words, you can try things out and see if what you prefer is watch trains run, what you prefer is delivering cars at industries, or what you prefer sorting cars and making up trains at a rail yard.
Once you know what you like, you can start thinking about designing a layout.
So you have two places you can start. You can do like Mark suggests and build a starter railroad and you can join a club.
So once you figure out what you like about trains, you can start thinking about the theme of your layout. After all, trains are about commerce and they need to serve their customers: Industries.
Things to think about:
What part of the country and what era you want to model?
That in turn dictates what kind of industries you will serve.
It also dictates the types of locomotives road names that service the area.
Unless you want to spend lot of money and/or sell stuff on eBay. Try not to buy a lot of stuff until you start to narrow in on your preferences.
Good luck and have fun exploring.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
rs2mikeSaid layout became a 4x8 on our unused pool table with a couple sidings for building and storing an extra loco or 2 so I would not have to walk back to the shop so many times.
Since you've already built one HO 4X8, it will likely not be instructive to build another.
As others have noted, only you could know what you will find more satisfying. Looking through published plans and on the Internet may help you see ideas that you like and don’t like. Choosing era, locale, and key industries will also help narrow things down.
If you would like folks on the forum to make suggestions, a dimensioned drawing of your space showing room entrance(s), obstructions, etc. may help others help you.
Good luck with your layout.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Thanks for the reply guys. Mouse nice to see you back on the forum.
Yeah I have been on here since 2005-06. Since photobucket dropped our free service I have been just lurking and watching the wpf every week. I have all of the said planning books and the track plannig books mentioned. Also have a couple bachmann planning books because a couple plans peaked my interest. I have also Been looking at all the plans here and on google and pintrist.
At the other house I was going to be a point to point bascially starting in my workshop on one 18 foot wall and going out the door via a lift out x bridge. It would then circle around the room to another lift out by the main enterance to the spare room in the basement, then make its way around back through the shop door to the other side of the shop to a yard and engine service track on the short wall( my 2 workbenches took up the rest of the wall on that side)
The idea was a modern free lance logging layout similar to canfor or camis prairie. I was planning along one wall of spare room the logging operations as it relates to getting the logs onto the train cars. various other industries and town scenes would be on opposing wall. On the long wall in the shop I was going to have a 5 track yard(small would hold a 12 car 40' car length train with engine escape)that would escape off the one end to the locomotive shops and service area. I was thinking of incorportating a scene like larry truck and electric over by the door with a bunch of dummy engines. Current roster are 4 atlas mp15 engines, 4 atlas and proto rs11, 2 atlas rsd4 engines, an atlas rs1, a bachmann 45 ton switcher, and 2 roundhouse boxcabs converted with bachmann dcc chasis.
I will get some dimensions of the current space I have to work with. This area is both my workshop, spare fridge, shelving storage area. In time the boys playroom would be available and I might be able to run the track around the shop area through the wall to the other room but there would be a good walk between the two rooms and no way to watch the train movement. So in the future that may just be its own layout room and scrap the one in the workshop.
thanks
Ok sorry been busy the last couple days. The toom dims are. As follows
22' x 9.5 ft at the skinny end by the door
22' x 11 wide at the workbench end
i could extend the length by 6' at the workbench end as a shelf type structure maybe 12"-18"wide. Has to be removabe for access to the well pump and water softener stuff
i could also go an additional 4' on the door ens as the same type of bench skinny wise.
does this make sense?