Any Ideas??

[Anonymous]

I am currently working toward the completetion of my first layout, a 4x8 modeled after the green mountain railroad. Since i started this layout, i have come to love this hobby; as a result of my new found passion for model railroading, i am looking at building a much larger layout, with my 4x8 some how incorporated. i have a large, currently unfinished basement, and wuld like to use a 20x11 foot chunk of it for a new layout. Does anyone have any ideas about what style of layout i should consider using so as to make the most of my space? I am looking for a long mainline run, which would lend itself to a multi-level design. Anything i do is of course limited by the amount of money/time i have at my disposal. Any help would be awesome. Thanks in advance!!

[IRONROOSTER]

You don't say what scale you are working in, but 20x11 is big enough for any of them. Since you are limited by time and money, I would suggest keeping to one level. 20x11 will eat up a lot of both and you may find that is all you have time/money for. Second, while you want a long mainline, what else do you want? passenger facilities, steam with turntable and roundhouse, waterfront, etc., etc. Identifying the feautres you want will help with track planning. I would get a copy of John armstrong's book "Track Planning for Realistic Operation". This will help you understand how the real railroad works and how to recreate it in minature.

Visit some train shows and club openhouses in your area to see some actual layouts.

Finally welcome to the greatest of all hobbies.
Enjoy
Paul

[ndbprr]

A 20' x11' railroad on one level is going to put you in probably the top 20% of all home layouts in size. I wouldn't attempt to go any farther until one level is done. I would make a track that could be rasied to get to the second level at some point in the future. I would do this by putting a cut between it and the rest of the railroad now and covering it with scenery. then if you decide to go to the second level it can be raised by just cutting through scenery and loosening the supports under it from the bottom. I would think a railroad that size would take the average guy at least a couple of years to get nearly finished. Go to two levels and double that time. You need to be sure you have the drive and time to keep at it to go to two levels or more.

[dehusman]

11 ft is a fit narrow to have around the walls with a peninsula down the middle and have a turnback loop in HO. You could put a narrow peninsula with a yard or industry on it.

If you are in N scale you would have room for 12-18" arouns the walls and a 24" peninsula with 16" R on the turnback blob. That will allow for 30-36' aisles.

If you are in HO I would suggest putting 24-30" wide benchwork around the walls with maybe a small peninsula or two, leaving most of the center open for operators. The track plan could easily be a twice around plan. The is also a neat plan in Kalmbach's 48 track plan book for a steam era Adironcack area layout in an 11x18 room. That might be easily adapted to the Green Mountain area.

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions, sorry i didnt specify what scale i'm in, i am in fact in HO scale. The space i have is 11'x20', but i dont have to use all of the space.

QUOTE: I would think a railroad that size would take the average guy at least a couple of years to get nearly finished. Go to two levels and double that time. You need to be sure you have the drive and time to keep at it to go to two levels or more.

That is a concern, seeing how the basement is in a vacation home, and i wouldnt even be able to work on a layout every weekend [:(], which would also mean i should lean to not using all of the space. Just trying to get some preliminary ideas/visions.

[Anonymous]

The 4x8 is too large to reach all the way across from any one side, so it should be placed as a central peninsula, with access on three side. One of the 4' ends would be up against the wall, approximately centered on one of the 20' walls. This leaves 3' of passageway at the other 4' end, unless you choose to run the tracks all the way around the room and build a narrow shelf through there; I wouldn't make any passageway narrower than 24", with 30" being more comfortable. So, you could place a 6" shelf along this opposite 20' wall, which is enough for a double-track mainline. One each of the 11' wall then, you have plenty of space for a shelf layout which branches off of the 4x8 like wings. Each 11' wall could be considered a separate town. You could place full turn-around loops against each of these walls, but you would need some form of hidden or lift-out access to get to the track at the far side of the loop. The alternateives are to either forgo continuous running (except perhaps on the original 4x8, which I assume contains a complete loop itself) or you could continue the track on a shelf all the way around the room, with a necessary duckunder or lift-out bridge of some type.

If you forgo the continuous running, then you might treat each of the "wings" as though it were a branchline that runs out to serve a particular industry. The original 4x8 represents the "mainline", where manifest trains run constantly, and the branchlines must be worked by a slower-moving road-switching turn that picks up some cars dropped off from the mainline, takes them down the branch and swaps them out, empties for loads or whatever, and then returns back to the 4x8 to set them out for the mainline train to pick up on its next run. With two wings, you could model both the supply industry and the demand industry, on separate wings. Thus, operationally you'd be keeping at least three trains busy, one to run out the coal mine for example, one mainline train to collect the coal loads and transfer them around the 4x8 (maybe more than once around for added mileage), and a third train to move the coal into the power plant.

Another thing you can accomodate with the "wings" is staging, which would be a lower-level hidden yard which holds all the mainline trains. This way, you could have a wider variety of mainline trains run through the 4x8 mainline segment. Staging is very simple to add, although access to hidden staging can be an issue, but it adds so much in terms of interest when you run your trains. Each staging track can represent any remote city or interchange; you might even have each branchline be a different supply industry which delivers its loads to a fictional demand industry that is really just a staging track.

[Anonymous]

Some great food for thought there Avondaleguy, thanks a lot!

[randybc2003]

Personaly I would seriously consider "Abandoning" the existing 4x8. Design a NEW track plan for the space in question. Much more satisfying in the long run. Consider a (4x8) peninsula on a diagonal from one of the corners. (see "Spokane & Wallace" - I think, in one of Kalmbach's track plan books. ) J. Anderson's planning book is a GOOD idea.