Hi,
Haven't posted in awhile been doing alot of reading and studying. If you don't recall I am looking into building a rr for the kids plus myself of course. Since I know the kids will want to run the trains as opposed to prototypical operations I would like an opinon on this layout. I found it on the nmra website under the beginner section.
First yes it's a 4x8 and yes I know some of you hate them, however there is also an extended plus that I might be able to incorparate later on.
Thanks, Tom
kf4mat wrote:Hi,Haven't posted in awhile been doing alot of reading and studying. If you don't recall I am looking into building a rr for the kids plus myself of course. Since I know the kids will want to run the trains as opposed to prototypical operations I would like an opinon on this layout. I found it on the nmra website under the beginner section. First yes it's a 4x8 and yes I know some of you hate them, however there is also an extended plus that I might be able to incorparate later on.Thanks, Tom
It is a layout. It looks buildable. If you have the necessary available 8x10 floor space (4x8 for layout, room for 2 foot wide aisles on three sides) you will need to build, operate and maintail this layout, and you are actually building a layout for the kids to enjoy, then just go for it!
When it comes to getting a layout up and running for kids, remember Napoleon's words: "ask me for anything but time". They grow up fast, and their interests changes quickly.
Plus whatever you learn building and running the 4x8 can be used for a bigger layout for yourself later in life, if you decide you want something else later.
This is what I built for my kids in a room that was 6 1/2 feet wide and 11 1/2 feet long when they were younger - "benchwork" (shelves made of various scrap materials) took a weekend, track plan was two parallell and independent loops side by side and we never quite got around to doing much scenery, but they got a lot of enjoyment out of watching their trains race each other around the room and stopping at station buildings made of cardboard:
Here is another one, a dogbone built with some old table legs and old tabletops from the scrap pile - track plan is a simple dogbone with 15" radius curves (which works for sectional Märklin tracks if you don't mind long cars having a ridiculous overhand in curves - which kids don't) put up in out living room for a couple of weeks around the birthday of our youngest son last year (one of my own shelf switching layouts in the background on the wall) :
For the kids - just build something quickly. Speed is far more important than a great track plan there. In my opinion - your mileage may vary.
Grin, Stein
My big disagreement with the layout is the two 18" radius s-curves in the main line. This design is a one-train only type design. For a second train it needs a passing siding on the lower part somehow. I think one could do much better with a 4x8 space. The advantage of this design is in the expansion.
Another thread recently talked about this layout. A few of the comments might be helpful. http://cs.trains.com/forums/1532703/ShowPost.aspx
Texas Zepher wrote: My big disagreement with the layout is the two 18" radius s-curves in the main line. This design is a one-train only type design. For a second train it needs a passing siding on the lower part somehow. I think one could do much better with a 4x8 space. The advantage of this design is in the expansion. Another thread recently talked about this layout. A few of the comments might be helpful. http://cs.trains.com/forums/1532703/ShowPost.aspx
Many, many ways of doing a 4x8 (or 4x6 or 4x9) layouts. Personally I like the NMRA gateway chapter's project layouts better than the layout above:
Have a look e.g at the 2000 project layout:
But there are many ways of doing 4 x something layouts that will work for running trains for kids round and round and allowing a parent to do a little switching. One pretty good 4x8 design is the layout of forum poster RRtrainman - this one allows several trains to run at the same time on the outer loops while switching the industries in the center of the layout:
Texas Zepher wrote:My big disagreement with the layout is the two 18" radius s-curves in the main line. This design is a one-train only type design. For a second train it needs a passing siding on the lower part somehow. I think one could do much better with a 4x8 space. The advantage of this design is in the expansion.
Thanks I did not even see the s-curves until you mentioned it.
Texas Zepher wrote: Another thread recently talked about this layout. A few of the comments might be helpful. http://cs.trains.com/forums/1532703/ShowPost.aspx
I will go and look at the thread.
Thanks again,
Tom
steinjr wrote: Many, many ways of doing a 4x8 (or 4x6 or 4x9) layouts. Personally I like the NMRA gateway chapter's project layouts better than the layout above: NMRA gateway (St. Louis) division project layouts: http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project.htm Have a look e.g at the 2000 project layout:
I have looked at those as well and a couple of them caught my eye.
steinjr wrote: But there are many ways of doing 4 x something layouts that will work for running trains for kids round and round and allowing a parent to do a little switching. One pretty good 4x8 design is the layout of forum poster RRtrainman - this one allows several trains to run at the same time on the outer loops while switching the industries in the center of the layout: Grin, Stein
Well then I guess it's back to the drawing board for me.
Thanks,