Well recently, as in a few days ago, I had to give up my "train room" do too family matters out of my control... So I had to tear down my layout some might of remembered it. Well I wasn't far into it, I did have all the track laid with cork in, all though. None the less it was difficult for me to give it up. I did have to give up my large layout but I'm not giving up the hobby. I managed too save 95% of the wood/track/cork/styro foam so monetarily no loss. With that I plan on moving the layout too our basement, a bit less glamorous location (it's a unfinished basement but in good shape), it will be a 4' x 11' about 1/2 the size of my old one (maybe there is a plus in that it's easier to work with and cuts the cost a bit when working with a smaller more manageable layout). With a new layout I need too make a new design. This new design will have the same general theme as the old one. The layout will take place in the modern era in rural Pennsylvania, It'll be ran by Norfolk Southern. The layout will handle goods from the silos, lumberyard, and a warehouse. The layout will also include a small town, farm, engine house, and too the right a more scenic area. Below is my plan (if you have any questions regarding legibility of my hand writing, please ask, writing isn't my strong suite) also not included is the staging yard but I labeled the track that will lead too the staging area.
Please give me you opinions, this is a rough draft and the buildings aren't too scale. I'm mainly going for a functional track design more so then realistic operations. I'm not going to be showing this off too many, and the ones who will see it wont know the difference.
If you own the house, you might want to think about finishing off the basement. It will increase the value of the house and make your new train room more pleasant to be in. I wouldn't worry too much about the so called housing crisis. They aren't making anymore land, except in Hawaii from lava flows, and because the population is always increasing, the value will go up.
You might want to think about a layout that runs around the walls. It will give you more bang for the space.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Assuming your squares are 1 foot, it looks to be about 4'x11.5'? If you have space for 8x11, you might want to open it up and make more of a shelf layout rather than one big solid tabletop. If you push out to the full 8x11 space and leave the center open it will be plenty big enough for standing there and running trains, plus around the outside. It'll use the same amount (or maybe less) wood/foam/whatever you are using for your base as a smaller solid area.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
conrail92 wrote:I don't own the house I just merely live in it, and finishing the basement isn't and option for near future. And your right it is only 4' wide...the 8 was a typo.
Even for a 4' wide layout you will need a 2 foot wide aisle down each 11' long side of the layout to reach things on the layout.
Why not make your layout of 4' long and 2' deep modules mounted on legs, set up in a donut shape, with the operator pit in the center and a low backdrop fastened to the outside of the donut - the backdrop low enough for spectators to peer over (perhaps aided by a chair in the case of kids), high enough that it helps the operator inside the pit create an illusion that the world continues way past the outer edge of the layout.
You would have to get into the pit somehow - a 2 foot wide bridge that is hinged and can be lifted on one end would be the easiest way
Here is a shelf layout design I am making in a room that is just 6 1/2 by 11 1/2 foot:
Couple of pictures to give you an impression of how big an around the wall layout can be when viewed from inside the layout (layout it is not even close to being sceniced properly yet):
Mine is fastened to the wall, but you can have yours free standing on legs, as to not do damage to the property of your landlord.
Might be worth considering - it is also easier to move short 4x2 foot modules (with legs detached) than to move a layout that is 11 foot long out of your present house and into a new house, and it is easier to work on each module when you can put it on it's side to work on the wiring, take it outside to spray paint without getting all the fumes in the house, easier to replace a module with another if you want to change a part of your layout etc.
Grin, Stein
conrail92 wrote:I'm mainly going for a functional track design more so then realistic operations.
Not knowing that I'll still guess and make a few comments.
1. Usually the railroad tracks split a town not the other way around. The industries would be on one side of the tracks and the non-rail served businesses(like drug stores, ice cream shops), government buildings, and residential on the other. Hence the phrase "wrong side of the tracks".
2. Long straight tracks along the edges of the board. This emphasizes that it its a toy train on a board. Trains running on it are boring to look at.
3. One passing track = only one train running at a time.
4. A perfectly radiused curve through the woods is going to look very artificial. Anyway another foot of space could be aquired so the curve doesn't have to be so smooth and perfect?
5. The way the storage tracks are connected one will always have to back the trains either into or out of.
I suppose I was contradicting myself a bit, I guess I'm going for realism too a certain degree but not letting it dictate my descisions entirely...(sorry for poor wording)
1. I'll take that into consideration and probably redraw my scenery plan.
2. I could give the upper straight stretch more curve and personality.
3. I realise this and only planned on having one train on the mainline at a time, and if needed another locomotive doing in town switching
4. Space is limited and it's not really possible
Updated Design:
Edit: This focused on your first design. I had my browser open and computer idle for a few hours before replying.
Going to go down through this "punch list" style....One of the first things I noticed, is that for your customer tracks some of the "leads" to switch them are going to make it a tedious task and not very fun at all. The lumber yard seems like it will be the biggest hassle. The one caviet to that being that if you operate that facility as always having one empty track... you never have to worry about having enough room to double the empties out while holding on to the loads. It could work.
Also, having a ramp for unloading boxcars may be a consideration. Different variations of wood products can come in different cars. Having a ramp for boxcars will also open up to having intermodal flats and other off-rail customers having the ability to ship via rail and trans-load as necessary.
Your grain customer is goouing to need more track. The space needed to unload two rail cars is actually about four cars in length so that you can reach the pocket doors at the farthest end of each car. Five cars will require around ten cars of space. Considering the types and different grades of feed product, it's not uncommon to have six different cars of product or to have multiple grades of product at the same time.
Your staging could include a wye for your trains, if you add a right-handed turnout at the "right" side of the diagram on the vertical side of the 180* curve. For staging, I would consider a three or four track minimally scenic'd double-ended yard. This will allow you to bring one or two trains in, run around, and avoid having to "0-5-O" the locomotive back to the other end.
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Okay, second revision...
Switching your lumber customer off the mainline fixes the problem of not having enough room to double out your empties.
The problem with your grain facility is still there. You don't have enough room to jockey more then 2-3 cars around on each track. During winter time in the colder climates when farmers require more feed and grain products, it's not uncommon for them to require 4-6 cars at minimum.
What does the second track at the warehouse and the grain company do? Each track should have a purpose.
Your engine house, does it have provisions for fueling, sanding, etc? Fueling can be as simple as having a fuel truck pull up and hook on, or an above ground tank with a transfer pump to top off the locomotives as necessary.
Your staging, I would consider the same option as presented above.
conrail92 wrote:The engine house, will have refueling/sand... I'll see if I can make more room at the grain facility.
Your second layout is improved when it comes to switching, having lost the short switchbacks.
But your four foot wide island style layout still requires aisles down both long sides of the layout (and one short side) to get at things - both for working on the layout and for switching.
It could be that your space is so constricted that the 2 foot wide aisles down both long sides of the layout also has to do double duty as an access corridors to get at something on the other side of tour layout (storage shelves, heater, sump pump or whatever).
But that is difficult to know since you have not really commented much on your available room's size and configuration.
Your layout, your call - but I still would urge you to consider several options and to make a deliberate decission about island style vs sectional donut style layout.
conrail92 wrote:On the diagram, the top side aisle area is there because the wall along it is cement, and is sometimes a bit damp since it's below ground and I didn't want the layout anywhere near that. The bottom aisle is needed too access shelving and a cubby hole type storage area in the back.
Makes sense not to put the layout up against a damp wall.
Do you need to have the aisles down along both long sides of the layout, or could you have access to the shelves etc along the outer wall side only ?
Two foot aisles down both sides, or more ?
How about a quick diagram showing the entire room with doors, aisles, layout area and other uses of the room - like this cubby hole type storage area in the back ?
Are you sure you can't eke out another few inches in width beyond the 4-foot "sacred sheet" dimension? It would certainly open up your options. Layouts don't have to be strict rectangles, either. Modulating the width would give you more space for aisles for some of the length but a bit wider benchwork where you need it for turnback curves.
Building in sections rather than a monolith of tabletop is a good way to improve move-ability and reuse-ability.
Think outside the box ... er, rectangle.
ByronModel RR Blog
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conrail92 wrote:
With this room space, you could better utilize it by making an L or C shape, with the long side against the wall to the left. A bump out near the door at the top would widen the layout enough to include a complete curve, if you desire continuous running, with the same basic thing at the bottom of the plan. Essentially a dog bone shape. All along the wall side you can have various tracks and passing sidings. At one of the loops you could have sidings go to the center of the loop, for variety's sake I wouldn't do that at both loops.
If you don;t need continuous running, with that space you could fit in a lot, and at no point would it need ot be wider than 18 or 24".
On the moisture problem. Could you paint the walls with concrete paint that seals out moisture. Make a sub wall with 1 x 2, add some foam board between the foam then drywall. It would make for a good back ground for your sky. Does not have to be permanent, would be easy to remove.
Heck, talk with the landlord, they might give you some rent credit if you fix up the basement.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Hmmm - those shelves on the right wall - are they movable - could they e.g. be relocated to the top and bottom wall (which I assume is somewhere off the bottom of the sketch) ?
Where is the entrance to the room ?
Smile, Stein
conrail92
Well first, how does the door open, into the layout room, or out of it, and second if it opens out, you could have a runaroud route with a branch in the middle maybe.