Hi Rob,
welcome to the crowd! You will find a lot of helpful people in this forum, with a lot of advice!
If you know you will be moving house pretty soon, you need to design a "portable" layout. Kalmbach has just published a book on shelf layouts which I can recommend. There are not that many track plans in there, but a good help for the construction basics of shelf layouts.
The most important step, however, is to find out, what you really want. What type of line or prototype you would like to model, what type of operation, what era etc.
Make a list of your givens and druthers to form a basis for discussion. Check this forum - there are many valuable recommendations in here, especially from guys like steinjr and SpaceMouse.
And, last but not least...
Hey Rob,
Can't recommend a book, but I recently started work on a sectional layout designed to be easily put up and taken down. We're using hollow core doors, with 2" foam on top, and folding legs screwed to 1x4s attached to the bottom. It's a pretty standard approach, but it provides a great deal of stability while remaining relatively light weight.
You may want to consider using two doors configured in an "L" in one corner, with temporary tables attached to run along the other walls. The doors will provide a sturdy base if you want to move beyond tracklaying and into scenery, and will be transportable when you move.
One more suggestion: Design something that can be incorporated into a larger, perhaps permanent layout someday. That way you're not wasting time and materials.
Good luck!
Okay, I have been told to quit loafing around and do something with one of my hobbies. I figure if I work on a layout then I will be at home and not out driving all over the countryside. I have been given a small room to use (roughly 8' X 12'). I do not want to take up the whole room, so I was thinking of a 3' X 8' "table" at one end and then a 2' shelf around the rest of the room with a removeable section for the doorway.
It has been almost 20 years since I have had a layout. That was back in the days of using plywood as a base. I am thinking now of using an L- girder style structure underneath and then foam board for the "table". Is this the way that it is being done these days?
I want to create a layout that doesn't look too hokie, but yet I will have to be able to move it next summer. I think we may be headed out west (Montana, Wyoming, ???) for her graduate school next year.
Are there any highly recommended books out there for creating such a layout?
Rob S.
Robert H. Shilling II