Sir Madog Well, Stein, I guess you are right there! But a 2´by 6´ footprint is not big enough to have all what the OP wants. The trick is to adapt one´s druthers to the givens and when space is at a premium, you have to make that dreadful either/or decision. If the OP has some space left, which he may occupy even only temporarily, he can add two cassettes for staging to the left of the layout - just as MR did in their project.
Well, Stein, I guess you are right there!
But a 2´by 6´ footprint is not big enough to have all what the OP wants. The trick is to adapt one´s druthers to the givens and when space is at a premium, you have to make that dreadful either/or decision. If the OP has some space left, which he may occupy even only temporarily, he can add two cassettes for staging to the left of the layout - just as MR did in their project.
Ulrich,From my experience learn the from the great school of lessons learned the hard way(which I was the valedictorian of several lessons) a 30" x 80" or 36" x 80" door is the better choice..These sizes allow room for larger curves.
Yes! Its true! You want to use the largest possible size curve you can in N...Another valedictorian thing learned years ago.
I do like the layout you designed.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Dan, I feel your pain. You want to get moving, but it's hard to commit to a plan.
But I think Stein hit it on the head earlier; this is a temporary layout. So don't let "perfect" be the enemy of "good enough" when it comes to making a decision and moving forward. Maybe you get a layout going and you discover some changes you'd like to make. Easy enough using the hollow core door approach. If you're using caulk to hold your track and roadbed down, it's easy enough to pry 'em up and re-lay 'em (if you proceed with care). Or maybe everything turns out great, and you can incorporate this starter layout into a larger operation after you make the move to a different home.
I was facing the same problem, designing and designing without actually building anything. Paralysis by analysis. So I finally just plunged in, and couldn't be happier with the results.
Now, don't get me wrong. You have to have a certain level of comfort with what you're building, and confidence that the track plan will allow you to do what you want to do. But after 35+ plus years of studying 'em, I don't think there's anything such as a "perfect" track plan. There are plans that will work for you, and plans that won't.
And I'll second two other bits of advice: Get the Armstrong book; it and Bruce Chubb's "How to Operate Your Model Railroad" are indispensable. And go for the full-sze hollow core door, 6-foot-8 instead of 6 feet. (You'll appreciate the stability of a door.) And 32" width is probably ideal for N.
Good luck!
BRAKIEUlrich,From my experience learn the from the great school of lessons learned the hard way(which I was the valedictorian of several lessons) a 30" x 80" or 36" x 80" door is the better choice..These sizes allow room for larger curves.
No doubt.
But if you look again at the room plan the OP posted, how do you propose putting a 36" x 80" door into the room while still having room for that big bed in there?
Mmmm - I suppose one option might be to take off the doors of the closet and letting the layout extend 8" to 10" into the closet, to make it a little bit longer and make it 32 x 80".
Any other ways of organizing the room so the OP would both have room for the bed and a hollow core door layout ?
Smile,Stein
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I see..That large bed does make it rough..
I see one way..Get a smaller bed or go with the 30" x 72" door...
Or another option is to put folding legs under the door, so that when it's not in use you simply fold 'em up and lean the layout against the wall. Or hide it in the closet or tuck it under the bed (if you have the clearance).
For myself, I don't expect to have permanent space for a layout for 2-3 years, so that's the route I'm taking. When I'm not working on the layout, it gets folded up and set back in a corner of the garage. It only takes up 2-3 square feet of floor space when it's in storage mode.
Granted, this could be problematic if you have a high scenic profile, or lots and lots of structures. The door I'm working on now has neither. There will be only one major structure, and I'm planning to cement a permanent "foundation" for it onto the layout, so the structure itself can be removed and stored separately.
Some interesting ideas. :)
Adding the short L-shaped extension is about all of the room and room changing I'm ging for now. I know its always tempting to add space here and there, I just have to draw the line. I built the door and foam base today and will be working on benchwork tomorrow. I also have doodled some alternatives that I think are a vast improvement over my first two CAD drawings. I'm not ready to attempt a 3rd cad yet as I'm still playing with some things.
I CAN say that the short extension along the wall has added some interesting possibilities. I'm surprised at what a small space can do to get me thinking of possibilities.
Thanks everyone, the discussions are getting interesting.
Dan
Well, I took a large step back over the past week and scrapped the narrow switching area for the layout. I built the benchwork and things are coming along. Still no "final" plan yet.
I spent many days thinking about what I wanted and using some suggestions here and elsewhere have an updated plan. This is still not perfectly laid out on cad but I was hoping to get some feedback on the following so please ignore the slight misalignments...this is more a drawing phase than a technical phase atm.
1. Upper right corner...would a switch and a straight track going into the building there be a nice addition? Another destination for freight appeals to me but I'm not sure how doable it is.
2. Do I now have TOO MUCH trackage as opposed to not enough? (My idea was to have a continuous loop train logging miles if my wife or boys felt like joining me while I worked the inner sidings and industrial deliveries.)
3. Any glaring derail points..things that don;t make sense.... etc? I worry a bit about the suggested expansion into a "yard" on the L-eextension...I have no where for my switcher to escape or run around in this area... (I built a 5-3-3 Inglenook area for when I just feel like "playing" but can use this area more realisitcally as well when I do an operating session.)
4. Visually, I think I've used my available space MUCH better. I believe haviing your feedback and a prototype area to break things down helped quite alot.
Still no 102 Track Plans....must have ordered on an odd shipping day. ;/
Thanks again to the track planning experts out there your suggestions really helped me take a step back and think...Looking forward to more suggestions.
Dan T I spent many days thinking about what I wanted
So what did your list of "musts and wants" (givens and druthers) end up looking like? I'd say that these are included:
- must be N scale - must fit into corner between door and closet in spare bedroom - must have continuous run - must have several industry tracks to switch - should have an urban look
What else have you decided that you want and need?
Is it e.g. really a given the main track plan has to be an oval on a level and rectangular table, with sidings stuck all around the oval (including at the back, where they will be hard to reach) ?
If you are going to block access to the closet anyways, why not go all out? How about a twisted dogbone on a water wing shaped layout with some height variations?
Turnouts are Peco code 55 (those brits have small homes - they make turnouts intended for small layouts). Curve radius is 13", which I am told should work okay in N scale - I don't have any experience with N scale myself - the trains are too small for my taste.
Unfortunately I've taken all of the room I'm going to get as is.
The N-Scale is actually a druther. I assumed that it would be the only scale that will fit into my very limited space.
It is not a given that I need a continuous loop. I just feel that it would attract my family more than an industrial switching type layout. I could be wrong. :)
This will be my first delve into N-Scale as well. I do like the detail of HO, I simply didn't feel I had the space for an HO layout of any merit and fun.
I wonder if you think it is possible to even consider HO in the area I have open to me. I realize it would have to ALL be industrial switching. Any ideas in HO scale?
If you are still lookiing for ideas, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Carolina Central. It is published in the latest version of what used to be called teh N Scale Primier I think it is called Getting Started in N Scale or something like that. It is published by Kalmbach.
Also on the Atlas Forum (N Scale), do a search for "Carolina Central" it is an older thread, but goes on for over 15 pages. It is all about buildiing a door layout, and is a very good source for information.
MRL Guy If you are still lookiing for ideas, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Carolina Central. It is published in the latest version of what used to be called teh N Scale Primier I think it is called Getting Started in N Scale or something like that. It is published by Kalmbach. Also on the Atlas Forum (N Scale), do a search for "Carolina Central" it is an older thread, but goes on for over 15 pages. It is all about buildiing a door layout, and is a very good source for information.
Can be seen here, in Kato's version: http://www.katousa.com/track-plans/carolina-central.jpg
In principle, it is similar to Byron Henderson's "Dallas on a door" layout. Loop. Double ended siding at back for staging or meets, Some industry tracks in from the front.
Byron's plan is, IMO, a more interesting plan than the Carolina Central. If the OP wants to do 30" x 72" and continuous run, he should probably do something similar. And maybe avoid the industry tracks the OP seem to persists in trying to add at the rear of his layout, where he cannot easily reach them to couple or uncouple cars.
Marty McGuirk also has the Pine Tree Central (alias Androscoggin Central), which is a bigger project layout (4x8 feet in N scale), with a far more interesting track plan than the Carolina Central - can be seen (in an early version) over at the railroad-line forum: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22305