The four foot width is both too narrow and too wide.
At the end turnback curves, it's too narrow because it keeps you from using anything larger than a 22" radius, limiting the types of equipment you can run.
In the middle of the "L", it's much too wide because it keeps you from being able to reach a good portion of the layout -- wasted space.
For a small amount of effort in cutting wood, you can achieve much more with a bent "dogbone" of layout such as Stein showed.
Just because that's the most common size of plywood doesn't mean it's the best choice for an HO model railroad.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
nik.n,
maybe you want to take a look at this web page from the NMRA Gateway Division, which has some interesting small layouts which I think could fit your bill
Not knowing how open the rest of the room will be maybe your best bet is to build a 4x8 on casters and just pull it out from the wall when you want to work on it or operate.
Chris
Check out my railroad at: Buffalo and Southwestern
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nik .n After conferring with him, I have a 12' by 18' space to work with. The room is laid out like this: A lot of space to work with.
After conferring with him, I have a 12' by 18' space to work with.
The room is laid out like this:
A lot of space to work with.
Make a drawing that is to scale instead of "not to scale". "Not to scale" tends to fool you.
Then consider that your reach will be about 24-30" at max. Do not put the majority of the tracks where you will do switching more than 24" from the aisle. On your original drawing, pretty much all the action is on the sides that will be in against the walls ...
If you absolutely want to do continuous run in H0 scale on an L shaped layout up against a wall, do a narrow center/corner (<24" deep at the deepest) and wider lobes (wide enough for the turn back curve) on the sides. Doing a figure 8 might be an idea.
In general, N scale is a smarter choice than H0 scale if you need to do a continuous run loop of some kind on a table up against two walls - since it allows not too sharp turn back curves on 30" deep tables (where the 180 degree curve is).
Somewhere I have a figure 8 corner layout drawing I drew for someone doing N scale - ah - found it:
You could of course use the same basic idea - figure 8, narrow waist, wider side lobes for the turn back curves in H0 scale if you want to go with an L shape layout in H0 scale.
But if you do, put your table on casters (office chair wheels), so you can pull it out to work on tracks and scenery along the back. Standing on a chair leaning over to reach gets old real fast, even for young guys.
Mmm - you could also to some degree minimize reach issues on one side by having an U -shaped dumb bell - where the turn back curves gets push out onto the floor with access along both sides of the turnback peninsulas - like the rightmost turn back curve in this old drawing:
There are also other options in your space - you could e.g. make an O shaped layout with a duck-under to get into a central pit, like the classic Heart of Georgia layout.
Lots of options - but I would start with a to scale drawing of the room and the stuff you need to have in it. And a serious consideration about whether to go N scale - you will probably be moving out from your partents' house in not too long.
College dorms tend to be small. So are apartments - relatively few people get a big house with a big basement on the salary they get for their first job.
Doing an N scale layout on a hollow core door (ie about 30" x 6 2/3 foot) makes for a pretty movable layout - and it has the amount of space relative to scale that you would find in a 5 foot x 12 foot layout in H0 scale.
Smile,Stein
stilson4283 Is 12 x 18 the layout space in the corner or the room. If it is the layout space in the corner is it a square space or a L as shown in the drawing. If it is a L shape can we get dimensions of the L. Thanks, Chris
Is 12 x 18 the layout space in the corner or the room. If it is the layout space in the corner is it a square space or a L as shown in the drawing. If it is a L shape can we get dimensions of the L.
Thanks,
The 12x18 is the size of the room. The layout is L shaped, and is 4 feet on the narrow ends, and 8 feet on the wide ends.
That is something you will need to know before settling on a plan. If you have that amount of room , does that mean that size plus room to walk around the outside, or is wht you're drawing so far consume the entire space? If the room is big enough to contain a large island layout, consider instead around the walls. If you must also accommodate things like a desk, dresser, bed - you can build around the walls high enough to clear these items . Plus there won;t be accessibility issues - everything will be in reach.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Oops, sorry. Spell check got me there. That's the thing. The room is not built yet. My dad gave me this area to work with, and that is all I know.
Nik
Okay - and the room?
Smile,Stein (not Stien :-)
Stien,
I knew I was forgetting something.
I'm trying to model a short line serving as a bridge between two large lines, with a medium-sized warehouse and a small sawmill on the line. I'm moreso interested in loop running, as I can then just place a train for my little brothers to run without worrying about them ramming things into Plexiglas. My era is early-to-mid diesel, with a small allowance for some modern steam that "just didn't kick the bucket yet." Location would be in the Northeast part of the US, centered in Pennsylvania. Ho scale, of course.
Larak, that is indeed an angled crossing on a curve, which I plan on hand laying, which I chose to be so for the challenge.
-Nik
At the upper right side. Is that an angled crossing on a curve or are the tracks at different elevation?
That would be a tricky crossing.
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
nik .n Any comments on operations, track placement, and so on?
Any comments on operations, track placement, and so on?
Standard advice, offered about 150 times before to various other people in these forums:
1) Start with a drawing of the room the layout will go into, not with just a drawing of a table. Measure and mark out distances, show location of doors, windows and other relevant objects in room you need to have access to.
You tell us the narrow part of your benchwork is 4 feet wide, and yet it seems like 4 feet is represented by about 4 1/2 squares - making each square about 10.6" x 10.6", which is an odd measure. Not knowing whether the drawing is to scale, it is hard to evaluate if other things are drawn to a sensible scale.
Also, your reach should preferably not be more than 24-30" from the aisle, and aisles should preferably be 30+" wide.
If you have walls to the left and top, the left and top part of the layout will be fairly inaccessible. OTOH, if your layout wrap actually drape around an inside corner of the room in the lower right, then access to most tracks where switching would happen is not so horrible - as long as you have a liftout or can drag the layout out from the wall for construction and maintenance on the track running along the right edge.
2) Whether your plan will fulfill your design goals depends on what your design goals actually are.
Tell us what you are trying to model - type of running you are interested in, roughly what era you want to model, what type of place. Don't forget to mention the obvious - like what scale you are modeling in :-)
Smile, Stein
cowman If your top and left sides are both walls, you will need something inside the upper left two outer curves to be able to get to that corner. Not sure of your limitations or why you left the lower right open. Could you put a 30" shelf on the top and left side, straighten your righthand line. Put in a duckunder/lift up and have a center operating pit? You'd have to reconfigure your other sidings a bit, but would be more accessable. Might even be able to have a wider (than 30") surface angled in the upper left corner if you put an access hole in the corner. Some things to think about. Good luck,
If your top and left sides are both walls, you will need something inside the upper left two outer curves to be able to get to that corner.
Not sure of your limitations or why you left the lower right open. Could you put a 30" shelf on the top and left side, straighten your righthand line. Put in a duckunder/lift up and have a center operating pit? You'd have to reconfigure your other sidings a bit, but would be more accessable. Might even be able to have a wider (than 30") surface angled in the upper left corner if you put an access hole in the corner.
Some things to think about.
Good luck,
If I understand what you are saying...
I left the lower right open because this had to fit in a corner without completely eating the space that is to become my room. As for the liftout, I'm leaning towards it as a maintenance hatch moreso than a operations pit, though I may put a DCC bus socket there.
Thanks.Didn't think of that.
Might place it in the area between the stub yard lead and the "siding".
It will be difficult to do any sort of work more than two or three feet from the edge of the layout, so either access holes will need to be made or an around the wall arrangement. Access holes are a pain to get in and out of. IMHO, do everything possible to make your benchwork no more than three feet deep at any point.
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Well, I'm trying to lay down a plan for my next layout, and I'm looking to see your input on my scribblings so far.
Here is the simpler version:
And here is the latest version:
These are both 4 feet at the narrow sides and 8 feet at the long sides.
Any comments on operations, track placement, and so on? As this is my first (actual) layout, I'm hoping this would be a good start to the hobby.