I agree on the height suggestions you make, and the mid-'70's passenger equipment request. Both AMTRAK and AutoTrain!
I will be using 36" for my lower level/yard level, about 54" for the middle level and 64" for the top level. The middle level will be the main operating level. The top level won't have much, if any switching. It will mainly be a long mainline run through a river gorge.
I hope this helps.
el-capitan Grab a piece of plywood that is 36" wide, prop it up, put some trains on it and see what you think at various heights. Make your own decision. There are some questions that can't be answered on a forum.
Grab a piece of plywood that is 36" wide, prop it up, put some trains on it and see what you think at various heights. Make your own decision. There are some questions that can't be answered on a forum.
I'll second that opinion. Layout height is a very personal thing, so really, the only recommendation possible is "whatever works for you".
El-Capitan's suggestion is spot on. Rig up a test platform so you can adjust the height (you can use clamps to hold the legs at different heights). Practice both leaning over it ("Construction" mode), and looking at trains / structures ("Operation" mode). See what works. If you have to choose, default to "Operation" mode, because that's where you'll spend most of your time.
FWIW, my track is 48" above the floor, with scenery both higher and lower.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
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Just a thought. If the tank is that old maybe you should replace it before it leaks.
Just to add a thought. My layout will be in the room that I share with the furnace and the oil tank. A number of neighbors whose houses are the same age and builder have already had to replace a leaking oil tank. I am planning the height and aisle width to allow for the tank to be removed. I will probably be able go below for staging along some walls but of course the tank is in the opposite corner of the room from the door.
Mark
As others have said this is going to depend on you. I right now have a layout that is mostly 54" high. This brings it up to my chest and gives me mostly a top of the hill look out. My layout's deepest shelf is 24" and yes it is best to get to the farther reaches of it using a stool. This works out best for my situation since I also use the shed as a workshop for my trains and other projects. It also allows me to store a few items in the shed that I use on a regular basis. Other layouts I have built have been from 36" to 40" and for table top designs I would not go any higher so I can reach what needs to be reached with out too much trouble. But that is just me.
Massey
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Layout heigth is a personal thing. There is no set standard or routine heigth per NMRA. what works for one guy, may not work for the next.
I am 5'6", and my layout is 36" high, so it is at my high waist and so I DON'T have to bend over much to work/play on it. My bad back can't take a lot of bending over.
You need to select a height that works for you.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
hi,
My impression is quite differently from Tomikawa's. Indeed also this forum is plagued by the "my way is the only way" postings. Most posters however try to explain why they made their choices.
Maybe we should look again to the awesome layout by Mike Danneman in the December MR magazine. The helicopter views, seeing two trains twisting through his amazing mountain scenes. Or eye-level scenes like the highway 72 overpass or pulling the empty hopper in Plainview.
Since i prefer to walk with my train to really enjoy all the different scenes, I have a planning problem. Having eye-level views and helicopter views at the very same time seems impossible. Not sure about it, if Mike's layout was just Denver Downtown (behind Centennial School Supply Co) he would have probably built that part much higher. To be still able to watch his 20 inches higher mountain scenes he would have needed stairs.
In an other thread about view-blocks, the OP is running 16 feet long trains. Stepping back is often impossible, those narrow aisles again, which makes seeing the whole train at one time an illusion. A helicopter view could be the answer.
My layout is not longer then 11 feet, but build in an attic. Every foot higher means a two feet shorter layout. Though I would love to have my smallish layout with narrow 12" to 18" wide shelves, at almost armpit level (53"), I settled for 45".
BTW easy (un)coupling beside shelf-width is influencing layout height as well.
Tough choices
Paul
My last layout was a very specific, but slightly odd height: 40 and 7/16ths inches to the top of the roadbed.
3/16in for the roadbed.
3/4 inch for subroadbed.
39.5 inches legs (it was a sectional layout) because that's how long the steel meter stick I used to measure out the legs was from end to end. Repeatably in the leg production was more important to me than anything else.
Howdy, Bre'r Bear,
If your old height, 48 inches, was too high, then try 42 inches. I've always found that a good height, but then, I'm not very tall (nor am I very flexible.)
I've been drawing one impression from all the previous posts, which may or may not be accurate. The posters all seem to reference a layout height as the only height for a given layout. Without going to separate levels, I have about twenty inches of vertical offset between the depths of the Netherworld and the big colliery at the high end of the Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo. If I had started at four feet I would have to operate the highest level like Gunther Prein (Up periscope! Jawohl, Herr Kapitan!) Thanks, but I prefer U-boats built by GE, not Krupp...
Operating height is one thing. Construction height is another. Working at an uncomfortably low height can get old in a hurry, but high level work can be done from a stepstool, a ladder or even drywaller's stilts. As far as making things high enough to work under, I don't find it necessary to get under the benchwork (except to search for dropped parts.) I brought all of my electricals out to the edge of the benchwork, and installed all of my switch machines there, too. That frees up all of that under-layout cubic for organized storage (in plastic totes or wheeled cabinets that double as worktops.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I'm another one at 50".
Two layouts ago I had 58" which was too high for working on without a stool. Also, I couldn't easily see what was behind the first occupied track. Last layout and current layout under construction were and are at 50". I find this to be good combination for me at 5'11". I can also work at a desk underneath.
Enjoy
As stated, the "right height" for you depends on a number of factors.
My plan is to have the layout at a height that will be about chest level when sitting on a stool for viewing and most operating. When I stand I will be able to reach over scenery and work on things better than I could if the layout was at chest height.
Good luck,
Richard
Mine's at 42", currently a 4x8 but soon to expand to fit available space. I generally sit and watch 'em roll, and this puts everything pretty close to eye level to me. When switching, it's low enough I can easily reach over to uncouple cars, etc. Having 2 kids, this is a reasonable height for them to see, but not be able to reach everything. Planned staging (for the expansion) will be about 36" high.
EMD - Every Model Different
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I built a Lionel layout at 36" high for the kids. I found that to be an awkaward height for me. Gave me backaches reaching over to work on it, and was not all that pleasant to wire underneath, either.
Built a 4x6 HO home layout at 60" to go over top a computer work station. That was too high to work on, and the fascia just felt too high. Moved it down to 55", which was somewhat better, but still needed a stool to work on.
Was part of a Free-mo setup a few weeks ago. Rail height is a nominal 50". Great viewing perspective, and thoroughly enjoyed operations at that height.
just my experiences
Fred W
It depends on many factors. How tall you are, how far you need to be able to reach into it, how tall the shortest potential operator or viewer will be, and the angle from which you wish to view it.
Mine is 40" to the average rail head.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
bear's lair the bench work is 36" wide all around the layout that is 17 feet long on both sides and 9 feet across at the ends its built like a square box with a lift out section to assess the center.
the bench work is 36" wide all around the layout that is 17 feet long on both sides and 9 feet across at the ends its built like a square box with a lift out section to assess the center.
My layout is somewhat similar and the height is 36 inches. That works. I am 6 feet tall.
Rich
Alton Junction
Bear,
Four feet high doesn't seem that high at all, imho.
Go with what is your most comfortable view, based on the height that you are if you're sitting in your chair or if you run trains standing up.
My shelf layout is 55" (which is my chest height when standing) for two reasons.
1. It had to run over my desk and book case.
2. I wanted more of a closer-to-ground view instead of the traditional "helicopter height" that most modelers view their layouts from.
I got the idea from former forum member "Driline". Here's a photo of his layout. Hopefully he doesn't mind me posting it here. I think he did an excellent job.
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It's really impossible to answer. Someone 5' tall will probably want a lower layout than someone 6' tall. Someone with very wide benchwork may want the layout lower to allow a further reach in to work on scenery or rerail a car - someone with a layout built on a 12" shelf may want the layout up near eye level.
In my case, I found I like the benchwork a little lower on my new layout than I had it on the old one - easier to see stuff thru the lower part of my new bifocals!!
A lot of us are at a 36 inch height.
A good compromise between 3 feet and 4 feet would be 42 inches, of course.
At 42 inches, a 6-foot tall individual should be able to sit on the floor under the layout without hitting his head on the underside of the layout while working on wiring, etc.
I have moved and need to re assemble the layout. My question is at what height is recommended? I had it at four foot before and it seemed a bit high. Any suggestions would be great Thanks Bear.