I have a multi purpose room where I would like to add a layout around the room - just above the door and window openings...
Have been searching for 'helpful hints' - anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!
Room size? Determines wiring and how thick the wires need to be to get the power distributed.
What scale are you looking to use? That would determine a lot on what your benchwork would need to be.
Continuous runner or switching? That would determine the amount and type of trackwork needed and again goes back to the amount of benchwork.
Number of trains running at any one time? That determines wiring and what sort of power unit(s) that you will need.
Type of engine(s)? That determines the needed track radius which also goes back to benchwork.
IIRC, one of those 'home makeover' programs featured a round-the-room Lionel tinplate loop in the boys' bedroom, operated from an upper bunk.
Lacking an upper bunk, how would one operate anything more complex than a simple loop? Drywall stilts? a really tall bar stool? Or would you prefer the Ned Beach approach? ("Up periscope!" "Aye-aye, Sir!")
Be a good idea to keep a ladder in the room, to provide rapid access in case of problems.
As for construction - just like a shelf railroad at a more conventional level, but without those pesky drop leaves or lift-outs.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - closer to floor level)
Welcome to the forums!
You didn't mention scale, but small scales are not very visible way up there. Had a friend do one in HO, quickly moved it down to a table. He mentioned hard to build, hard to service and hard to see. A local restaurant has a G scale and the place we got our Christmas tree had several G trains running around in the rafters of the old barn where the office and warm up space were.
You might want to consider a piece of plexiglass as a fence to keep trains from praticing the great dive. I have one on my HO table layout, doesn't block view and prevents dives from train accidents and small, curious hands.
Good luck,
Richard
Large G scale trains work best for this type of layout, running on a simple loop with one or two parallel tracks.
Thanks a bunch for the thoughts.... Have a bunch of HO scale that I have had stored for years that I would like to get back out. Many years ago I had a room off in a corner of the bsmt where I built a bench layout... Then came moving and kids... Now that we are empty nesters, though it would be a good time to get them out again, but no 'additional' room is available so looking for other ideas...
'preciate the thoughts!!! Maybe display cases for the HO and move up to G as you say?!?!?! 'specially seening as the little lady has named the room the 'depot'!
I know it can and has been done,MyLHS has one on plexi glass. You would be limited to a single track,no clue how you would include turnouts, or throw them.The only senery would on the wall side of track,be hard to see. All work and any needed repairs will be off a ladder. All viewing will be while your head is tilted back.Got a sore neck just thinking about it.
Its your RR,, but are you sure there's not a plan B ?
I once tried an around the room above the doors/windows layout in HO scale -- never again! This layout was basically two parallel lines around the room with a small yard along one wall. I built it in my son's bedroom so he could enjoy the layout with me. Didn't work as it was difficult to see, let alone operate the layout. Both of us quickly lost interest.
I tore this layout down and built a suspended layout in the same room. I used an electric winch to raise/lower the layout but this didn't work out much better as the layout proved too small for the operations we wanted while being a bit too large for the room which still had to function as a bedroom. The suspended layout idea could work if located in a spare room. That way the layout could remain lowered until you actually need to use the spare room for another function.
I also considered building a Murphy Bed style tilt-up layout but gave up on that idea when I realized that everything not permanently attached to the layout would need to be removed every time you needed to tilt up the layout.
I now have a stationary double deck walk around layout in my garage. I work on it/operate it when I want to and it patiently sits there waiting when I don't. What a difference!
Hornblower
Only time I see overhead layouts (usually in G scale on Plexiglass)is in bars or the deli department of Wegmans a high end supermarket chain in the New York area.
Joe Staten Island West
I've got a layout the uses two walls of a bedroom. It's at standard height. It crosses two windows and one door. I've got lift-out sections at each location. I am very happy with the setup.
Ed
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/p/197333/2419877.aspx?page=1
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I have a DC HO layout running around my living room, 8 feet up in the air along the walls, with 75 feet of track laid.I use a points indicator system for turnout info. I'm also setting up security cameras around the layout, using small 5.8Ghz transmitters to send the images back to receivers controlled by a simple speaker mixer, and then into a computer with a video mixing program which is just left 'on' in 'standby' mode.
As for trackage, I'm using Bachmann EZ track, caulked down, & ballasted for looks. I haven't had any floor dives in a long time, mainly by keeping everything level. But if it looks like it might be a problem, it's easy enough to put in fences that don't look like fences - landscape, big rocks, trees, buildings, or even...fences!
I figure that in a room with 10 ft ceilings, almost everything 'up', is just wasted space. As a matter of fact, I usually have to TELL visitors to look up, to see the train - so very few people look higher than their heads...
A small problem was the underside of the layout - a LOT of wires, fiber optics, etc..one solution I'm using, short of 'boxing' it all in, is to paint the underside the same color as the room walls. I leave a bit of color showing for important wiring but you could always just label these & then paint them over.
One final note - I'm using 10" x 14" anchored shelf supports to hold up my 5 track yard and have found that this is quite enough. You see, once your loop is completed, there's simply nowhere for the layout to fall, as the sides keep each other up!However, weight can be a consideration; I want to add another 3" to my yard width, so I'm thinking of making a 'sandwich' out of old plasticore election signs and using this as the base at the outer edge so as not to add any more significant weight...
An above the doors layout is a decoration which moves. It is not really something you can play with or operate like you may remember. In an interior design magazine I read that there are three types of train layouts. There is the temporary Christmas tree layout. There is the museum layout, which is the type that Model Railroad and other magazines feature. And there is the train as a decoration. The article goes on to tell you how to build an above the doors layout. Since you have HO models I instead would recommend building a shelf style layout. The shelves don’t have to be very wide and can go above other furniture, thus taking up virtually no room at all. On the one I’m building now the width varies from 6 to 16 inches wide. The rail height is 61 inches average. This makes it in you face which means you can see the details better and it just adds to the enjoyment.