graymatter All good advice. I have about the same space as you. The advice to re-hang or maybe remove the door is three more feet! I went through the MR track plans and copied one into a track planning program. Bigger is better when it comes to turn radius!! What if santa brings you an articulated steam loco?! If you are doing the grid paper and compass thing and you just cannot get the radius you see in the pretty picture it may not be you. I think some drawings are off in the turn radius as drawn. Dont fear the helix! DoctorWayne's suggeston is good. Make a plan. Build a module and leave room for a helix. Have a plan for multi level and start with a long module and build from there. Make small correctable mistakes and not a big one! If you are in California and are considering the extruded foam board or you are going to use homasote ( AKA sound barrier 440 ) (AKA homo what?) Find it and price it first! Be open to plywood and cork or foam road bed. IF you model anything in California I think there is a new railroad tax depending on the scale and zipcode you model. Thomas
All good advice. I have about the same space as you.
The advice to re-hang or maybe remove the door is three more feet!
I went through the MR track plans and copied one into a track planning program. Bigger is better when it comes to turn radius!!
What if santa brings you an articulated steam loco?!
If you are doing the grid paper and compass thing and you just cannot get the radius you see in the pretty picture it may not be you. I think some drawings are off in the turn radius as drawn.
Dont fear the helix! DoctorWayne's suggeston is good. Make a plan. Build a module and leave room for a helix. Have a plan for multi level and start with a long module and build from there. Make small correctable mistakes and not a big one!
If you are in California and are considering the extruded foam board or you are going to use homasote ( AKA sound barrier 440 ) (AKA homo what?)
Find it and price it first! Be open to plywood and cork or foam road bed.
IF you model anything in California I think there is a new railroad tax depending on the scale and zipcode you model.
Thomas
I live in Minnesota. Nice long winters to do a lot of railroading / building inside! I will be building against the wall and a peninsula from 2x4's, 1x2's and 1/2 " plywood. Cork roadbed over foamboard and code 83 track. I have never done DCC before so a lot of this will be a new learning experience. I do plan to have ABS signals and hopefully keep all of the wiring clean.
I wish I could. It is a custom "short" door as it openes into the basement family room. If it opened the opposite direction, it would block the 4th bedroom and access to the laundry room. If anything, I'll probably end up taking it off its' hinges. Although, there is enough room to build a pocket door!
I was looking more at the diagram Bryon posted. It will work I think perfectly! Maybe a few mods but I went downstairs and looked again. Some of the shelf will have to be a foot wide to accomodate the walkway, but most of the shelving wil be at least 18" wide to 24" wide. If I can also design a 1.5-2% grade in spots, I can almost double the main run, incorporating different scenery adventures!
If you're going to go through the trouble to rehang the door, hang it so it swings out of the room. That's how I did mine.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
I know it's not to exact scale, but looking at your rough drawing, the bottom blob is 36" wide at it's widest, the middle blob is 42" wide and the top is 48" at the point. Should you increase the blobs to accept 24" curves, I believe the resized blobs would be too big for the space available. Byron's diagram shows promise.
Geographic location is on my mind but always a challenge to incorporate many locations in a small area. That is what is great about this hobby, is the planning and seeing everything come to life. I grew up on the West Coast so I was able to enjoy everything from high desert to mountains and forests to the ocean.
In designing the layout, you might also want to consider geographic location. Have one? That can help you decide. Of course you don't need to make it exact, but having a rough idea can drive the planning and scenery.
You can always add an interchange track to show either passanger, freight, or both. Having an interchange also allows for more options with operations.
I would re-hang the door so that it opens toward the wall to the right instead of where it is.Also go to a office supply store and buy a drafting compass so you can make curves with an accurate radius. Also a drafting ruler would help.
Looking at your drawing I think 24" minimum radius will work. You can have a mainline which runs along the edge and make a continuous loop by making a 'highline' across the back.
CoastStarlight...I will probably have minimal staging, or even a hidden staging. I have thought about incorporaing multiple levels to allow for expansion...
I have no track planning experience, but built a very useable layout without one.If the space were mine (it's a little difficult to make out the room layout in your link), I'd make a staging area, perhaps in the area to the upper right of your drawing, then run a "U" shape at the opposite end of the room, culminating in a helix near the doorway. That would lead to a second level that would re-trace the route back to another staging area over the lower one. Without the peninsula to clog up the room (and leave you with too-narrow aisles), you could make both levels 30" deep, and allow the helix a radius greater than 24". The 30" depth would provide ample room for industries to be switched, along with good options for scenery.
Using either an "E" or "G" style layout, in my opinion, will give you a longer single-level run, but at the expense of layout depth. If mainline running is your primary interest, that may be fine, but if you want switching action, too, and better possibilities for scenery and structures, deeper will afford better opportunities. Double-decking the layout (perhaps after the lower level is operational) will give back even more run-length, and keeping the depth will double the other opportunities mentioned.
My partially double-decked layout uses a lower level at about 36" (good for operations while seated on a rolling office chair) and an upper level at about 59", roughly a little below eye-level for me. The separation between levels allows for lighting for the lower level to be suspended from the underside of the upper level.
Wayne
My original designated train space was a 13' x 22' room. Lost it to returning son. I was looking at the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Ry plan in the Track Plan Database as a starting point. It is similar to your space 10'6" x 19' and has a peninsula. I was planning a tip up type entry gate, but any type could be used.
There are several similar plans in the database also. Sorry I don't know how to post them here for you.
Good luck,
Richard
I am planning on running freight and passenger. One reason why I want no less than 24" radius on the main line. I will probably have minimal staging, or even a hidden staging. I have thought about incorporaing multiple levels to allow for expansion. I have tons of ideas or visions running in my head. I'm going to have to build a bunch of templates from cardboard and see how it looks.
Thank you very much for all of the input. All of this really helps me out in planning. This hobby has grown so much, the last time I was doing model railroading, DCC did not exist.
Luckily this is a finished basement with a false ceiling. I was going to use the 4th bedroom next to the basement family room, however it was 7 feet shorter but the same width.
As one that is dealing with layout planning, I'd have to ask you what types of railroading you are interested in to help. If you want to run passenger cars or other long equipment, then the mainline radius is really important and maybe a change is needed to increase that. If you want to be switching until the wee hours of the morning, then maybe your plan (or a G-shaped as suggested above) is best because it will maximize the layout space for switching opportunities.
Because I moved and lost the space I had been planning for (for years) to a smaller space, I'm having to ask myself what do I *really* want to do on my railroad, and it is helping to clarify things.
Also, as John Armstrong points out in Track Planning for Realistic Operations, be careful what you wish for. You might construct a gigantic switching layout and find you are forever doing maintenance on your tracks.
One last thing that came to me: you could come up with a track plan that's expandable, work on one portion, get it up and running and then decide how much bigger you want to go.
Hope this helps,
Mark
Basements are sometimes lacking in amenities. Don't start your layout until you've dealt with water problems, flooring, ceiling, lighting and electrical outlets.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Water Level RoutePerhaps switching from an "E" shaped track plan to a "G" shape would help and still fulfill your desire to have a peninsula.
+1
A "G" shape is always worth a try. This rough sketch was for a longer and slightly wider room, but the principle is the same.
Good luck with your layout.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Thank you for the ideas. I have thought about doing a "G" type layout with a slightly shorter main run. I'll have to dry run with some templates to see how it would work in different configurations. The loop-backs are all offset to allow for 3 of them to fit in the area, however it is a very tight squeeze. I do have a 200' girder bridge that I can use or incorporate into the layout should I decide to go with the "G" style layout. Along the walls I would prefer to have 24" of shelf but brought it down to 18" to allow for walkways and the peninsula.
Mike
If you have a scale (drafting) ruler and a decent compass, I would start there. If not, a good read about John Armstrong's concept of squares for layout planning will give you a better idea about what will fit in your space. Looking at what you've drawn, I'm guessing you are trying to incorporate turnback curves at the end of the peninsula, plus the end of each wing. You would be hard pressed to do this in that width space with 18" curves, much less 24". You will likely have to abandon having the turnback curve on the peninsula or one of the wings. If nothing else, search the trackplan database on this site for similarly sized spaces. Perhaps you will find one close you like that you can adapt to your room dimensions.
SouthPenn Is it possible to reverse the door so it opens the opposite direction? You would gain 3' of space for the layout. Have you tried drawing the layout with the back on the long wall? Opposite wall from the door.
Is it possible to reverse the door so it opens the opposite direction? You would gain 3' of space for the layout.
Have you tried drawing the layout with the back on the long wall? Opposite wall from the door.
First time poster here. I have always had a passion for trains my whole life. When I was a child, I had a shelf layout in my bedroom and loved it. As I grew older, I did not have the opportunity to have a layout, but do now. I am planning a layout in my basement of my home. The room is 10 feet 5 inches wide by 22 feet long. Want to do HO scale. Would prefer a walk-in peninsula type to maximise the space, however I know I will probably not get to have anything larger than a 24" radius, maybe 28" if I push it. Any suggestions would be welcomed.