Earlier my family and I were going down the road and we passed Tractor Supply which has recently gotten a shipment of enclosed trailers, just as an academic question would it be possible/viable to build a model railroad in the confines of such a trailer? What about travel trailers? Just curious, thanks.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
40+ years ago I attended a train show at a shopping center. One of the layouts was in a trailer in the parking lot.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Totally possible. These will be 8' wide, and in a variety of lengths, and door options.
Some have a backdoor, the full width of the trailer, and fold down to load a 4 wheeler, and bikes, and such.
Search your local want ads, and Craigslist.
Mike.
My You Tube
Sure it's possible but;
They get awful warm and cold, would need insulation,heating and AC.
You would need to come up with a way to get elect. into it.
Some way to level it,every time you dropped it.
Every thing would need to come off the layout, and protected when moved
Just because you can,don't mean you should
If you got an older camper/travel trailer ? It would have most of what you need, just gut it.
Up here ,12/16footers can be had for<$500>
Agree with Uncle Butch. It's going to be hard on any RR or modules moved which will be under condtions of being bounced around alot, subjected to heat and cold extremes etc. You'll have to build it bullet proof for the abuse it's going to take.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
For a mobile layout, whether built into a trailer, or made of modules shipped on racks, you'd want to carefully consider your choice of scenery materials.
Scenery on portable layouts will last a lot longer if it is able to flex and absorb shock gracefully. Materials that dry rigid, such as hydrocal and water putty are better avoided in favor of things like foam insulation board (which is also good for light weight), acrylic caulk, cork, and other similar materials.
My modular club banned hydrocal roads and scenery surfaces from our modules after the first time one showered cracked and powdered hydrocal down on other modules while they were being hauled to a set-up.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
I had need to move sometimes so I built my layout in a 26' Prowler travel trailer. After I gutted it, I had a space 23 ft long by 91" to work with. I built an N scale layout in a folded dogbone and I have never regretted this approach.
I chose an old travel trailer over the empty box utility trailer approach for several reasons. A bare utility trailer has no insulation, electrical or HVAC in it. Adding that can be costly. In addition, an unisulated bare metal roof will collect mosture in humid weather and drip water on everything inside. Not good. However, you can buy a utility trailer with the insulation and electrical already installed. Not cheap. I have one I bought used that had been used to haul race cars. I almost used it for my layout but I decided to use it for a mobile workshop instead since I move occasionally.
Meanwhile an RV has insulation and HVAC already installed. I purchased and old travel trailer for $1,500 and then gutted it. The downside is that the RV is not built like a normal house and has lots of glue and screws holding stuff together and was a *&^%$# to remove. Older RV's often have leaky roofs which can lead to structure damage that require repairs. I have a thousand lessons learned that I could pass along if anyone is interested. However, I am pleased with the results.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
The May issue of Model Railroader has a write-up on a layout that uses a trailer to expand.
was once offered a 14X70 moble home for the cost of moving it. Knew a guy that would do fairly cheap.Was really interested. 140 ft of track, good size town on both ends. Room for work bench. Then I started to estamate the cost of heating it over winter. Would be like an extra house
It's been done - way back when in MR there was an article on a layout that was built in a trailer and traveled the country for many years. Don't recall the year of the article but I think they layout dated back to the 50's.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.