31 years ago we moved from a house where I had a started layout in half of a 13' x 47' basement family room. The benchwork was built in several sections that ranged from 2' to 4' wide and formed a "U" shape around one end of the room. The base tabletop was done, but only temporary, trial and testing track work had been installed when the house was sold.
We moved into a house with a family room half the size and the "train" room was an unused fourth bedroom. I thought I was going to be so clever and cut down the existing benchwork components and move as much of the previou benchwork as I could into the new room. I thought that would speed things up in getting a new layout up and running as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for me. In spite of some rudimentary and trial layouts set up over the years, the sections of the former layouts actually kept me from redesigning a new layout with a footprint and of a type much more appropriate to the new space. After all these years, neither the layout nor the train room are what I had hoped they might be.
All was not entirely lost, though. The sections that did not fit in the train room became work benches and work tables in the garages of both our primary home and a vacation home acquired about eight years ago.
Cheers!
Alan B
I currently have a layout in storage that will be moving to it's 3rd home, 35x13 with helix (sound familiar?).
I have had the luxury of building new rooms in the last 2 locations to closely match the dimensions of the layout (an unfinished basement and a garage currently being built with a room for the layout). Some of the problems mentioned in the other responses are true, but I found the time spent resolving them was less than building from scratch.
In both cases there were sections that were/will be rebuilt to fit the new space better or to correct areas I wasn't happy with, but doesn't that happen with most layouts anyway?
I asked myself 3 questions before each move:
1) How happy are you with the layout as it is? This includes may aspects such as operations, trackwork, wiring, scenery, maintenance workload, etc. If you aren't real happy with what you have, or at least most of it, why keep it?
2) Where will you put it until it is time to reassemble it? If you will need to find temporary storage for it, what is the cost to do that, and is it worth it? Remember it may be there a while waiting for the new space to be completed. My first move was to a new home so no problem there. The second move is to a yet to be constructed building and while we have other items that are in storage I figure that storing the layout has added about $75-100/month to my storage bill.
3) Is it really built to move? While not modular my layout was built generally with only 1-3 tracks crossing the section borders. Some of the sections from the first move could not get out of the second room due to their size (2x20' and 6x16') so had to be cut, and have many more tracks over the new joints. One I intend to save and reuse, the other I'm not sure if I will reuse (see question 1). My wiring is for DCC and so I generally have limited connections, 4-8, across each joint so that isn't an issue.
Good luck with your move, whichever way it goes!
Chuck T
Sections of my layout have been in ten houses in 35 years. Granted no two have been the same, but three of those houses had a 50x26 or larger basement. And the design has allowed me to expand or reduce the layout so it will fit the space. I planned from the begining to move the layout as my job requires moves. Yes it is frustrating and yes there has been damage, but I designed it for moving, and if packed well, damage is minimal. This last move I had 58x30 basement layout with 300' main line up and operationg less than 10 months after the move. A fair amount of research, work and money went into my design, and I was not going to toss that each time my employer wanted me to relocate. Design is cruial. Move it you like it and it can move. Salvage and dump if you desire something different.
I've moved my layout three times. The first time it was just a 2x8 foot switching layout. The second time it had grown to 2x20 feet, but luckily fit the space and reassembled reasonably well. Some scenery was roughed in, but not finished. By the third move it had grown to about 11x20 feet with three towns/small yards, one 2x12 not quite finished mountainous area made of Hydrocal hard shell and plaster scenery. The rest was just trackwork on L-girders. I considered the three town sites and the long section with scenery to be worth moving intact and the rest was just "connect the dots" roadbed with hand laid track. I moved the lumber, the four intact sections, and the connecting roadbed to the new location, which was shaped nothing like the old one. Although it has taken a long time to prepare the very rough basement room into a layout room and design a plan that used the old layout, I am amazed at what I could re-use. To date, one of the town sites and the section with scenery are up and functional. I used the move to convert to DCC. I think the practicality of moving a layout depends on how complete the layout is, whether you like what you have, how far you have to move it (two out of three of mine were in the same town), and how quickly you work. I am slow and hand laid track tends to get precious when you think of doing it all again! Although I need to update it, a picture diary of my efforts can be found here: https://jimmarlett.zenfolio.com/f740491400
I agree with Jim. The new space would likely be better served with a new layout. Although, salvaging the helix might work out.
- Douglas
2009 C6 I have a layout that is 30x12 with helix. Built it in sections to move if needed. Just curious on your thoughts of moving v building new. Thanks
I have a layout that is 30x12 with helix. Built it in sections to move if needed.
Just curious on your thoughts of moving v building new. Thanks
If you are moving house, more than likely the space for a layout will not be ideal for the old layout, even if the old layout fits, the space may be much better utilized by building a new layout that is designed to best take advantage of the space.
My last layout was 10x18' and would have easily fit into the basement at the new house, but I want to designe and build a better layout with longer runs. I was able to break down the old layout into basic open-grid frame components and plan to used those to speed up building the new layout. The
The benchwork below are the basic units that will go into the new layout.
Photo 1 shows two 2x8' sections bolted together in the early stages of the last layout.
Photo 2 shows a single 2x8' section before it was bolted to a second one.
Photo 3 shows the new layout track plan and the red outline is where those two sections will go. I saved most of the materials from the first layout to keep costs on the 2nd one down.
Moral of the story is most layout spaces are very different so moving an old layout to a new space may be much less desirable than to design and build a new layout there.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Moving a layout seems like way more trouble than its worth. There will be moving damage, the sections won't fit as they once did, and I doubt it would even fit "properly" in a new space.
I would salvage what I could, and spend time planning that "new and improved" layout. The new one is more likely to be an integral part of the new space, and you could eliminate any problems inherent with the old layout. Also, it could include stuff from your "wish list" that you could not incorporate in the old layout.
Remember, for many of us, the fun is in the design/building of a layout - and you have a chance to do it again.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I discussed this same issue a year ago and have changed my mind completely (see like below). After I removed all my locos, rolling stock, buildings and vehicles from the layout I realized, except for a couple of very detailed mountains, there was nothing real special I needed to save from the layout. Also, as others have mentioned, there were things I did not do as well as I could with a few years of experience. So starting over will give me the opportunity to build a better and more satisfying layout in my new home. The two mountains I mentioned were built from layered foam to be removable so that I could reach derailed trains that passed through them. Those mountains will go with me and are easily transportable.
How to move a layout with minimal damage to track and scenery
Re-using benchwork lumber makes sense to me, not just because wood has become expensive but because it seems to be continually going down in quality.
As others point out, cutting into the track and expecting it to all mesh nicely again is often asking too much.
Moving just to facilitate building a new layout reminds me somehow of a women I knew who told me that once a year she'd open a new checking account just to avoid the bother of balancing the old one.
Dave Nelson
My guess is that it can be taken apart without a lot of strain, but whether it will come together the way it is now is questionable. I speak from experience moving another layout. Eventually, the layout was cannibalized for useable track, turnouts, lumber etc and he started a new layout.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
I built my last layout in sections, and indeed it made the move to my new house.
But, after 4 years of sitting stacked in the basement, I tossed it all this past Spring. I saved the electronics, and that was it - all the turnouts were #4s and I most likely won;t have any that small on my new layout, and I was just not in the mood to deal with trying to sell used track on ebay. So off it went - if th junk guy who hauled it all away took the time to pull up what he could, more power to him. Only thing I kept were the legs, some leftover lumber, and some leftover pink foam. Those things I can all reuse in one wy or another. If I consider the cost of the materials and how much time I worked on it,the cost per hour wasn't worth salvaging more. Plus getting rid of it freed up a huge chunk of floor space which allowed me to get rid of MORE stuff standing in the way of redoing my basement.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Some sections MAY be reuseable, for example a yard, especially end of the line, of a small town, end of the line switching area. More areas will be more bother than starting anew.
As pointed out, new spaces seldom match old ones.
Dave
Made mine to move but new place did not have the space.
Personally, I have never had the same space after the move. Am getting ready to start my next layout. Because none of the old sections can be used as is in the new space I salvaged what I could and disassembled the benchwork. Some of the legs and other pieces wil be on at least their 4th layout.
If you have the same space (or larger) and can easily move your sections, you're probably better to move.
Good luck
Paul
I attempted to move my last layout. It came apart reasonably well into the various modules I had designed, but I didn't have the layout finished. Some scenery was in place. The yard and about 70% of the scenery and detailing were still in the future.
When I broke apart the sections, I had to cut the tracks above them in a few places. That didn't go well. I was increasing my repair work due to ripped out rails coming up with the sidewall of the cut-off disk. By the time I had it all apart, and had a better appreciation of the space into which I had hoped to install the repaired layout, a double wide garage that ended up pretty full with stuff by the time the van left, I lost my enthusiasm.
That was my experience. Only you know how easily you will disassemble what you have and be able to mount it again in a workable way that leaves you with cover, lighting, power access, security, walkways and reach, and storage. Your willingness and abililty to cover reconstruction costs is also a factor; can you start over? If not, you will have to think about this, how you'll do minimal damage in disassembly, move it successfully, and then restore it in a space you can enjoy and in a state you can easily repair and still get it to work well.
Welcome to the forum!
Personally I think it all depends on whether or not you are happy with it, provided of course that it fits in its new location. 30x12 (multi deck or multi level on one deck, as you have a helix?) is quite a layout, and if the layout is also scenicked and somewhat "finished" you have probably spent lots and lots of hours building it.
Also, how large are the different sections, and how easily can they be handled by you alone? Can you pick out some favourite sections to keep, and toss away the rest? If so, you have to plan for new sections inbetween the old ones, which may be difficult but not impossible.
I have always built my layouts in sections, small and lightweight to be handled by just me alone, and my three oldest sections are now in the process of being incorporated into their 4th setting (although I've probably designed at least a dozen different plans with the old sections included, that was never built).