I am about to start building a new HO layout. My current layout is 900mm (approx 3ft) above floor level. I feel this has proven to be too low as you tend to be looking from an aircraft perspective. I was thinking of setting the height for my new layout at 1200mm (approx4ft). This will enable viewers to look inside buildings and platforms more easily. I would be interested in other members comments and experience to help guide me in this matter. For those interested my new layout will be 20 metres long and I am intending making the width ( distance out from the back wall) 800mm. All comments most welcome
As I remodel my house, I have made some concessions to the fact that I am aging. I have seen too many people lose access to their layouts as they age.
So... my layout will be about 38-40 inches high, perfect for wheelchair height if it comes to that. The layout is on the main floor (only floor), and will have a door wide enough for a wheelchair to get through.
Hopefully I will be fully ambulatory for another few decades, but you never know.
Sorry to be such a downer.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I build mine at 'chest level', so between about 42-45", as I'm vertically challenged. However, my last layout was at about 27", and I loved it. Strange, eh? Current build is back at 42" because of the ease of working below the operating surfaces and because if I want to slump against a footstool and watch trains run, it gets me closer to the operations, but not so low that I have to lift my chin.
Access below, but also access toward the far, top, reaches if you have to get hold of something or right something knocked askew, means the layout must be above waist level for certain, and probably about three or four inches above one's belt.
One last point: duck-under access. Don't. Just say no. Laugh derisively and point at anyone who suggests it as a remedy for a plan that boxes you in. Swing-up is much better, or lift-out if necessary. In the most unfortunate case that you simply must have a duck-under, you'll thank me later for making the main benchwork height about 55".
I"m guessing with 65.5 feet long layout, a duck under won't be part of the plan. I had to convert all those metric numbers to English so I'd have a clue as to the length and width from wall.
I chose 50 inches on my last layout for the main yard and it seemed a decent height. I did need a step stool to do a lot of the work on it in the back parts and it was 30 inches from the wall. But for viewing and operation it seemed a good compromise. I've set my staging height at 39" off the floor for the current layout and am planning on 50 inches again for the yard. The layout will nolix it's way down to the staging so much of it will be in the 40's for elevation.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I think it depends on the individual layout. My layouts yard and passenger station is at normal table height, after the roadbed the track is about 32” from the floor. My layout is mountainous with an upper level making a good amount of the scenery (ground level) at 50+ inches. Tree tops and structures at or above 58”. My communications tower is over 7’ at the top.As old age set in it’s much more comfortable sitting in a high back roll around chair to run my trains too. I happen to be 6’2” but most of my guests are in the range of 5’10” and great grandkids at much less.Ground level is 58” at the beige colored house.Ground level at my communications tower is 65” and another 21” to the top of the antenna or 86” from the floor. Not to bad in my garage with a 9’ ceiling. (old picture before the 80' pine trees)When I built all of my layouts I had the little ones in mind, they always seem more into my trains than adults anyway and now in my 80s the comfortable roll around chair tops the cake hours at a time. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Layout height varies on the operator(s) also. Some are comfortable with waist-height and others like the eye-level view. Mine is the latter. It works for me and whenever I need to reach to the back part(s), I use a step ladder. Working/storing underneath the layout is perfect. My kids love being able to work freely underneath.
Just before starting mine several years ago, I observed the operation of a large modular layout on display by a club. It seem very ideal to me. I measured it and it was 50" from floor to surface. I built mine that way, and it looks pretty good to me. One could adjust it an inch or two either way for personal height.
One thing to think about is what might go under it for storage and the like. My roll around tool chest misses going under mine by 1". I would probably have made it 51" if I had thought about it in advance.
I like to sometimes look at the layout sitting down, so I set mine up so track level is right about at eye level when I'm sitting. Then when standing, it seems to be "about right" - The benchwork is high enough that my view isn't like being in an airplane looking down, but the benchwork is low enough to reach in and work on stuff.
I buit my layout at 50", off the floor. As a six footer this works well, and visitors from 5'6" up to 6'6" have been comfortable.
I have a duckunder, but if I find I need it I can get a rolling office chair to get inside.
Hope I never need to.
Great comments everyone, thank you so much for your feedback. Lots of practical advice to consider. I think i will certainly settle on a height higher than my current layout and am tending toward 1200mm (4ft for my North American friends). I do like the view you get from being higher as I have furnished the interior of all of my houses and shops and the higher level enables the viewer to appreciate that so much better. Thank you all once again, kind regards Paul (New Zealand)
Your height, your reach and the type of scenery (city buildings, trees, desert) you have are all things to be considered. Set up a shelf, put some scenery on it and set it at different heights to see which suits you best
I am planning to set the height of my next layout so I get approximately a ground level view when sitting on a tall stool and a high on a hill view when standing. I'm about 5'10" and my current layout is 40", a little low, so I'm looking more toward 45" to 50", but i'll do a mock up when I get the space.
Have fun,
Richard
Hi Richard, good idea, I will try that, thank you
Also, if you need a gate I am planning a tip up. I don't like the idea of a tip down, as it puts the scenery on the gate down by your knees, easy to knock off. A lift out requires a place to set it when taken out. A swing gate depends on the available space in your layout room. Others have had success with these types of gates, but Ive seen a tip up and liked the way it worked, though there are a couple of tricks to make it work well. The hinges have to be on top of the layout, requiring a scenic element of some sort to hide them. I plan to use a gras mat.
Good luck,
cowmanI'll do a mock up when I get the space. Have fun.
PorksterHi Richard, good idea, I will try that, thank you.
Yes, great idea. I am the biggest proponent of full sized mock-ups you will ever meet.
This is the mock-up of my next layout:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/262808/2962624.aspx
I happen to be 6’2”
Is that what you used to be or are now? Does that account for "shrinkage" due to age, gravity and compression of vertibrae? I used to be 6.25 feet but that was when I was in my 20's and 30's and maybe 40's. I've measured my height in recent years and I'm under 5' 11 inch now, maybe 5' 10.5.
Anyway, it's a good point that ideal layout height usually factors in operator's height, and width of benchwork plays a part too.
riogrande5761 I happen to be 6’2” Is that what you used to be or are now? Does that account for "shrinkage" due to age, gravity and compression of vertibrae? I used to be 6.25 feet but that was when I was in my 20's and 30's and maybe 40's. I've measured my height in recent years and I'm under 5' 11 inch now, maybe 5' 10.5. Anyway, it's a good point that ideal layout height usually factors in operator's height, and width of benchwork plays a part too.
Wow, that's a big change.
Maybe taller people shrink more?
At age 20 I was 6' on the nose, now at age 63 I am still 5' - 11".
Still deciding on a height for my new layout, but, leaning toward 38-40" as the lowest track elevation.
My scenery/benchwork will be 3-4' deep most places and sitting is good........
And despite all the nay sayers, I will have not one but two lift out/lift up locations. I really like layouts that maintain directional continuity. Viewing the layout you will always be facing north, left is always west, right is always east.
Sheldon
I had my wife mark a door frame and at 83 I’m still 6’1¼”Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I also used to be 6'-0", but about two years ago Nurse Ratched at the doctor's office demoted me to 5'-11". She was a little too firm bringing down that lever.
BTW, my upper deck height is 52" which provides 18" separation from the lower deck 34" height.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
My layout is built on a 2 X 4 frame. So i made mine 48" high which did not waste a lot of lumber being 2 x 4's are usually 6', 8', 10', and 12' long unless you get those 98" / 99" long ones which I did get a few of using the extra 2" / 3" blocks as frame mounts against the 2 walls.
Mine is 41" (1m+). I'm 5'10". at my age, getting under the benchwork (as I am presently wiring the layout now), is a little awkward, but manageable. I know I wouldn't want it much lower, or higher for that matter, as reaching into the corners on my around-the-walls layout sometimes requires a step ladder; the "reach in" at the corners is over 3 ft. (~100 cm).
Maybe I need to get re-measured. My parents measured me lots of times through H.S. and 6 feet and 1/4 inch was consistant. Maybe I am 5' 11" or a hair less.
I like about 36" for small tabletop layouts that are operated sitting down. But for the bigger walk around layout I am currently building I decided on 50". This is a good working height that only occasionally needs a step stool.
A past layout was 58". This is a terrific height for viewing trains. And it was great for the duckunder I had. But there were two issues I had. I always needed a step stool to work on it. And I could only really see the train in the front.
I am 5'11" (down 1/2" from my younger days) and I model in S scale. If I were in HO I would probably opt for 52", in N scale 55". In O scale maybe a couple of inches less - 48".
I would suggest you do a mock up of different heights.
Paul
Our HOn3 modular layout (sorta Free-mo based) started out at 50". At shows, we got a lot of compliments because we were much higher and therefore more realistic than the other modular layouts. We also got complaints that kids couldn't see the layout unless they were being lifted up by parents. The height was a reasonable compromise for switching operations.
The club decided to lower the layout as the primary objective changed from pleasing module owners and fellow model railroaders to pleasing people at shows. New height was set at 44". I disagreed with the change in direction, and so have not experienced the new height at a show.
When I was in 3 rail O, I used 36" so the kids could enjoy it when they were young. Worked well on them, and not too bad a view. But it was a back-breaker to get underneath to wire. Too high to lay on my back and too low to sit up properly.
I did try building an HO layout at 62" (I am 69") as an experiment with eye level track. Pretty good for viewing scenery and the outside track, but not practical for switching operations.
I now use the double slotted standards and brackets to hold my 24"-30" deep modules on the walls, so I can adjust the height if I wanted. But I keep coming back to 50" as a good compromise for viewing and operation. I do need a step stool to work on a module if I don't want to remove it and set it on a table. The switchback to my harbor scene will start at 52" and descend to 48" (although this is easily adjusted or changed).
Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon in HO and HOn3 where it's always 1900....
IRONROOSTER I like about 36" for small tabletop layouts that are operated sitting down. But for the bigger walk around layout I am currently building I decided on 50".
I like about 36" for small tabletop layouts that are operated sitting down. But for the bigger walk around layout I am currently building I decided on 50".
Yes, I think that makes a difference.
I have an around the room shelf style layout at 24 inch depth out from the wall. U shape that covers 26 x 20 x 15. I would like to sit more than stand, but I'd have to roll around in an office chair to operate the layout, and that much distance seems like asking for a tipping accident...doh!
Makes more sense to stand and have the layout at 53 inches, which can get tiring on the legs, unfortunately.
- Douglas
As you point out, the purpose of the layout makes a difference. I'm using John Armstrong's definitions of spectator, dispatcher, and engineer preferences.
A "spectator" layout - one built to watch trains run - tends to be fairly low or quite high, depending on the desired view. With switching a low priority, being able to read car info, and couple/uncouple manually aren't drivers for the layout design.
A "dispatcher" layout - one built for central control of multiple trains - tends to favor being lower because most will want to be seated at some sort of panel. An overall view of the layout is generally preferred.
The "engineer" layout - where the operator simulates a local freight doing its thing over the line - has constraints that tend to limit height to about the 42" - 50" range. Walk-around control - either tethered or untethered following of the train - is preferred on this style of layout, so a height that lends itself to a decent visual from a standing position is desired. Reaching into the layout for coupling/uncoupling, and perhaps other functions such as throwing turnouts, while standing is the norm. Eyes have to be high enough to read reporting marks on cars 2 or 3 tracks in.
Like the layout design, building at a height that suits your operating preferences will make the layout more enjoyable.
The bench on the left is 40". The line goes up and over my 78' Rogers Pass to Alberta which is the bench on the right which is higher because Alberta is higher. It solved problems for me and my ups and downs having the bench on the right higher.
At my (someday) Stoney Creek Bridge it goes to the floor.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."