New here.....my layout design

[Anonymous]

Hey all! First time posting here, have only been in the railroad modeling arena for about 1 year. My father and I messed with some LIonel about 30 years back....but i'm not into HO, a bit more realistic and a nicer size for me.

I was going to do a 4x10 layout, then decided to take up less space, i'd do this!

I put up a 6" shelf running around the walls of the basement about 50" off the floor. I have about 150 feet of mainline track! I ran basically a large loop, double track with shelves on either end to turn them around. my goal was ALOT of track, and alot of long runs for long trains. I built a builtin bookcase that has a 'mantle' for the train yard, and a larger shelf over the computer table to hold a few mountains and a little river.

so far the river/mountain area is about done (about a 2x6' shelf), and for the first effort it came out pretty darn nice! I purchased tons of scenic material and have taken my time to install things. it's wonderful and i'm very surprised as to how it's come out as i'm NOT artistic :)

all i have to say is, no wonder it takes 30 years to build these layouts! in the past 8 months, i'm only got the track laid, and the shelf scene above done!

i'll try and get pics one of these days.....

[Anonymous]

Sounds good! Looking forward to pictures! And welcome back after 30+ years.

Andrew

[Anonymous]

woops....i meant I AM INTO HO scale! :) and thanks...i'll keep you guys posted....

[cmitcham]

no problem on the woops, but the forum has this handy "edit" feature. when you're logged in and reading your own post, somewhere near the top you have a link that lets you edit the post.

the whole edit thing has caused quite the rucuss lately...

calvin. (another 30 year returnie)

[Jetrock]

Wow, it only took me 15 years to return to the fold!

It seems like the around-the-room shelf layout is getting more and more popular, as folks' living situations get more and more crowded--perhaps the days of the 4x8 sheet layout are numbered?

A shelf layout has quite a few advantages--you can have nice broad curves in the corners without having a "blob", when looking at a section you can only see the train as it goes past (you can't see it going around the other side of the layout five seconds later without turning around) and it leaves the center of the room (and the walls under the layout) accessible for other uses.

I'm working on a similar sort of concept myself--a donut-shaped layout taking up the middle section of a garage 7.5 feet wide. I'd love to have a full basement (heck, I'd settle for a second bedroom!) to fill with a shelf layout of similar proportions...

[lrfogle]

Sounds like you are going to get a lot of those "smile" miles. My own new layout is also an around the walls in a 14' x 28' room. Am looking forward to seeing some pics of your 'road'. Good luck and stay safe.

Larry

[GerFust]

badodyssey:

Welcome back to the hobby and welcome to the Trains.com forums!

The shelf layout, around-the-walls concept is very popular. A thought for the future, if you can go a little wider, you'll be able to add some industries in the future, with sidings, spur tracks, etc. Having something for the train to do, dropping off and collecting cars, will greatly enhance the enjoyment of the layout.

Feel free to post here for any advice you need - we're full of it! [;)]

-Jer