Thanks, Driline. This is only one of 4 "bays". Glad you liked it.By the way, the vehicles are Jonny Lightnings, with a few Athearn semis. Kinda gives a forced perspective when viewed straight on. The yellow thingy in front of the semi is a pack of car cards for the train to the right, should have moved it for the pic.
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
saronaterryAfter you get around the turn on the right, the right side is 12" and the left is 14". This is the ends of two peninsulas. Hope it helps. Terry
After you get around the turn on the right, the right side is 12" and the left is 14". This is the ends of two peninsulas.
Hope it helps.
Ooooooooo.... I LIKE!
Nice looking railroad.
Oooh lets see where I am. Well first and foremost I will DEFINITLY be in HO scale. I picked up some great engines today but I will wait till tomorrow or Saturday to post pics because I also picked up some test track and turnout that I want to make up and will show them in WPF. I hit the jack pot on them.
I am about 5-8 to 5-9, and comfortable track height would be between 54 inches, upper chest height, to 58 inches, which is right about chin height on me. I plan to have sound so the one 10' long wall will be backed by a tall backdrop and probably a backing board at the bottom so it won't disturb anyone watching the TV. Even though the new engines are just picked up are far from anything WSOR, MR&T, or Troy & Northern used, I plan to model parts of MR's WSOR Troy Branch from a few years ago. What I had in mind is the general U shape. An add on section will we put in place to extend the modeled section to give me more layout to operate, but be taken down when not operating so it doesn't block the front closet. This would all be to the left if one was looking at the mouth of the U. To the right is a narrow 3 track staging fiddle yard with a mainline-slash-A/D track and two sidings. Looking straight would be the bottom of the U which would be sceniced but have no structures or anything. An add on piece would extend the bottom of the U, to the left at a 90 degree angle to the main sceniced layout section, to proived extra track for a wye type turn. I will draw up a little sketch in MS paint and post tomorro. It is sort of modeled after the track by our apartment where most of the industires are on a P shaped track loop. The local runs down the track, engines first then cars, and takes a switch which puts it on the loop track and the consist goes down the main loop track cars first, then engine. The few industries that have sidings are all pointed so the car first then engine consist can spot cars properly (no run-arounds to spot cars) and the P loop track ends at a large building supply distributor. It's where I got the idea.
I'm looking at modeling the ethenol plant and feed mill from the Troy Branch on the main layout, with the cold storage on the removable section. I would also like to put one more industry on there but not sure what yet, perhaps a scrap metal yard that can be represented by a backdrop photo with just the spur track on the layout.
Hoped I help clear up things.
Instead of having a duckunder why dont ya have a liftout section? This would be easier for visitors, they are not bending over to get into the layout room, if ya want to show your layout off. Will save on their backs because you will always have someone misjudge and come up to soon and "Smack" the duckunder.
Is this just going to be for your enjoyment or for running sessons also with other? For me I am 6-1 mt layout is anywhere from 18-24 inches in width.Also this will take into account how high off the floor it is. I have ran on layout anywhere from 24 inches off of the floor to about 54 inches. The 24 inches off of the floor was a staging yard under the main part of the layout. We had to be an extra man and help the Yardmaster make and break up the trains while inbetween the local run.
The height of the layout would be a big deciding factor also. Kevin
I have a HO shelf layout in a 10' x 10' room. Three walls have 16" shelves and the other has an 18" shelf. The big compromise decision was the radius of the track in the corners. I decided on a double track with 28" and 30" radii because I want to run some long passenger cars and a freight train. The result is that in the corners the track is at the inside edge of the shelf and on the sides of the room it is at the back of the shelf. This does not allow much variation in track layout. There is very little straight track.
Where the track is at the back of the shelf I have put some buildings in front of the track. One side has a street at the edge and several downtown buildings between the street and the track. Another side has a sidewalk at the edge and four houses between the sidewalk and the track. In the corners I can put buildings behind the track. One corner has a farm house and barn and another corner a church.
I have one branch off the mainline that runs back into a closet. this branches into a roundhouse and some five other sidings. In order to reach the back of the closet I had to make the shelf that goes along the front of the door removable.
Of course I would like a bigger layout but this accomplishes what I want. I enjoy it.
You will need to make a list of priorities, rank them and then see what will work with the space you have.
30 inches should be your maximum depth. Even that is a stretch (literally) when you need to get to the back wall. My layout is a table, 5 feet wide, so the center is 30 inches from the edges. I can work on the center, but only barely, and I made sure I finished the trackwork and scenery there before I put scenery in the foreground.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
To answer the question, yes 18" wide is good enough for scenery. These are only 18"
Larry
http://www.youtube.com/user/ClinchValleySD40
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52481330@N05/
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/page/1/ppuser/8745/sl/c
Hi MILW-RODR,
I see that you are still in the planning stage - take your time.
I usually plan "my" shelves at a width of 18" or 24", but the width can vary. If I understand your question correctly, you are not only asking the question of how wide shelves should be, but also, if you should go for a shelf-type layout or a donut-shaped one.
The selection of layout shape finally depends on available space and type of operation you´d like to model. If you are happy with switching and available space is tight, a shelf layout will do. If you want to let your trains circle your layout now and then, a donut-shaped layout is the better choice. Building return loops on a shelf layout is not really advisable as they eat up a lot of space - just look at the introductory pages of the Kalmbach book on 48 top-notch track plans.
A 10` by 6´ donut shaped layout maybe a little tight, but, IIRC, steinjr´s layout is not much bigger. Why don´t you post a sketch of your room (if you haven´t done this earlier) and we see, how much space you really have?
My original layout sections are 30 inches deep:
The newer sections range between 12 inches:
and 24 inches:
I do like the scene depth the 30 inch modules provide. But, it is easier to work on the narrower ones.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
steamageNo room wide shot handy, but this picture is taken on top of the brackets and shelf in the same location with 5 tracks with room to spare along the edge of the layout.
Great looking engine, and a really nice job on the yard weathering. Is that real outside dirt you used and did you also use your own homemade ballast?
No room wide shot handy, but this picture is taken on top of the brackets and shelf in the same location with 5 tracks with room to spare along the edge of the layout.
steamage My layout is 18 inches at the widest shelf at 54 inches to track level from the floor. That allows the room to still be full of furniture in useable space.
My layout is 18 inches at the widest shelf at 54 inches to track level from the floor. That allows the room to still be full of furniture in useable space.
Looks nice. Do you have a wide shot of your layout?
18" to 20" is perfect for HO scale. Any deeper than that and you will have problems reaching over certain scenery items. Remember, you need to have decent access to ALL features of your layout in case of problems. (They DO arise from time to time)
Good Luck!
Jimmy
ROUTE ROCK!
My 11X7' HO layout is a shelf layout that ranges from 5" to 14" with the turntable at approx. 28". Plenty of space for scenery with a drop down bridge.
An old picture but gives you the general idea...
You don't have to have the shelves be equal. They could be 12" on one side and 24" on the other or even 6" and 30". The ends could be deeper depending on were you have the duck under or gate.
Since this is your computer area as well, how deep a space do you need for that?
Enjoy
Paul
It depends on how tall the shortest modeler is and how high the shelf is.
Mine is 24" shelves with 30" radius curves. Butit's in a two car garage, so aisle width is not a concern.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
18 inches is fine and with careful planning 24 inch radius curves are not an issue a previous layout I went around a 10 foot by 7 foot room with 14 " shelves with no issues .
Is a 15 or 18" deep shelf enough room to have decent scenery in HO scale? I'm trying to decide what to do with my 10x6 foot computer/train area and it will either be a large donut shap with a duck under, or a shelf layout that is no deeper than 34" and would have to use 15R curves. Or completely forego HO and start looking at N but I'm not too keen on N scale.