I'm 5' 7", my layout height is 48". I use 2x3 legs. It was easy to buy 8 foot 2x3s and cut them in half. 48" is high enough with a two foot depth. Any higher and reaching over scenery would become prohibitive.
My layout is three levels (and a mushroom design).
The lower level is mostly 42" with some at 44".
The middle level is mostly 62" (in order to have deck separation above the lower level).
The upper level is 82"-87" absolute but 52"-57" relative to the elevated floor.
Edit to add: The track that passes over the aisle to get from the middle level to the upper level is about 80" high so only NBA players should need to duck.
Modeling an HO gauge freelance version of the Union Pacific Oregon Short Line and the Utah Railway around 1957 in a world where Pirates from the Great Salt Lake founded Ogden, UT.
- Photo album of layout construction -
Mine's 41 inches. This is a comfortable height for working on and operating and it is enough of a distance below a window to allow for a short backdrop but still provide a view out that window.
Even at the 40 to 42 inch height, my grandchildren had to climb on things to see. That is annoying if they are following a train.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Hi again,
I've already replied (41") and after sifting through all the replies its obvious I'm in the minority for sure. Most folks that replied have their layouts significantly higher.
Of course this is a personal preference, but if I was asked about the typical layout height before this thread, I would have said "about 42 inches".
HA!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
My design height is 48" but elevated track reaches 53" and terrain reaches considerably higher in areas. And some track drops below to 46". I wanted enough room underneath to work comfortably but still be able to view detail across the dogbone ends. I don't have a duck-under in the design so that wasn't a consideration and I am 6'3" so its a comfortable reach height for me.
I think the viewing angle looks pretty good especially sitting on the stools that I use when operating.
Huntington Junction - Freelance based on the B&O and C&O in coal country before the merger... doing it my way. Now working on phase 3. - Walt
For photos and more: http://www.wkhobbies.com/model-railroad/
Mine is 4 foot to the rails, but 3 inches lower to duck under. I'm close to 6 foot and getting too old to duck uner 45inches. Wish it was 60 inches high, but maybe I should eliminate the duck under altogether. 48" is a good viewing height for me.
Alan Jones in Sunny Queensland (Oz)
My rails are 58 inches from the floor, all one level. I'm 6'1". The layout is supported by rather heavy duty steel inverted L brackets, so no support legs are in the way. My workbenches are under the layout, and I have about 21 linear feet of workbench space 29 inches from the floor, ranging from 30-38" deep. Sitting on a rollee chair, it is all comfortably accessible, with designated space for machine shop, (Sherline mill and lathe, Harbor freight drill press), a soldering station with a 68 inch long test track, plenty of tool and project storage space, and ample work area for laying out large items like big structures and ships.
Then, under those workbenches, comprised of tables, desks, hollow core doors supported on short cabinets, there is reasonable room for boxes storing kits and supplies.
This packs a lot of action in a 10x20 room without feeling cramped. That also includes a 3x6 foot 1/24 diorama built on yet another door, with a trundle bed under that, which gets used occasionally when we have more company than the house can hold.
SO! I'd recommend going as high as you comfortably can.
My track is between 60" and 66" high. The layout varies from under 60" up to 84" mountain peaks. I am 72" tall. My trains are in your face. The tops of buildings are over your eye line and the tops of mountains are over your head. And that is the way I like it. I've had shorter layouts but I prefer taller layouts so you can see the details better.
45" from the garage floor. That's 0" elevation (terminal and yards) on the railroad, which gradually rises through 2-2.2% grades to about 70" at its highest elevation. It's an around the wall with one "Island", so being 6'1" myself, I have no problems reaching anywhere on the layout.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
50" to the railhead and 45-1/2" to the bottom of the benchwork framing. The primary determinant was to have at least 44" clear under the benchwork for a relatively high duck-under. The actual construction details produced the final dimension.
The basic plan is a doughnut with a maximum benchwork width of 24". I am 5'-9"; these dimensions work okay except I use a low step stool if I have to work on the staging area behind the view block.
Dante
This is a great thread. It is very informative to see what others are doing and why.
After much debating I have decided on 36" for the main level and 12" for the staging.
My reasoning is that I have both back pain when standing and neuropathy in my lower legs so I'm planning on being able to sit on a rolling office chair most of the time. I want the staging low enough to clear a valley on the main level that will be about 18" deep. Access to the staging has to run under the valley.
In case you are wondering, I will build the staging in sections which can be laid in place after the main level is fully wired. I will use the main level sub roadbed as a workbench to build the staging sections before any of the main level work is done. Since both levels are essentially the same shape I should be able to test the staging while it is still on the main level. At least, that's the theory. We shall see.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
My N scale layout is 48" to the top surface.When I mount the Z layout it will also be at 48".If I live long enough to build my HO switching layout,it to will be at 48".
Why 48"? Because I can set my chair to a height that allows eye level viewing when all I want to do is watch trains run.
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Mine is about 45" at the lowest levels, which looks about right to me.
Here is something to think about: Sure, the closer to eye level, the better it looks when you are right next to it, but at those higher levels it can detract from the overall presence when you enter the room. That "Wow" factor when visitors walk in, and of course kids too.
Roughly 20". It's an end table I'm making specificly for running trains on. There's a top level about 30" high, but that's mostly for magazines :p
I'm 6'-4" and the ceiling in my basement is only an inch or two above my head. 42" made my 4 x 8 layout viewable but still accessible to work on; both on the top and bottom sides of the layout. Had the layout been any higher it would have felt like I was modeling in the top bunk of a bunk bed.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Mine is 50" high. I am very happy with it As I like the viewing angle. I wouldn't like having it either higher or lower.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
To be perfectly honest I took the easy way out which coincidently gave a good height to the layout. I simply cut the the 2X4's used for legs in half making the top 48" high and with plywood and foam the top is approximately 51". Worked for me and saved a lot of sawing.
Just my Worth
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
42 inches. Chosen arbitrarily. My work table slides under it nicely and I have a lot of stuff stored under it.
At my club, the layout height varies from 40" to 51" off the floor. And where it's 51" and where there's a yard, we have a 10" plywood platform on the floor for the yard operators to stand on.
The reasoning is that while higher tracks makes the trains look better, lower tracks makes the layout operate better because you can see the car numbers on tracks 2, 3, 4, etc.
If you just want to run trains in circles, then you'd probably like running at 50"+ to give you that railfan experience. If you need to read car numbers, than the low forty inch level is probably more suited for you.
Paul A. Cutler III
My layout is one level and it is 52" high.
My layout height is about 53" which provides an eye-level view for adults. This is a great eight me at 5'8". I don't like having people look down at the layout. My little kids can either get held up or stand on a chair.
Hi!
Always a good question.......... My HO layout is 41 inches high, and I'm 5'9.5".
I chose 41" as I have a lower level staging and need the height to utilize a 2 percent incline between levels.
If I had a single level, I would likely do 40 inches.
But of course this is all a personal situation. Some like to look up at a layout, or be at eye level, or have an airplane view down to it - or somewhere in between.
42" legs, because that's half of the length of the beams I bought. When I sit in a chair, it's at eye level. Plywood, foam, and trackbed put it at about 44"
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
My layout is 50" to the top of the plywood. I'm 5'6" SHORT so this is fine as my depth on top is 30" Lower level staging is 38".
I can reach it all (Okay, I may have to stand on tip toes and the corners with a step stool).
Neal
My rails are 38 1/2 inches above the floor. I'm 5'10". It's uncomfortably low to work on from below, but it makes it easier to reach over from above. If I were to do it again, I'd go higher.
But, my train room has a 45-degree angled roofline on two sides, so every inch I raise the layout reduces the room's width by 2 inches. That's the compromise I had to make.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.