I took out a scale rule to his plan that reapeared in the Nov. issue. I noticed he had walkways of 24" or less in a lot of areas, and this was soposed to be good planning?
John Armstrong was reported to be as skinny as a bean pole.
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He saw walkways as wasted space, and tended to make them small.
Mine have always been at least 40"
-Kevin
Living the dream.
John Armstrong believed in squeezing aisles if necessary to get the track in.
I visited his layout and had to walk sideways to get through some places in the aisles.
Paul
rrebellI noticed he had walkways of 24" or less in a lot of areas, and this was soposed to be good planning? Add Quote to your Post
Watch the movie Woodstock. Americns don't look like that anymore.
These days kids in the early teens have beer bellies and their dads and their moms look like they are pregnant with triplets.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
There were lots of fat people then too. As for Woodstock, alot of those people were drug experimentors, drugs tend to make people skinny. That aside, space planning 101 is aisles should be a min. 30". Benn like that long before I was born.
BigDaddy beer bellies and their dads and their moms look like they are pregnant with triplets.
Russell
rrebell There were lots of fat people then too. As for Woodstock, alot of those people were drug experimentors, drugs tend to make people skinny. That aside, space planning 101 is aisles should be a min. 30". Benn like that long before I was born.
And 36" is recommended (by the ADA), if your layout is going to be accessed by the public.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Forget gut size, I'm not all that big of a fellow, but my shoulders are close to 20 inches wide. Those narrow aisles mean my elbow is a potential wrecking ball.
rrebellalot of those people were drug experimentors, drugs tend to make people skinny.
Clearly you have not experienced "the munchies"
BigDaddy rrebell alot of those people were drug experimentors, drugs tend to make people skinny. Clearly you have not experienced "the munchies"
rrebell alot of those people were drug experimentors, drugs tend to make people skinny.
tstage rrebell There were lots of fat people then too. As for Woodstock, alot of those people were drug experimentors, drugs tend to make people skinny. That aside, space planning 101 is aisles should be a min. 30". Benn like that long before I was born. And 36" is recommended (by the ADA), if your layout is going to be accessed by the public. Tom
Like so many other variables in layout design (radius, grade, layout height), aisle width is another instance where some folks like to refer to their personal preference as a "standard". There are no standards - only choices. And like all the other variables there are valid reasons for a wide variety of choices.
I like 24" aisles. I have a disease called Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS). Along with other issues, I have almost no ability to balance myself when standing without something to lean on. Most of my layout work is done from a rolling office chair. My 24" aisles make it easy for me to reach the benchwork on both sides of the aisle and pull myself around. When I do have to stand to work on something, the close proximity of the benchwork behind me lets me lean lightly on it enough to maintain my balance.
OTOH, even before the PLS hit me, I had always had 24" aisles. I decided that since I never have and never will host operating sessions or open houses, 99% of the time nobody but me is in the train room. More layout was more important to me than more people space.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
Having gone through an unmitigated disaster with a layout which was never finished, I am more than willing to sacrifice some layout for comfort moving in and around my present layout. So I am at 30 inches, although I could have gone with 24 inches. Part of the disaster was aisle space.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
Visited the Armstrong layout during the NMRA convention in 1983. The aisle size was no problem with a busload of people.
Harold
perhaps the drawing was wrong.
If one has a central operating pit, it should be wide enough (ideally, but not necessarily) for two adults to move past each other without keeping an opposite elbow out and snagging that nice bridge you just put in place. Probably 40", 50" would be better.
For a lone operator, it can be less than 30". My last layout had 27" between the large helix-kum (Nanny appproved spulling)-mountain and the yard module across the loft. It was plenty.
I cannot comment on Armstrong's planning philosophy or on the correctness of the scale drawing (it appears to be drawn accurately) or on the size of John's skinny little butt.
For me, aisles are layout design elements just like any other, and as such they are responsive to the overall layout givens and druthers. One of my firm givens is that minimum aisle width is 36 inches and I held to that. Most of the aisles are in fact 36 inches wide, and the aisle shown in the right-hand portion of my track plan is 48 inches wide. That area contains a large yard on both sides of the lower level and (the equivalent of) two small yards on both sides of the upper level. Several operators and spectators can comfortably congregate in that vicinity.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
bearman Having gone through an unmitigated disaster with a layout which was never finished,... Part of the disaster was aisle space.
Having gone through an unmitigated disaster with a layout which was never finished,... Part of the disaster was aisle space.
??? [Too much, too little........???]
My layout is an extended 4x8. To be able to access switches along the back wall, I have a narrow "walkway". This also adds switching challenges, since the power packs are on the other side of the layout, and I have placed several large buildings to block the enginer's sight, the enginer must rely on his conductor's hand signals to move.
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
selector bearman Having gone through an unmitigated disaster with a layout which was never finished,... Part of the disaster was aisle space. ??? [Too much, too little........???]
bearman