How big is your layout?

[jecorbett]

46x26.

Right now it is around the room but plans call for a center peninsula. The peninsula will be about 25' long and will be double sided with a branch line running up one side and down the other to its terminus.

[cmrproducts]

My layout is located in a 25 x 75 basement with a 14 x 28 addition. I started building this HO layout starting in 2001. The layout has 2800 feet of track down so far and we have OPs every other Thursday night. The theme is the Conrail Lowgrade line from Dubois to East Brady, PA in the early '80s.

BOB H - Clarion, PA

[GAPPLEG]

12x16 SP mainline around the outer perimeter, inside is my town and industries with a mainline for my private road. My main interest is the switching around the small yard and industries.

[spidge]

N-scale 13x15 in the corner of the garage.
I almost had a room but my father moved in.
Check out the link under my signature for picks.
This is the largest I have had and I think its enouph until the kids are out on thier own. So that leaves me with about 10-14 years, so I guess I could quit rushing things.

[Anonymous]

Phase 1 currently under construction (wiring) is 10' x 2' engine servicing facility, (engine house and roundhouse installed)
Phase 2 will be a 14' x 1' bridge to a 4' x 8' layout
Phase 3 will be a 4' x 8' layout half rural and half urban terrain

[rayw46]

Well, I'm amazed at the size of some of your layouts. The time, expense and effort must have been, or will be, enormous. It would be nice, but totally impractical for me to have such a layout. I have a small 2' x 8' switching layout with fidder/staging yards at each end. I can't see myself apologizing for the small size because it's a nice layout and it fits within the constraints of my space time and budget. In two areas I have built interchangable, "modules," so that I can switch industries to provide more variety from operating session to operating session. Except for one corner, scenery is complete to the point that it is fun to run trains. About 6 months from now I will probably decide to tear down this layout and start another. I figure I can build about 20 or more layouts featuring different eras and themes to completion for the price of one 20' x 30' layout. Of course I will never have the luxury of running long trains but many who plan or are buliding large layouts will never actually complete them. Each of us does what we can and if we do the best that we can we should be proud of the results.

[railroadyoshi]

My new space is 28x28.

It is huge when put this way, but saying that the only utilized part of this is a 28x28 L. I traded a 12x25 space for a 28x28 space along the walls. Now, I can finially have a shelf layout that will satisfy my modelling for the next 4 years until college rolls around.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

QUOTE: My current (last?) layout is 33'x44'. It is in the basement. Where possible, the internal walls were designed to maximize the aisle space and fit the trackplan

NICE!

[DMNolan]

My current (last?) layout is 33'x44'. It is in the basement. Where possible, the internal walls were designed to maximize the aisle space and fit the trackplan. The layout is HO and double decked. Building a layout this large takes allot of time. I sometimes worry what is too much. I don't work on it all the time and with the kids activities, take breaks for weeks or months at a time. I recently bought the wood for the upper deck and hope to have it in by the end of the year.







http://webpages.charter.net/dmnolan/

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by canazar

SpaceMouse,

Your layout is looking really,really good. I have been watching you put that together from the first days. Its pretty cool to see it come together the way it has. Great Job.

Thanks. I was admiring that yard of yours. Nice.

[canazar]

SpaceMouse,

Your layout is looking really,really good. I have been watching you put that together from the first days. Its pretty cool to see it come together the way it has. Great Job.

[canazar]

The Kiva Valley Railway sits in the garage. It is roughly 15x18 around the walls type with a 4x6 with a 5' circle on the end that makes the finger in the middle. Roughly 90' of double tack main and 35 feet of sinlge track main. All together, roughly 325 feet of track.

Its just about all laid out except the middle section. The track is just pinned for the moment. I havent figured out what I am going to do over here yet as far the track plan goes. I am thinking about adding quite a bit more of trackage and industries to compress a "downtown industry area" in there andmaybe add another freelanced road to serve it. [:D]

The track plan is pretty rough, sorta to scale. But gives you a good idea of the layout.

[SpaceMouse]

Mine has been expanded to include 3 6' staging tracks so it is now 5'2" x 8 foot.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

QUOTE: The good news is that the new room (old storage) is a bit larger, I get 22'x13' to play with! So I'm planning to make the most of the space, do an "around the walls" layout with a penninsula up the middle.

Fill it up, fill it up, fill it up!

Above all, have fun.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

10' 5" north to south on the west side

7' 7" west to east on the north end

6' 5" north to south on the east side

5' 4" east to west on the south end with an 18" radius curve going in 'S' shape to the south and turning west to the 10' 5" section.

This give a continuos run of more than 30' on the main and around 35' on the outside siding.

A separate branch line run inside this main and has a run about 15'.

The main has two industrial spurs and a passing siding.

The branch line has 1 industrial spur and 2 turnouts to interchange rolling stock with the main.

On the main I run primarily KCS power, sometimes MKT.

On the branch, I run MG (Midland Gulf), a fictional Railroad operating on the brink of bankruptcy.

Two trains run on the main at the same time in opposite directions on standard DC. I did this by reversing the trucks in an Athearn locomotive, thereby reversing the polarity. If you don't think this could work, try it. Front truck to back, back truck to front.

One train runs and swiches the branch and stay out of the way of the trains on the main when shifting rolling stock.

One slip on the blocking switches, and CRUNCH! This has happened, more than once[banghead]

What do you think?

[waltersrails]

seven and half by eight and half.

http://ztrainman.tripod.com/

[R. T. POTEET]

The only thing larger than my layout is my imagination; my layout will get an enormous boost when I hit the Powerball this wednesday.

[Anonymous]

Just starting over, the room for the old layout is being converted into an office. The good news is that the new room (old storage) is a bit larger, I get 22'x13' to play with! So I'm planning to make the most of the space, do an "around the walls" layout with a penninsula up the middle. Haven't decided if I'll do two levels yet or not, those 22' long walls will make for a couple of nice yards. The extra space will definitely be better though, going from 18" to 26" radius curves on the turnarounds will be nice.

[SilverSpike]

My current plan occupies a room area of approx 15 X 16, and here are the latest plans (work in progress)

2D Lower Level Plan


3D Lower Level Plan

[xdford]

My St Agnes Railway is on a 4 x 8 with an el off shoot. Web page www.xdford.digitalzones.com FYI ... It's not what you have but what you do with it and I have had more than one comment that it does a lot!

Regards from down Under

Trevor

[BRVRR]

My Black River Valley Railroad is 4' x 10' in a 10'6" x 9'6" bedroom. Closets and doors and access to the main attic limit the possibilities. The BRVRR has a double main line, one reverse loop, a three-track engine terminal/house, a two-track yard, four industrial sidings and another for the grain elevator. Pictures of the layout, rolling stock, structures and much more on my BRVRR website. Here's a link, or use the one in my signature. [url="http://intergate.com/~acoates149"]

[Don Z]

My layout occupies my 15' x 15' game room. I've had the benchwork started for a couple of months and just recently laid my first piece of roadbed. I'm trying to prevent a feeling of failure by reminding myself that this layout will take me several years to build completely.



Don Z.

[Anonymous]

Just starting the beginning of my 6th and hopefully last one.
Its 35 x 15 and have a LONG way to go

[mmartian22]

mine is 13.5 x14 i got tight inside curves my large locos to run on

[bnnrailroad]

Right now, 10' x 12'. Basically, 2 4x8's and a 2x5.

The new pike will be 10.5' x 13.5'. It will be an around the wall layout and fill the room.

[ARTHILL]

Nope. Mine is the same size, but a lot more scenery and DCC,

[Texas Zepher]

It has been a year. Anyone have any updates?

[Anonymous]

Nuts about the BNSF or is it an illness?

HO scale

I model the BNSF Line from WA to CA in a 40’ X 24’ Basement. Out of that space there is a support wall running down the center and I couldn’t take over my wife’s laundry room and the path to it. What it ends up leaving me is two main rooms 12’ X 34’ and 12’ X 20’ for my layout that I have linked together by cutting 10’ of the main support and installing a laminated header from Boise Cascade. That left me with one big room with places for nice sweeping S curves.

My layout has two levels and in the larger of the two rooms there is a nice 6’ deep X 11’ long cove that stick out for my living room leaving me an area for an island for my main pass to get to the upper level. I use all Peco Concrete sleepers for the mains, single track with 2800 (min) scale feet timber sidings. I have double mains up the 1.25 scale mile pass @ 1.7% and a 2% on the single main with passing siding in the 12’ X 20’ room. I use 2 Kato SD40-2 Snoot Nosed Santa Fe’s for the helper district on the 2% pass line. On the one nose I clipped the knuckle off the coupler for pusher service so I can release on the fly and head back down on the siding if there is no train in it. I have a regular coupler on the end leaving it suitable for helper service in air and breaking for mixed, intermodal, tank trains, and what ever else needs it. I have my main yard at the bottom of the 1.7% pass and helper service there is only needed if power has problems or for friends that come over for the first time to run on Friday nights not realizing the power needs for getting a 40 car double stack or 50 car grains and coal up to summit. Total concrete on main lines is 13.5 scale miles and I can’t tell you what the timber track is, I bought different brands and can’t tell you how many full pieces I used (I’m still not done laying also).

I have a small hand full of UP Trains, one a passenger executive train 4 E7’s and 15 cars. I have a UP mixed freight inspired by a rail buddy giving me some aluminum for gondolas, he works for Kaiser Aluminum. A C4400AC with DPU CP Rail (operated by UP employees) grain train out of Canada and one intermodal lead by UP SD90MACs.

I have 15 BNSF trains 4 Coal SD70MACs / SD60+M’s Oakways for 60’s with loaded trains having DPUs. 4 Intermodal trains lead by SD40-2s, C4400ACs, C44-9s, GP-60’s, and leased SD60’s. 4 Grain hopper trains lead by SD40-2’s, C4400ACs, SD70MACs, SD60Ms and C44-9’s with loaded trains having DPUs. I also have 3 mixed freights, one wood products train from Montana with MRL on the point, power being anything goes with 4 or 6 axles.

Friends that bring their stuff is mostly BN with SP&S, UP, SP, NP, GN, And SI (Spokane International) joining occasionally for the mix. I try to run every Friday unless I have something really wrong (like the flood a few weeks ago in my basement). I have a Digitrax DCS100 and a DCS200 powering the layout and I have two radio receivers for wireless controls. Most turnouts on main are #8 by Shinohara powered by DS44 and DS54s allowing for radio throws and closes, radius is 32” or bigger.

I have had 6 running on my layout at once with a few that really know layout well (because of 3 reversers on layout) running two trains at once. The most trains running at once was 11 and that was a very interesting run night with one head on and two re-ends causing a CF (other words headache ) for all the operators.

My layout as one friend puts it, the UP layout, standing for the Undecorated Plywood layout. My layout has no scenery yet and still is in the track laying process with the main line with sidings being finished. Branch & spur tracks plus some yards and industrial track have not been laid leaving me with a lot more to still do. Working on it has SLOWED down since Friday nights started, now if I’d only quit play maybe it’d be finished in a couple years.

Ross

[Anonymous]

Jetrock - a man after my own heart. Drums & trains. Nice!!!