Toy train operating and collecting

I picked up a copy of O Gague Railroading from my local hobby shop.  There is a really nice layout in it by a guy named Mike Smith.  He claims that his layout is only 3' deep, including framing, but aren't the minimum diameter of curves 31" with realtrax curves?  I tried to model it out in the MTH rail software, and I had to make it a few inches bigger than 3' to get it all on.  How did he do it?

Thanks,
Wes

I don't see the problem.  The diameter of O31 tubular track is about 28 1/4 inches between the center rails.  The Realtrax roadbed would have to be over 7 inches wide before it wouldn't fit; and I don't think it is nearly that wide.

Maybe I did something wrong.  I'll get back into the program when I get home and see what I did wrong.

Wes

Bob,

The last time I looked at Realtrax by MTH it had an overhang just like Lionel's Fastrac, so that may be the concern here, not just center to center of the rails.

Lee F.

I run 031 Realtrax on a 3 foot wide table. 

Jim H 

I measured from the outside of the roadbeds of a half circle, and it is 31,5 inches.  I think I got it all to fit.  There is a double loop, but it still fits.  Thanks guys!

Wes

I'm not sure what you mean?  Does anyone have the magazine to see it?  I really like the layout, and that's about how much room I have to build a layout when the time comes.  I would actually like to have one more rail making two complete loops to run two trains at one time, but that should only add just a couple more inches.

Thanks for all the effort.  I appriciate it guys.

Wes

Wes, did you see this small layout that I designed recently on the topic "Small O27 Layout"?  It is meant to fit under a twin bed.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e249/fooldancing/LAY39X66.jpg

That is a great design. Two loops, and a figure 8.  Some room left for modeling (not if it goes under a bed,though).  It's proof that you don't have to have a ton of room for a fun layout.  You could lengthen that and have two large areas to do buildings.  I take it that those are 42" outer curves?  There is a lot to be done with that.  I should build it in railware and see how many parts I need.

Thanks again,
Wes

Thanks, Wes.  The outer curves are Marx O34, others are O27.  The layout is 39 x 66 inches.  There is a longer version with a 90-degree crossing.  Check out the entire topic for more discussion:

http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/990239/ShowPost.aspx

I took your idea and played around with it in railware.  Here is what I came up with.  It fits on a 4ft x 11 ft layout.  It's deeper than I wanted, but I can go as wide as 16 feet on one wall.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/weswhitmore/album/576460762377932354/photo/294928804160769276/45

It's probably too busy.  I modified the cross in the middle for these diagonal lines, so I can change direction of any train.  My main requirement, besides size, is to have the ability to run two trains at one time, unsuprivised.  It takes a lot of depth to do it.  I might be able to get it to work with Lionel track since it's smaller, but I have been told to stay away from their switches.

It's a fun design though.

Wes