SMALL ROOM LAYOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6x14

Hummm are their any doors closets windows ?

How much isle space do you need ?

Guess we need lots more info

First, sell all that gigantic HO stuff, unless you want to build a shelf for static display.

Then get two 36 x 80 door panels, and build a rockin' N scale rig.  

If you want a continuous run, you need 4' to get a decent return loop in HO.  You can accomplish the same thing with 15" radius in N scale.  You'll really have a ton more opportunities if break from the herd of Lemmings and express your individuality in the true railroader's scale....

Come over to the Dark Side, Luke....

Lee 

www.carendt.com

Check it out, tons of small layout ideas.

youngrailroader000 wrote:

I have a 6x14 foot room I plan on using for railroading. I want to run allong the wall. Any tips for this type of railroading. Plan on HO scale.

Draw up a quick sketch of the room layout (Include dimensions) and post it here.  I think there are a lot of people here that

A) Really enjoy layout planning and

B) are really darn good at it!

You could have a two foot isle in the center, and if you go around the walls you can have nice 30 to 34" curves, depending on how close to the walls you ar willing to put track.  And 14 ft leaves tons of room for scenery and yards.  You would need a duckunder or a hinge, but you could design a great layout.  You have plenty of room for an HO layout.  I thought of switching to N-scale, but I have a lot of HO gear, and I would lose alot of money if I tried to sell all my gear and switch.

Good luck,

Smitty

I have an 8' x 20' room so our measurements are realitively the same.  I have an around the walls layout and it is working out fine.

I would suggest an 18" wide layout on the 16' walls with 24" wide ends.  You really do not want anything less than a 36" wide aisle.

Layout height is a personal preference but my track elevation is 53" where it crosses the doorway to the room (51" elsewhere).  This gives me 51.5" inches of duckunder clearance which I find to be an easy duckunder even at my advanced age.  My duckunder is removable if needed but I have never need to remove it.

Think of a design with broad sweeping curves and lots of scenery across the ends of the room and then sidings/towns, etc. down the long walls.

Good Luck,
-John

Here's an idea. This is my around the room shelf layout 11X7. It's era is 1995 Eastern Iowa. I've got 3 staging tracks and a turntable with 3 different industries to switch plus a yard.

Here's a pic showing the staging yard in progress.

Your room is almost the same size as mine, and mine has a furnace and my workbench in it, too.  Here are my thoughts:

 Stick with HO.  I used to model in N scale and found that the reliability of the locos was frustrating, also, there is less room for error in your trackwork.  You really have to be nit-picky to get N-scale track working right.  That was a long time ago, so maybe things are better now.  What I can say is that I enjoy model railroading more in HO than I did in N.

 What I did for a layout was what I call a folded point to point, with a helix.  Most of the layout is 30 inches wide, and 48 at the helix.  It is built along one wall.  It starts with a small yard area, then goes into a tunnel (helix is inside the tunnel, then the main line comes out on a higher level behind the first yard.  This area has another small yard.  It's not a multi-level layout,  The rear area is higher on a slope that the front area.  I partially exposed the helix on concentric curved trestles (that was fun part of this layout, and it looks cool!).  One nice feature of this approach is that you can add to it.  One drawback is that you can't run trains continuously, because there's no closed loop. 

If you want more info, I'll be glad to send you a sketch and/or photos.

One last suggestion:  Resist the temptation to attach benchwork to the walls.  I did this on a previous layout and found that the limited access hampered my ability to make it as nice as I wanted.  My current layout is on big lockable casters, so I can move it to get behind it.  Of course, this requires very solid benchwork, but solid benchwork pays off in many ways, anyway.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

 Shay Fan

Think about the era, location and industries served by your railroad.  You can make a lot of your space by thinking about and carefully planning the vertical dimension.  If you are interested in either logging or mining, then you have a natural opportunity to run switchbacks to gain elevation.  Or, you might consider setting up a long ramp down to hidden staging.

I would avoid the modern era, because the long cars and locomotives really need larger curves than you will find it possible to model.  Instead, think about post-transition (1960's) with short diesels and cars.

I would make use of the doorway to add a single-track bridge.  Even if you double-track your main line the rest of the way, this would be both visually and operationally interesting.  Given your space limitations, though, I would think first about a single-track main line with long passing sidings on each of the long walls.  That would still give you the ability to run 2 trains in opposite directions, but managing the "meets" would be a constant challenge.

I've got a small layout, a 5x12 foot table.  I gave myself a lot of extra track and operational fun by putting in subway trains below the layout.

1. limit your loops to 36" D (18" r) or less, so you can reach everything. Ams are typically 31".

2. Go 'N' scale, or less.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

          There is one door, 5 windows, no closets. 2-3 feet in isle space.

Five windows?  This is starting to sound like an enclosed porch...  is there heat or A/C in this room?

Lee 

The best way I can think of to utilize your availible space is a U-shaped shelf switching layout around the three walls without doors.  Windows shouldn't be much of a problem.  My entire layout hangs from the window frame of a double window.  The benchwork is simple.  Three shelf brackets are attached to the wall (or window frame) with 1x4's on top like this.

The layout just sits on top and the back beam of the open grid shelf is pinned against the wall with a stop block like on this bracket.

Since the layout only sits on top it is easily portable and another advantage is ease of wiring.  The entire layout can be set on its side on the brackets like this.

Sorry about the glare from the window, but I think you can still see how the layout can be tilted to make wiring and installing switch machines easier.  However to do this any structures or other tall scenic features must be removeable so that they aren't damaged.

It's best to mount a shelf layout like this high on the wall as the lack of depth becomes less apparent.  Here's a mock-up of what part of my layout will look like.

Tall structures help hide the back of the layout so an industrial setting is perfect for a shelf layout.  Industrial track plans are also easy to fit.  The best way to plan track that I found was to get a couple turnouts and a piece or two of flex track and draw out track plans full scale in chalk until you find one you like.  Switching layouts are easy to plan, but there are several things to remember.  First, make sure you leads are long enough!  If you can't fit an engine and at least one car into every one of your switching leads, you won't be able to operate the layout.  Second, include a run-around track.  Without one all of the spurs on the layout will have to face the same direction or two engines will be needed to run the layout.  Third,  avoid the temptation to cram in too much track.  Remember that your railroad serves industries and that they need space too.  With too much track you won't have room for industries.  Finally, include staging in your plan!  Your industries need a place to ship their products to.

I know that made shelf layouts sound complicated, but they are easy to build and the most fun to operate type of layout I have found. (Continuous run bores me!)

Anyway I'm happy to help!

Here is one basic concept:

This just shows a couple of ovals around the room for examples.  There is a lot you can do with this space. 

Does your door swing into the room or out of the room?  What is the door width and where?

I would suggest that you get some 1/4" plywood, paneling, or hardboard and cut it to cover up the windows.  Otherwise you will be unhappy if you want to run night operations during the day time. Plus you can add scenery over the plywood.  You can nail the plywood to the window casing with just a few small (4d) nails and if you remove it later then you would just have a few small holes to fill.

-John

A bit "redneck" here but a few of our windows we have 1" blue foam sheeting cut to fit snugly into for winter. Very easy to cut, wedge it into the frame work and you have an instant sealed window. No nails, holes or splinters, NO DRAFTS or issues of interior condensation.

Regardless, install something/anything to limit the amount of sunlight hitting the layout.

I am planning an around the walls layout for when I move to my new house in a few weeks, Tom Johnsons around the walls layout on page 56 of Great Model Railroads 2008 is along the lines of what I had in mind, if you don't have it I recommend picking a copy up it may be the inspiration you need, plus there's plenty of other good ideas to be picked up from other articles as well.