All of my layouts but one were built with the idea that I would be the lone operator. They have varied in size from 4x8 to 12x31.
I did build a Lionel that both my grandson (now 6) and I can run trains on together. It's not really operating because he likes racing his train against mine while blowing the whistle and ringing the bell. But it's fun.
I'm moving and the next layout will support multiple operators if my grandson is still interested. (my grandaughter as well, if she wants).
Paul
Check both the "group" and "lone operator" boxes for me.
My layout, in a 21' x 18' room, and is currently about 40% through the "Plywood Pacific" phase. Its a single track mainline running through six towns, with a division yard near the midpoint and shared staging at each "end of the line".
While I'll be the lone operator the vast majority of the time, I designed it to accommodate 2 or 3 guests. Specific operator-friendly features include wide aisles, with the choke points at least 22" wide, and control panels spaced to avoid crowding.
I belong to a local club and there are at least 2 others in the area, so I look forward to sharing my layout with my MRRer buddies.
Jim
Yup. I would have to definitely say I am building a one-man layout. I am the only one in the house working on it and I am the only one in the house enjoying my work.
I don't even really know if it should be called work. It's a work of leisure, a work of passion. It's enjoyable. I do believe it's a good stress reliever.
One of my buddies stoped by one night, a friend and also an associate in my construction business.
He seen my layoutout when it just getting off the ground. He asked how long is this going to take? I was kind of dumbfounded. I said I don't know, as long as it takes. It's a hobby and one always needs something to do, especially in the winter when there's nothing to do. I hope it takes a long time.
Then he looked at me kind of dumbfounded. I don't think he understood.
I have a one operator layout. A look at my links below will show that. I built it that way.
I have satisfied my continuous running, and my ISL, as I can do both with DC or DCC, never using both modes at the same time.
My next layout, if ever built, will be the same concept, only longer continuous running, and sidings.
Mike.
My You Tube
My layout was built with operations in mind. It has the capacity to host six (if you know each other well). It also has two continuos loops to run trains during layout tours/visits a couple of times a year.
However, I think the majority of layouts (even ops based layouts) are operated most often by the layout owner as a solo operator. in that regard mine is the same as the layouts mentioned here that are lone wolf affairs.
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
All of the layouts I have had have been for my own education and enjoyment. Frankly, I have never known of any other modelers in this area.
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
My layout is about 14' x 18' u shaped HO. I run NCE and currently have only one control so can only have one operator. I will add at least another control but don't know who will ever use it except for my grandsons. All four of them have some interest in running the trains but they do not visit very often. I am in St Louis area and one grandson is in Tulsa, another in Atlanta, and the other two are south of Farmington MO. So the closest two are a 1 1/2 hour drive from here. But I would like to set up for two people just in case a visitor wants to run a train and I can still run with them. I am not aware of anyone in my immediate area that has a layout.
wdcrvr
My layout has only ever had me running it except for a few kids along the way. I have one NCE wireless controller. I can have two good sized trains running at the same time and don't have to pay much attention to them if I want to build a train in the yard. I can run three if I keep watch. I have two A/D tracks with a yard ladder, a balloon track, a roundhouse, and engine service facility building. It is 24' x 15' in size.
I mostly have my little 4-4-0 running with a five-car train while I work on the layout. I just have to remember it comes by about every six minutes.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
graymatter Lone wolfing hasn't worked out as smoothly as I thought it would. I spent a week just trying to find extruded board foam. I have a test track, Just flex track and some turn outs and several loops. I had a couple kids try it out but they didnt seem interested enought to return. Nobody seems interested in model trains in my family. WAY to many females in my family, but that say they will 'decorate.' They want to use live plants, Even an herb garden. Does basil come in 1:87scale? So I have been drawing up plans to combine trains and slot cars. I was going to make a few modules that were independant. Any old mining town with the 4-4-0. A shelf moduel featureing the B&O that connects to the AC&Y. And the large mountianous loops of the Union Pacific running 4-6-6-4's. Lone Pine Canyon road. (not to be confused with lonepine ca.) l guess 'LONE WOLF' got inspiration driving thisd road. Its looking good after the big burn. shut down the Cajon Pass. Now there is a youtube video to watch....the day the pass was opened....i think there was a train every few minutes.
I spent a week just trying to find extruded board foam.
I have a test track, Just flex track and some turn outs and several loops.
I had a couple kids try it out but they didnt seem interested enought to return.
Nobody seems interested in model trains in my family.
WAY to many females in my family, but that say they will 'decorate.'
They want to use live plants, Even an herb garden.
Does basil come in 1:87scale?
I like your slot car track. They look cool when they have scenery like yours. As far as real plants on a layout, that is usually for G scale Garden Layouts. I think with HO scale you are better off with non-organic bushes and trees. As for wildfires, I don’t really like them. They are very scary. There is one modeled on a portion of my layout because it is a reality here. They are the greatest threat from natural disaster we face in southern California. But as I learned in 7th grade science class that wildfire is part of the natural ecosystem in chaparral. It naturally burns every seven years and recovers quickly from it. However when people put out the fire it doesn’t run it’s natural course and then too much brush builds up and then when there is a fire it is a lot worse. The 2003 “Old (Waterman Canyon Road) Fire” and the “Grand Prix” fire which met together at Cajon Pass were the result of this. The fire burned hundreds of houses in several cities including dozens of houses belonging to parents of kids I went to school with who lived in the northern part of San Bernardino. Every fall after the first heavy rains I breath a sigh of relief when the fire danger drops. I live in a house built on a lot where the house burned in the 1980 Panorama Fire which was also very bad.
My layout had only ever been a one-man show. I was working to get to the "operations" stage, with real staging and multiple throttles, but I never made it. Now, the house is for sale and the layout has been taken down and stored. Maybe, in a couple of years, I'll have another place to rebuild.
As I found out, my primary interest is detailed scenery, plus a solid, working layout. Operations were for the future, when the scenery was mostly done and I needed another focus. I think it would have been fun.
When I put it back together, I have a number of changes to make.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
My 5 X 7 N-scale layout was made for 1 person to operate and enjoy but I could have up to 3 people operating at a time...
Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R. My patio layout....SEE IT HERE
There's no place like ~/ ;)
My layout (soon to be dismantled because of a move), was 15x30 and even though it was built for operation by three people, it was only me, all my railroad freinds have developed medical problems even though they are much younger than me and there are no clubs close enough. Discovered I liked builoding it more than operating it as regular wiring or DCC did not do it for me, still too many restrictions and track cleaning, especialy for sound engines, was a pain but then I am very picky and thing must run perfectly. Will have a room in the new place but smaller and I will use the down time to finish up my battery powered engines.
Only the "dream house" version of the STRATTON & GILLETTE was built for multiple operators. As far as that layout got in construction, I never even could run a train over the whole thing. It was the most expensive, but least operating, layout I ever "built".
.
All other layouts have been built just for me to play with. They are my toys, built just to make me happy, and I will enjoy them all alone.
I do not even let model railroaders into my train room any more. I just grew tired of all the same old comments everyone would make. It seems model railroaders think the only way to prove they are intelligent is to point out everything you did wrong. I would rather they point out how they did it differently, or better, not how they are going to do it someday. The fallicy of how their imaginary layout is better than my real one is comical.
Way back when I was into street rodding, it was the same thing. "The imaginary car I am going to build someday is going to be better than that car you are driving right now." Whatever.
The last layout I built with a friend, at his house... A Norfolk Southern layout set in the 1980's, we planned for 4-5 operators. It became obvious very shortly that we would never have a reliable group that large. We cut the design back for 3 operators, and still had trouble getting just one more person to show up.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190 Way back when I was into street rodding, it was the same thing. "The imaginary car I am going to build someday is going to be better than that car you are driving right now." Whatever.
And the corollary to that statement . . .
"My rod is far superior to that hunk of iron you drive. I'd kick your sorry butt any day of the week. It's in the shop right now, but as soon as it gets out I'll prove it."
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
How true on the wanabes. Also anoying, even on the forums, are people who give advice without having done it or repeating false asumptions because someone can't do something that others fine easy, alot of that has to due with the way it was done, not the idea. Case in point, I was doing a type of zip texturing and all was well but then I started having issues, talked to a lot of experts in that method but what it ended up being is that as the plaster got dryer and dryer over time, it needed more and more water and time to prewet the area to make it work but if Isomeone had not done it right the first time, they might be inclined to say, bad idea.
We have a two man layout. Me and the boy (and sometimes mom.) We're mainly limited by only having two throttles.
SeeYou190I do not even let model railroaders into my train room any more. I just grew tired of all the same old comments everyone would make. It seems model railroaders think the only way to prove they are intelligent is to point out everything you did wrong. I would rather they point out how they did it differently, or better, not how they are going to do it someday. The fallicy of how their imaginary layout is better than my real one is comical. . Way back when I was into street rodding, it was the same thing. "The imaginary car I am going to build someday is going to be better than that car you are driving right now." Whatever.
Photographers are the same way. 99% critique 1% constructive positive remarks.
All my layouts have been one man shows. Smallest was 2x8, largest was 8x10. Currently basically an ISL small town at the end of the branch. That's one reason I haven't gone to DCC, no need to run more than one train. Mainly I've never lived anywhere with room for a large multi operator layout.
I'd love to live someplace where there were others interested modelers and have room to execute it. Something like the old original Sunset Valley track plan transplanted to the Carolina Piedmont region (think Piedmont & Northern or Carolina & Northwestern). But until that miracle happens....
jim
This car stops at ALL railroad crossings!
I'm a 'lone wolf', although I am building a basement layout that I suspect could support at least 4-5 operators if I wanted...one switching ore cars to the ore dock and back and making up ore trains, a couple of people running mainline freight or passenger trains, switching the yard / industries in Thunder Bay, and one running the logging line. But I just do it by myself, rather do one job for an hour when I get a chance than try to organize time to have a group over once a month.
Before you get too far into the trains, might want to measure the "HO" slotcars and see how they scale out. Most HO slotcars are quite oversized, more like S (1:64) scale than true HO 1:87. Least that's the way it was back in the 'olden days', maybe newer HO slotcars really are HO scale??
The trucks are close to HO scale but the cars are too big. I am planning on adding slot cars back onto my layout. And by slot cars I mean Racing Rigs. I have a couple of Pepsi and Mtn Dew trucks which should work nicely once I change the chassis from magnatraction to the old non magnetic style because the magnatraction chassis can't operate at slow speeds because the magnets are too strong.If you don't mind the cars being too large then slot cars could be fun. The old Aurora model motoring cars are cool, and there are some old trucks also.
And then there is the Faller system but those are all European.
My current layout will probably only support 1 or 2 two person crews. My next layout (in design process) should be able to support 3 two man crews.
I've built three Lionel layouts, and thay have all been fun!
As to HO, I've only built one, and it had 2 steamers: Ma & Pa Numbers 23 and 28. I stil have those PFM and Gem locos, plus morre Ma & Pa. I hope to build a 10 x 13 foot layout based on the Baltimore division within the next two years.
Would love to see any photos youu may have! -- Bill