Have you tried looking at the directory of plans on the MR section of this website?
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
crusher44x wrote:Hi, Im new to model railroading, and want a 4x8 N or HO scale layout, and need it fast!!
This fast enough?
Seriously, you can find lots of plans for N scale in that size that will work. HO scale is going to be more trouble because of the things you've said you want included. They take up space, and space is at a premium on a 4x8, especially in larger scales.
Honestly, a 4x8 is not the best use of space. Check this out: http://home.earthlink.net/~mrsvc/id28.html
My advice? Study a little bit first. Read a few things, like Spacemouse's beginners guide (http://www.chipengelmann.com/trains/Beginner/BeginnersGuide01.html). Get some more solid ideas. Your chances of creating a fulfilling and successful layout will improve dramatically.
I just made this one about 10 minutes ago.
hope it helps (HO Scale)
I'm trying to model 1956, not live in it.
crusher44x wrote:Pcarrel, I was looking at that design on another forum, and thats the design I was going to build, but I didn't know the demintions. I'll print it out and go to Trains by Johnson to see if Mr. Johnson recomends it. Thanks!!
That's my own design. I did it a few years ago as a test track, but I never ended up building it. Then a little while back Chip (Spacemouse here on the forum) had a 4x8 contest and so I entered it and did pretty well. It's a 4x8 N scale layout that uses 15"r curves as a minimum with #5 turnouts mostly (especially the yard and such) and a few #7's where they'll fit. It's done with Atlas code 55 track. Personally, I'd build it using flex track to the same dimentions for smoothness and economy. If you'd like to build it then go ahead. I'd like to see how it comes out. You could change the scenery to make it just about anywhere if you wanted. Here it is before scenery: http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/4X8NSCALEOLDWEST-1.jpg
I have a few other 4x8's I've desighned if you're really set on that size.
N scale
Variations on the above plan (with hidden staging added!): http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/4x8Nscale-3_edited.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/4x8Nscale-4.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/4x8Nscale-5.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/4x8Nscale-6.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/4x8Nscale-7.jpg
HO scale
Like I've said already though, you may find that a different size works better for you. At least think about it.
Thanks everyone!! We are going with the Old West layout. When we are done I'll post some pics....(It will be a loooooong time from now..) We will probly change the scenery quite a bit, so when its done it probly wont be "Old Western."
Also, I went to Trains by Johnson, and Mr. Johnson said it was a do-able plan, and said that it was a very creative layout. Thanks again!!
Fast? You and your dad have to spend that government stimulus check before mom finds out it has arrived, eh?
Actually, I would recommend that you look at the entries in the aforementioned 4 X 8 layout contest.
http://www.chipengelmann.com/Trains/Layouts.html
That way you get the distilled genius of just about everyone who regularly posts on this forum.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
crusher44x wrote:Hi, Im new to model railroading, and want a 4x8 N or HO scale layout, and need it fast!! I have looked, but cant find one... I would prefer to have an N scale one. Me and my dad are going to build it, and we have both agreed that we want a bridge, turntable, and a tunnel in the layout. Any help is appreciated!!!
pcarrell wrote:This fast enough?
PC
That's a nice layout, I've saved it for future reference.
Wayne
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
sfcouple wrote: PCThat's a nice layout, I've saved it for future reference.Wayne
Thank You!
The current issue of MR has three track plans, 2 HO and 1 N, made from a 4x8, but not the traditional rectangle.
majortom
http://www.atlasrr.com/Code100web/index.htm
majortom wrote: The current issue of MR has three track plans, 2 HO and 1 N, made from a 4x8, but not the traditional rectangle. majortom
Everyone knows one must always use the 4x8 sheet of plywood in its unadulterated form as a table.
Packers wrote:Philip, you're really testing my willpower to stick with getting rid of the 4x8 I've got and uilding a new w/ a 6x6 doughnut plan.
Oh, but you can have so much more fun with a 6x6!
pcarrell wrote: Packers wrote:Philip, you're really testing my willpower to stick with getting rid of the 4x8 I've got and uilding a new w/ a 6x6 doughnut plan.Oh, but you can have so much more fun with a 6x6!
Autobus Prime wrote:pc:Myself, I wouldn't want a 6x6 in HO. Not enough room for straight track. But in N, that size is not so bad, I think. You could fit lots of RR in 12x12 HO. The other thing with 6 x 6 is that the pit would seem a little crowded.
In HO scale a 6x6 could be done well, but it would have to be carefully planned to work.
In N scale you could technically do a solid table, though the reach in the middle would be a stretch (same with HO for that matter). The big advantage with N scale on a 6x6 is that most of the benchwork could be quite narrow, allowing for a larger operating pit. You see, N scale buildings are smaller and therefore take up less of the tabletop space. Also, by focusing on an older era (shorter trains and cars) or a modern shortline and keeping towns and switching ares smaller, you could get increased open country running in this modest area. Of course, the other way to go that could work equally well (for both scales actually) is to do a totally urban city scene on the whole layout (or maybe a larger port scene).
As to the 4x8 argument, it truely is not the best use of space in many cases. That being said, as you pointed out, it has many merits.
Autobus Prime wrote:The thing with 4x8s is basically a religious war, I think. You have your simple believers who accept it as given. You have your iconoclasts who argue against it on theological grounds, and of course you need apologists who defend it on theological grounds. Oddly enough, I don't see hollow-core door N layouts included in the 4x8 debate very often.
Most probably because you can't cut the door up into pieces, so what you see is what you get. Failing a really intense discussion of what size of hollow core door to use, there's not much left to talk about.
pcarrell wrote:One of the plans I put on the last page included hidden staging.
Very nice, but I was thinking of a continuous loop, with hidden staging and all the action out front.
This one has the loop out front with staging on the branch being hidden. I threw a link to this on the last page, but I don't know if it was working.