Sharing room dimensions and locations of the doors would help others help you. Rehanging one of the doors to swing in a different direction might help.
This 8X8 HO layout is designed for a room where a 4X8 wouldn’t even fit, but one corner is open for the door swing.
Good luck with your layout.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Simon,
Quick thread hijack, have you written up a description of your lift up bridge and included pictures? I would love to read your approach!
Mike,
A 4x8 can be fun (for a while) if you have access to all four sides but around the walls gives you far more options in designing the layout and a better us of available space. Perhaps you could you use the lift up bridge as Simon suggests. Pocket doors are a possible solution for eliminating space losses due to inward swinging doors. Good luck!
I also think a plan view of the room with the dimensions and locations of the doors is in order. Otherwise it is back to strong consideration of switching to N scale, which may end up being the case anyway.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
Hi there. I had a 4X6 pike for a few years, in a room that I knew I had to move out from a few years down the road. So, a few years later, I sub-divided my workshop and built a room that is 7X11, with a door entrance.
I opted for a wall-mounted plan, with a lift-up bridge for the door. I closed the loop last summer, and let me tell you, it is way more fun to operate than my previous 4X6. The scenery will come soon, but I am sure it will look better than the small loop I had (which even had a scene divider). The lift-up was a bit intimidating to build up-front, but I took my time and it works great. My locos NEVER derail on it. I built all my woodframes first (open-grid), and built the lift-up last. The system shuts-off when I lift the bridge, so there are no risks for my locos. I often catch myself trying to run a loco while the bridge is up... I can be so absent-minded! I think the effort is worth it.
Simon
SeeYou190A 4 by 8 loop accessable from both long sides
Hi Kevin,
The OP mentioned that he can only get access to one side of a 4' x 8' table.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi Mike,
That sounds like a real conundrum!
I have a few questions:
Can you post a drawing of the room with dimensions including the exact width of the doors?
What scale are you working in? If you are in HO would you consider converting to N?
Do you have the space to put in a dog bone with a 90 degree bend in the middle on the two walls that don't have doors?
Would it help if one or both doors were converted to an accordian style? They're not great on appearance, but could you live with them for the sake of the trains?
Just some thoughts.
A 4 by 8 loop accessable from both long sides with shelf type switching extensions that come off of the loop is a very viable and play-friendly track arrangement.
.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I am stuck trying to decide what to do in my small room, a typical 4x8 table is wall locked on 3 sides with access from one side only. Around the wall shelf style is a challenge due to two doors that open into the room both in the same corner(one each wall at that corner of the room). Continious running is desired, so we are back to the 4x8 that dominates the room. I had started to build a fold down table, but took it back down. I am thinking of putting it back up. The hardware is still there, I used reused some of the frame to make a shelf set up. I have paired down my G scale collection, so I can reassemble the wall mounted frame. Just need a new wood frame for the fold down portion, along with hinges. I used 1x6 pine for the wall mounted frame. This allows some buildings, trees and such to be mounted to the table. Of coarse all the rolling stock and engines have to be put away before closing up the table. I am going to use Kato HO unitrak. I like it over anything else with built in roadbed. Railroad modeled it up in the air right now, its between the IC in the final years before the CN merger or the NYS&W Utica branch in the late 1980s with Alco C430 power. I have locomotives for both lines. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome