making and planning a 4x6 layout

[Anonymous]

I want to make 4x6 layout. It needs to be under $110 or i'll have wait till late April till I start mowing again. Now I'm 10 but by then I'll be 11 my b-day is April 19th. Also I'll be going to a model RR shop next weekend. So I need info by then. Should I use DC or DDC? How many trains should I run at a time?

.......................Plz give me some info.[bow]

Michael

[ramoutandabout]

me id say start with dc. for track plans go to atlas website the are some basic one there

[earthqu8kes]

hey we got lots in common. im 11 and im building my first layout too. if you have any train sets you dont want ask your parents if you can sell them on eBay.
i sold my n Scale for 40.00 bucks. im goin to model rr shop 2marrow! i started wit buying track, then i bought a loco, then scenery kits for begginers and a controller. after that search eBay. they have of new stuff CHEAP! i got my loco on eBay for $53.00 including shipping. Good luck!

[Th1nkG33k]

http://www.naisp.net/mfischer/m_train2.htm

Try this website for some good small track plans, as mentioned above, Atlas has about three good 4X6 layouts. Does your $110 budget include all the wood for the table?

Use DC, it's cheaper, and with a 4X6 layout, there's no need for the DCC. MRC (Model Rectifier Corp) makes a good line of beginner power packs, the cheapest being about $35.

For a 4X6 layout, the number of trains you run will depend on the scale. If you're using HO, you can only really run one train at once, or two trains if you have two passing sidings. Trying to run two at the same time might leave little room for other sidings and buildings though.

If you're using N scale, you can fit a double-track loop in with a few industries inside.

If you're going to start from scratch and buy HO, I highly reccomend Athearn's "Iron Horse" trainset.It's good quality, a lot better than those cheap-o Life Like sets, and comes with everything you need to start. It's pretty affordable too.
Looks something like this:

http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detail.asp?ID=200414378

Or..... A trainset from Walthers
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/931-35

You could also pick and choose your own engine,cars, track, and powersupply.This may cost you a little more, but lets you customize your layout.

Here's a few tips:
-Make sure the couplers are knuckle, not horn-hook. What this really means is, make sure the couples look like the real thing.
-For beginners, track with built in roadbed is really handy, and a good alternative to laying your own track. I reccomend, Atlas, or Bachmann snap tracks with built in roadbed. I would not reccomend the Life-Like brand of Power-Loc track. Track with built in roadbed is a little more expensive, but in my opinion, worth the extra cost.
-For a power supply, you most likely will want to go with a $30 to $40 MRC power pack.
-Athearn Engines and "Blue Box" rolling stock are great layout starters for those on a budget. You can always notice the Athearn section of a hobby store by all the blue boxes.


Hope this helps.

~Th1nkG33k.

[Anonymous]

thanks for the info. I have life-like set that i've used. i guess i could sell it . i might get $40.00-$50.00 with shipping. The set had broken part that hooks that wire from the power pack to the track. Then we fixed that and they sent me an extra.

[Th1nkG33k]

It's not like there's nothing horribly wrong with the Life-Like sets, I had one for years, until I sold it and upgraded a few years back. (I'm 16 btw).
It's just that the LL sets don't have very good quality, and can be very unreliable at times, especially when it comes to switching with the horn-hook couplers. That's why I reccomended the Athearn kit.

[Anonymous]

Th1nk I play bf2 also i'm only a private :(

[earthqu8kes]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Th1nkG33k


Use DC, it's cheaper, and with a 4X6 layout, there's no need for the DCC. MRC (Model Rectifier Corp) makes a good line of beginner power packs, the cheapest being about $35.

i have an MRC Railpower 1300. LOVE IT. got it for $33.98 at my LHS.

[Anonymous]

gereat to see a 10 year old getting into the hobby. im 14 and started when i was 7. started where you did, with the life like set. still have it, dont run it. ive seen an athearn or proto 1000 set with a *nice* looking New Haven Rs3 and 3 cars. with the price of athearn kits, you could add some more cars, and a few switches.
defanatly go DC. good to start with. dont plan on running more than 1 short train on the 4x6, otherwise it will just look dumb. put in something to hide the train when you get to scenery, so it can hide for a few seconds, then re appear. it will look like its going somewhere, sort of.

here are some small but still very nice layouts to drool over.
http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project.htm
Have Fun
GEARHEAD426
[8]

[BigRusty]

I doubt that you can build a satisfactory HO layout with that small a space. Try N Gauge or TT. Believe me, it will run a lot better.

[Anonymous]

whats tt???

[Tom Bryant_MR]

Start here. About half way down the page is a beginners page project. Lot's of good stuff here to help you; plus this forum.

http://www.nmra.org/

[Th1nkG33k]

Atlas 4x6 layouts:

Morgan valley RR.

Simplicty and Great Plains:

[fwright]

When I was a teen, I built the Simplicity and Great Plains, but never got any scenery because I lost interest and started another layout. Operationally, it's a bust. All the industrial spurs face the same direction.

Morgan Valley appears to be a much better design, but has 15" radius curves on the spurs. Can't use the long, modern freight cars on those. Ideally, you would limit yourself to locomotives less than 55ft and cars less than 40ft in scale length.

A caution on the Morgan Valeey from having studied it quite a bit. The sectional track called out does not fit right, nor will it look quite the same as the drawing if built. There are several places in the plan where the angles do not sum correctly, which will result in track misalignment and kinks if you build it exactly as per the plan. Best way out would be to use flex track instead in places where there are a lot of small pieces of straight and curved track. You will get smoother trackwork and fewer kinks and misalignments. Use the sectional track for the full size curve pieces at the very least.

Do a little bit at a time. That will help with your budget too. Start with just the basic oval (loop). Add a turnout (switch) when your money allows. Have fun with your new expansion. Repeat.

yours in model railroading
Fred W

[BigRusty]

Ugh, Yuck and Phew! You might build a nice layout in N Gauge but those are living proof that HO is a waste of time AND MONEY in your available space.

[fwright]

Big Rusty

A little uncalled for - a 10 year old is trying to get started in the hobby. I applaud his intiative. A satisfactory layout could be built in 4x6 for O27, S (American Flyer), HO, or N - choice depends somewhat on personal preference and what you want to do. Given that he already has an HO train set and an extremely limited budget, that's probably the cheapest starting point unless he has a preference for a different scale. Also consider a 10 year old does not have access to eBay or on line ordering unless there is parental assistance with credit cards.

I've had 2 4x6 layouts in HO, and may start a 3rd. I was very happy with the last - an adaptation of the Tidewater Central from Dec '56 Model Railroader. A lot can be done if you take advantage of the "limitations". Also, because N is smaller, it will generally be more costly for a given layout space - it takes more N stuff (rolling stock and structures particularly) to fill the same space.

The ideal way to pick a scale is to try a small layout in each. But that's not always practical. Visiting a show or seeing layouts in each scale is probably second best, with third seeing the different sizes at a hobby shop. Different scales suit different folks - that's why there's so many of them!

yours in scaling
Fred W

[Jetrock]

TT is 1:120 scale--about halfway between HO and N. It is also pretty much completely unknown in the United States, and finding models for it at your local hobby shop is pretty much impossible. As long as you don't mind running short equipment, a 4x6 layout in HO can be lots of fun, and economical to build.

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jetrock
TT is 1:120 scale--about halfway between HO and N.

TT stands for "Tiny Trains". That is one tenth of an inch equal to 1 foot. So finding scale rulers is not hard. Back in the 50-60's it was tied for third place with S-Scale (American Flyer) as being most popular. It was when N-scale came out that it rapidly slipped into oblivion. TT is probably the least well represented in my collection as I only have 4 freight cars and a caboose. None of them are in good condition.

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BigRusty

Ugh, Yuck and Phew! You might build a nice layout in N Gauge but those are living proof that HO is a waste of time AND MONEY in your available space.

I totally disagree, and it has nothing to do with scale. I think the Morgan Valley is an awsome tiny layout. It could keep one in intersting operating mode for hours. It would be great in O-27, HOn3, and in N-scale you could do it in 2'x3'.

[Tom Bryant_MR]

boyman,

I built one of the Atlas N scale track plans as my first, well actually second. I built a 4x8 for my son about 10-12 years ago. The Atlas plan was #11014 - The Monopoly and Octopus in N scale. Atlas has this designed to fit in a 4x4 space. I modified several things and made it 4x6.

Here is a not too good pic when I was about ~ 50% or so complete with it.

All considered, I probably had $600 plus invested with everthing you see here. Two trains running on DCC, track, scenery etc. Of course I didn't shell it out all at one time. It took the better part of a year working weekends on it.

I was disappointed in the operations on this layout. Two much round and round, not enough switching or industry servicing. Knowing now what I wish I would have known then, I would suggest:

1) Download some free track planning s/w. Atlas has some called RTS or try http://www.sillub.com/. Spend the time to do the tutorial in XrtkCad.

2) Pick a layout that you think you will like given your space etc.

3) Put it together using the track planning s/w.

4) Us the simulator (XtrkCad and others have this ... I'm not sure about Atlas RTS) to run a train or two and see how you like it ... virtually.

I found this a very valuable tool in designing my current layout. I have been able to adjust passing sidings, yard lead and other aspects before a single dollar has been layed out.

Post your design here on the forum and we will all help you tweak it to get the best out of it.

[BigRusty]

Been there, done that. I am not trying to discourage the nice young man. I am trying to keep him as a model railroader far into the future. Believe me any one of those rinky dinky layouts will pale on him soon enough and it will just end up gathering dust. He'll begin to wonder why he spent his hard earned money on such a boring hobby. I got started that way too, as did a lot of my young friends, and none of them became model railroaders because it was just too BORING. Slot cars were FAST and CRASHED and a lot more exciting. I am the only one who quickly realized my layout, even though it was 6 x 10 feet, was BORING, BORING, BORING so I tore it up and read Frank Ellison's articles, and built a model railroad that DID SOMETHING besides watching a train chase its caboose around in circles. Realistic operation is where the fun is, not "playing with toy trains"

[Anonymous]

Boyman I would be interested in hearing how your trip to the hobby shop went. What did you decide to work on?

I also think the Morgan Valley layout would give you a lot of fun in the space allowed.

[Th1nkG33k]

Dug out my Atlas Track planning book, and it appears that the Morgan Valley uses 18" radius curves.

Edit:
Found this plan off the Gateway NMRA's site. It bears a little semblance to the Morgan Valley.

http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project10.htm

Another:
http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project09.htm

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Th1nkG33k
Found this plan off the Gateway NMRA's site. It bears a little semblance to the Morgan Valley.

Wow, the curve turnouts really give a lot more space to work with.

[earlfrye]

Th1nkG33k suggestion is very good. You wouldn't have to use as many turnouts if you didn't want to.

[Anonymous]

TT stands for Table Top.  See Wikepedia "TT Scale" and www.ttscale.com for more concise information.  I have always wondered why TT didn't become popular in the US.  It is larger than N scale and remains popular in Russia and Germany.  In America it was possibly due to lack of proper marketing and support of the NMRA.  N scale, on the other hand, replaced TT, mainly because of the advent of what was marketed as Postage Stamp Trains in the 60s.

With many model railroaders living in apartments or small homes with limited space, N became the choice of many modelers.  The rest is history.  Who would have ever thought that brass models would become available in N scale?  Now you have DCC and sound equipped models as well!  A real success story that continues to this day.

[jjdamnit]

...

[Anonymous]

Has anyone of the two recent posters looked at the date of the last entry to this thread?

[IRONROOSTER]

Sir Madog

Has anyone of the two recent posters looked at the date of the last entry to this thread?

 

Yes.  And the 10 year old who started it, is now 21.  I wonder how his layout turned out? and is he still in the hobby?

Paul

[wjstix]

My "around the walls" layout has many years to go until it can do continous running, it's basically a switching layout now. I'm adding what I'm calling the "logging line", a separate oval of track with a switch that connects it to a small yard. The oval is 22"R curves with 9" straights (Kato Unitrack). I plan on using it for my small, old equipment (small steam, 36-40' freight cars etc.) I actually find the oval to be fun and usefull - handy for breaking in new engines for example. If the only thing I had was 4' x 6', I could work with it and be OK with the result.