ED336 Ya need to be in shape to build a railroad empire!!!!
That's why I moved my recumbent bike to just outside the door of the train room. One must not enter the train room with out doing at least thirty minutes on the bike. It can be an exhausting day when you have to keep going to the workshop for tools.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
AS with most things in life, it depends. That 30 inches is a recommendation and a pretty good one. When I first started building this layout I tested how far I could comfortably reach into the layout, finding I could do so comfortably. As time went by and roundhouses, turntables, coaling towers and the like were added I found reaching those once easily accesible area wasn't so easy anymore. How far you can reach depends on your height, and the layouts, your physical capacity to do so and what obstructions you've managed to place in your way as time went by.
Don,
The 30" Rule(or 36" Rule sometimes) is a very good idea. It is not comfortable to work when stretched over a long distance, and as you get older - It really makes even more sense. I have a helix and turnback loop on 30" radius - There is a wye leg that is an almost 40" reach(The layout is 54" off the floor at that point). The turnout is powered with a Tortoise and has been 'bullet-proof' for many years. There is a Micro-Mark 'Top Side Creeper' under the layout as 'insurance' - If I did not have it, I am sure 'Murphy' would have visited that turnout years ago!
I also have staging tracks that are a 30" reach(same 54" height) - A RubberMaid step stool is used to access them...
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
My layout, in addition to a couple of popup holes, has several small reinforced areas, on which I can kneel or lean on and reach in, if I have to. I have put a leg or brace reaching to the floor under these areas, to support my weight.
The "rule" is not an ironclad rule that no part of your layout should be farther than 30" reach. The rule is, itself, a corrolary of Murphy's Law: If a portion of your layout is outside of your reach, that is where the train will derail.
For me, 30" is too much--no track on the layout is more than 18-24" from the edge of the fascia, and most is within 1 foot. Of course, some of that track will eventually be behind two rows of buildings and overhead trolley wire, so for me, the closer the better. For those who plan their layouts so there are pop-ups, places to put your hand or foot, or fancy widgets like a Topside Creeper, the rule is of course that no part of the layout should be more than 30" (or whatever your reach is) from that point on the layout--the farthest you can get yourself into the layout. Not necessarily the layout's edge.
But I like narrow shelf layouts, and the biggest buildings on mine are actually background flats or partial flats. And I'm lazy and wish to avoid duckunders...and having the train derail on the one part of the layout where I can't reach it. For a while I had one such place--the far end of a yard. The layout was only one foot deep, but under the layout bench was a 5 foot wide work table. To reach that end of the yard I had to climb onto the table to throw a switch, because technically the closest place I could stand was 4 feet away. I have since reorganized and the work table faces a different way, only sticks out a foot. Seems like I have fewer derailments on that end of the yard now...
The OP mentions large buildings as a reason to have a deeper layout. If that large building is in the back, were you can't reach, and it is large enough, just cut out a hole in the plywood slightly smaller than the building, have something to lift it up (maybe a few wooden poles), and you have fixed your problem. That simple.
30" really isn't a rule, it is a common sense rule, don't put anything out of reach that you will have to get to (ex: track). Trees, buildings, etc fine if you aren't planning on ever working on them.
The only reason that my layout is as narrow as it is (34 inches) is because I didn't have the room to make it any wider. Otherwise I would have built it much wider and longer and just simply walked around it to where I needed to reach in and work on or repair something.
Tracklayer
Guys, As a personal after thought..
I would need to think long hard hard before I would put anything at 30" my height versus my preferred layout height will never agree for such a reach..Add the arthritis in my lower back nope,no way,no how.A pop up is out the door too as is a top side creeper.
So,for me I better shorten the reach or modify a grabber(used for reaching by those in wheelchairs) so claws is in a 45 degree angle.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I don´t care whether it´s a rule or a recommendation. Let´s just apply some common sense. Anything out of reach is just that - out of reach. Your vital data finally determines what is out of reach. If you are still able to bend and crawl and climb through small openeings covered with lift-outs, fine for you - this may enlarge your area of reach. In my age and physical condition I don´t want to put up with any of this anymore. My personal "30"-rule" has become a 24"-rule, given the height my planned layout will be mounted at.
Tracklayer The only reason that my layout is as narrow as it is (34 inches) is because I didn't have the room to make it any wider. Otherwise I would have built it much wider and longer and just simply walked around it to where I needed to reach in and work on or repair something. Tracklayer
Obviously, the equation changes if you have an island or peninsula layout where you can go the the other side as opposed to an around-the-walls layout. In essence, you can go twice as wide since you can reach from either side. If I recall correctly, South Manchester on George Selios's F&SM layout is on a 7 foot wide peninsula which allowed for a lot of depth and there is another peninsula as well. The tracks however are very close to the edge. I think that is ideal. The trains are the star of the show and as much as possible should be up close while the rest of the scene is the supporting actors.
It still comes down to what will you have to reach routinely as opposed to what you will have to reach rarely. Once structures and landscape is built, little maintenance is needed, but anything on the rails is going to need frequent attention.
It has been said, and well, by several people. In our hobby, a rule is really just a caution to be cognisant of a potential problem. If there is a rule, and not a law, it can always be broken. The breaker must, however, take responsibility for his own results if he so chooses.
-Crandell
Well shoot I always thought that the 30'' rule referred to your gut and not to let it get any bigger, and here I am pushing 40' rule. LOL There is always one rule that is universal to anything and everything. That is Murphys law or is that Murphys rules I can never remember.
Neil