Years ago I had an idea for a layout & I never got around to building it. It consisted of a 4x8 plywood base,an iron pipe that went the length of the & swivels at each end. The idea was going to be to have n a n scale layout on one side,flip it over & have ho scale on the other. The layout would have to be a little over 48 inches high to allow it to be flipped over & all the buildings, scenery etc.would have to be glued down. You could use the same power source for both & the wiring could be stored in between the layouts. Never got to build this idea but I figured someone would eventually. Another idea I had was to build a layout that runs on solar power. Some hoppers could carry the solar cells,the layout lights would provide the power but I could not figure out how to control speed other than tiny relays inside the engine. Oh well, it was just an idea.
It would seem to me your biggest obstacle would be gravity. While anchoring the structures seems simple enough, the real problem will be the landscape. Much of what we hold down with dilluted white glue or other adhesives may seem like they are firmly in place but I would bet that if you turned most layouts upside down, you would see pieces of ballast, ground foam, tree foliage, etc. drop off the layout. Another problem would be vehicles. Are you going to want to cement them in place or are you going to remove them each time you flip the layout. A real danger would be that you might overlook a piece of rolling stock or worse, an expensive loco when you flip the layout.
It's an interesting idea and I'm not going to say it couldn't work but beware of the pitfalls.
There are glues out there that would hold the scenery down or you could bolt down buildings or use magnets but you would have to take the engines & rolling stock off.You would just have to remember to do so,like turning the power & lights off when you leave the layout room.
I agree that, unless using uncommon (more expensive) materials that won't bend much, you won't be able to support the structure unless you can cantilever it...which you can't do without even more complicated structure. A simple tap on the unsupported end will make the whole bounce if you anchor it around a pivot and use a horizontal rotating arm to support a whole sheet of plywood.
Unless I'm not reading you correctly....
Back in the late 60's, while building one of my first layouts on a 4'x8', (previous layouts were a box track, and I set it up when and where I could, than took it apart, and back in the box) I also had an HO scale Aurora slot car track.
I thought of a train on one side, and a race track on the other. I didn't like running them on the same layout.
Then I thought of a train / race track that would fold up against the wall.
Neither got built.
I could see your idea, with the support system fastened to the center pivot, and the layout base fastened to the supports, one on each side, like a sandwich, layout bases the bread on each side, and the supports in the middle, the filling, where the wireing could be hidden.
I don't how practical it would be, but it would be a novelty at the shows.
I'd still go with the race track on one side. So many advances, now, most are "slotless"
With your solar powered idea, you'd have to put the hoppers out in the sun to charge them, then bring them in to run the train.
And for powering the loco, maybe solar powered batteries in a loco with the dead rail set-up? or blue rail, or what ever it's called ?
Mike.
EDIT: I guess Mel and I were think on the same track??? race and rail???
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the old train man Years ago I had an idea for a layout & I never got around to building it. It consisted of a 4x8 plywood base,an iron pipe that went the length of the & swivels at each end. The idea was going to be to have n a n scale layout on one side,flip it over & have ho scale on the other. The layout would have to be a little over 48 inches high to allow it to be flipped over & all the buildings, scenery etc.would have to be glued down. You could use the same power source for both & the wiring could be stored in between the layouts. Never got to build this idea but I figured someone would eventually. Another idea I had was to build a layout that runs on solar power. Some hoppers could carry the solar cells,the layout lights would provide the power but I could not figure out how to control speed other than tiny relays inside the engine. Oh well, it was just an idea.
Hey Old Train -
The double sided layout could work if you made the frame pretty stiff (and pretty heavy). Gravity would cause little bits of loose scenery to drop off, but that stuff should be vacuumed up anyway.
The solar powered train could also work. Maybe. I have a solar-powered pocket calculator. The light cell is about the size of a fingernail. No idea what the output is, but I suppose some suitable motor could be found.
Not entirely crazy ideas.
Robert
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Thanks for the comments guys, these ideas have been on my mind for many years.
I have vague recollections of an idea not unlike this in perhaps Popular Science magazine, which I used to get as a boy in the early 1960s during the slotcar craze, but there they had a "trainset" layout on one side and a slot car track on the other. And it was just a drawing or concept, not photos of something someone had actually done. But it did address the fact that back then many boys wanted BOTH slotcars and trains, and likely had room for only one. What such boys most likely lacked was a dad or uncle clever and dexterous enough to actually construct the thing for them!
I see almost no way the wiring for the layout(s) would not be instrusive on at least one if not both sides. And clearing the decks of all rolling stock would be a pain, and mistakes would happen with devastating results. Gravity would be at work on both sides, as pointed out above. And at the end of the day, doing a good job on ONE layout even if small is enough of a task for most folks.
Dave Nelson
dknelson,I remember guys years ago building layouts that folded up & they stored them on the side of a wall to save space. Many clubs,including one I use to belong to, stored layout modules on their side year round with very little trouble getting them running & looking good for the next meet. As for the wiring,it could be sandwiched between the 2 layouts in a one inch area, with a jack plug on the side of the layout for the power pack to be plugged into.
dknelsonWhat such boys most likely lacked was a dad or uncle clever and dexterous enough to actually construct the thing for them!
Yep. With my step dad, we bounced from farm to farm, working as hired hands. No time for such things as model railroads, as we never knew how long we would be there. I figured things out on my own, being lucky enough the get the train set, and race set, as the family Christmas budget allowed.
My actual father got me my first, a Marx set, with a purple-ish switch engine, lettered for the Santa Fe. To this day, I regret that have nothing left of this set.