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How big is your layout?

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  • Member since
    September 2014
  • From: 10,430’ (3,179 m)
  • 2,311 posts
Posted by jjdamnit on Monday, February 12, 2018 5:37 PM

Hello all,

"She who must be obeyed" allows me a 4'x8' resting on the bed in the conputer/train/spare room.

I've managed to build up rather than out as this pike includes a 3% incline with a spiral trestle.

Hope this helps.

"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"

  • Member since
    March 2008
  • 148 posts
Posted by Wazzzy on Monday, February 12, 2018 10:41 AM

When we bought our house, a dedicated train room was a high priority for me. We found an unfinished 3/4 walk out basement with a kitchen and bedrooms above it. She gave me full railroad rights to the area and dreams of an 1800 sf HO layout danced in my head for a couple of months.

I chose to cut back the RR room to a modest 35' x 15' reserving the remaining space for an office, family room, work shop, 1/2 bath and a wet bar. 

After the basement was finished and building the RR became possible, I changed scales to On3 (On30 to be truthful). I wish I had more space with the larger scale. If needed, I can occupy the work shop with little modifications and gain another 15' x 15'.

  • Member since
    April 2009
  • From: Staten Island NY
  • 1,734 posts
Posted by joe323 on Monday, February 12, 2018 6:38 AM

The main layout is a 7’by 7‘x 32“ layout I have 3 other shelves 2 are for display (along with a wall case from my late mother in law) 

Lately though my big project has been a 5’ x 3’ x 12 automatic reversing subway shelf layout.

Joe Staten Island West 

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Brisbane Australia
  • 568 posts
Posted by Alantrains on Monday, February 12, 2018 4:16 AM

My HO scale Layout is roughly 11 foot six by six foot with a couple of extra bits to fit the room which has a door to the garage and another to the rest of the house. I operate alone (or with my grandson who is 4) from the centre and visitors watch from outside.

My HO SCale layout

Alan Jones in Sunny Queensland (Oz)

 

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,897 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Sunday, February 11, 2018 8:23 PM

SeeYou190

 

 
Pantherphil
My train room is in my daylight basement

 

.

Hi... Floridian here... we don't have basements.

.

So, I do not understand ther term "daylight basement". Could you explain this one to me? Thanks.

.

-Kevin

.

 

Kevin, you don't understand "daylight basement" because in Florida you don't have any hills to build them on.

Around here, easily 25% or more homes are built with "daylight" or "walkout" basements where the house is on sloping ground and one or two sides of the "basement" are actually out of the ground.

Here is an example with the house "removed" from above.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Frct7.msbexpress.net%2FRCT41Help%2F1%2FContent%2FGraphics%2Fbasement_walkout.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Frct7.msbexpress.net%2FRCT41Help%2F1%2FContent%2F001103.htm&docid=54E7g8hlhG-RCM&tbnid=Up3ygLILd_1k6M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwijvqzCqJ_ZAhUpU98KHfjJCAAQMwiiASgNMA0..i&w=450&h=300&bih=633&biw=1280&q=daylight%20basement&ved=0ahUKEwijvqzCqJ_ZAhUpU98KHfjJCAAQMwiiASgNMA0&iact=mrc&uact=8

For more pictures, just google it.

Sheldon

    

  • Member since
    January 2017
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Posted by NWP SWP on Sunday, February 11, 2018 8:12 PM

Here in Louisiana we have no basements, too wet, we do however in some places have houses that are built up on either posts or a man made hill that has a "daylighted" basement type area some aren't closed in some are... I used to go to a school which had classrooms in the basement which had those deep well windows which brought in a little sunlight, no much but some...

Steve

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, February 11, 2018 7:21 PM

Howard Zane
I'll reply, but please do not consider it a boast

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Howard... if there is anyone here who can actually boast... well... it would have to be you.

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I love your layout. I could never build it or maintain it, but I sure do admire it.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, February 11, 2018 7:20 PM

BigDaddy
Sometimes called a walk out basement

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OK... that term I knew and had heard before.

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Thank you for helping me out.

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-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Sunday, February 11, 2018 6:34 PM

Pantherphil
A day light basement is built into a side hill

Sometimes called a walk out basement, as opposed to a walk down basement, where the entrance is down an outside stairwell. 

Current building codes, in my area, require an escape route from a basement.  In my house it is a deep window well, that doesn't really provide much daylight, but if the inside stairway was blocked by fire, I could get out the window.

 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    January 2012
  • 61 posts
Posted by Pantherphil on Sunday, February 11, 2018 6:24 PM

A day light basement is built into a side hill so that it has a ground level entrance and full windows on the down hill side, preferably on the sunny side of the house.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • 685 posts
Posted by Howard Zane on Sunday, February 11, 2018 6:18 PM

I'll reply, but please do not consider it a boast....only a good observation and point! My current layout, the Piermont Division" is in a twice expanded basement totaling 2850 sq ft with one room being 76' long  Point as promised.......I had just as much fun with my first pike in 1963 which was 11' x 6'. Only difference is that I almost finished the smaller layout. I'll need leave from the afterlife to finish my current pike.

HZ

Howard Zane
  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, February 11, 2018 6:09 PM

Pantherphil
My train room is in my daylight basement

.

Hi... Floridian here... we don't have basements.

.

So, I do not understand ther term "daylight basement". Could you explain this one to me? Thanks.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2012
  • 61 posts
Posted by Pantherphil on Sunday, February 11, 2018 4:53 PM

My train room is in my daylight basement and currently has my 4 x 8 N scale East Penn which is pretty well completed with only some minor scenic work and details to keep me busy.   The main line is around 40 feet long.  My more ambitious North Penn and New England is an L shaped double track dogbone style in N scale.  Each leg of the L is about 15 feet x 4 feet The North Penn main line will be around 84 feet of double track main and a separate 16 foot long single track mining branch.  Still lots to be done on the North Penn before the trains start running.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, February 11, 2018 3:20 PM

NWP SWP
I plan on building a 12x24 building over the summer specifically for a railroad, I might build it with two decks but I'm not that far along yet...

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Please be sure to post lots of pictures.

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My remodeling project still has months to go, so you might have a train room before I do.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • 2,980 posts
Posted by NWP SWP on Sunday, February 11, 2018 2:53 PM

I plan on building a 12x24 building over the summer specifically for a railroad, I might build it with two decks but I'm not that far along yet...

Steve

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!

  • Member since
    November 2017
  • 92 posts
Posted by Bubbytrains on Sunday, February 11, 2018 11:41 AM

Current layout: N scale. Consists of two 2'x4' self-contained layouts that I can connect together into a single 2'x8' layout. 

Bubbytrains

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Sunday, February 11, 2018 10:24 AM

I’ve never lived in an area that basements were feasible so between rug rats and normal life I’ve always had limited space.  Until we moved to California my largest layout was 4’ x 8’.
 
When we moved into our current home in the late 80s my wife let me commandeer the two car garage as my area.  So my current and last layout is 10’ x 14’.  I’ve modeled in HO since the early 50s, being a John Allen Gorre & Daphetid advocate my first three layouts were copies of his original 3’7” x 6’8” layout.  
 
As we both have our hobbies I converted the bedroom next to the garage into a hobby room for us.  My wife is into crafting and loves doll houses; she also likes to help on my layout.
 
This is a CAD drawing of my layout.
 
 
A little bit of everything
 
I don’t spend as much time working on my layout now days because God is getting even with me for my evils over the years, Reumatoïde Artritis.  Model railroading is my life, it’s the greatest hobby in the World!
 
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
  
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
  • Member since
    December 2006
  • 133 posts
Posted by tloc52 on Sunday, February 11, 2018 9:10 AM

My layout is in a L-shaped room cantilivered along the walls. Mainline run is 110’, I have a Jim Six type one town atmosphere with the Mosinee Papers papermill in Wisconsin the main switching theme. The narrowest aisleway is 42”, I have handled 6 comfortably which is 3 crews of 2.

TomO

  • Member since
    September 2013
  • 2,505 posts
Posted by caldreamer on Sunday, February 11, 2018 8:25 AM

My layout is 39 X 121/2 with a 24 foot center island 30 inches wide which accomodates my hump yard on one side.  The other side of the center island has a town, the coke plant and few small industries.

  • Member since
    February 2015
  • 13 posts
Posted by Johnnypopper on Sunday, February 11, 2018 7:06 AM
I've been a forum reader for quite a while, and have only recently begun to post a reply on the forum every now and then. I recently retired and have begun to build my "dream" layout in my recently finished basement room. The room is 16' x 45'. However, I have to share it with the wife, who wants a small craft area. A lot of what she needs is storage space, so under part of my layout is where a lot of that will be. So I have a folded dogbone design (HO scale) in an around the wall form with a central peninsula for a large steam and diesel engine terminal and stub-end yard. I grew up next to the PRR mainline in Altoona, PA, so big-time mainline railroading is what I'm interested in. So the folded dogbone design, even though it's single track, gives me the illusion of a 4-track mainline with about 35' of pseudo-4-track. Mainline trains will actually be able to travel 280', although they pass thru each scene 4 times. I'm also including about 45' of a point-to-point shortline railroad that interchanges with the PRR so I can get a little local switching. I only have about 25% of the benchwork completed thus far, and some roadbed, sub roadbed and track laid... enough to run some trains! And I'm having a blast building it!
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Phoenix, AZ
  • 1,835 posts
Posted by bearman on Sunday, February 11, 2018 5:03 AM

3 X 7 N scale is not all that "dinky" in my opinion.

Bear "It's all about having fun."

  • Member since
    April 2013
  • 917 posts
Posted by Southgate on Sunday, February 11, 2018 3:00 AM

19' x 9'5 (inside) free standing room. 179 sq feet interior space. It is a well constructed insulated and heated stick-built structure, on a section of mobile home frame, so it's  relocatable. 

Layout is around the walls, deep bench, mostly 30". Approximately 120 square feet is layout.  This is as big as I want my layout.

Continous loop (visible) with yards and sidings, plus 32 feet of hidden staging, that's four 8' long trains. Not bad for an ISL. Minimum curve radius is 32"

Layout track elevation above floor is 4' 10". I'm 6'1" so its a comfy view and even work height, and an easy duck-under across the door. 

Beneath the layout is 28 linear feet of workbench, averaging about 31" from edge to wall leaving  plenty of space on top for tool chests and storage cabinets, and more under the work bench space, and plenty of knee room. Dan

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2015
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Posted by SouthPenn on Saturday, February 10, 2018 10:13 PM

My layout is in a 14' x 30' area of the unfinished basement.

There is an 8' x 8' section on the side of the layout and the roundhouse is under the steps.

 

I started the layout over 20 years ago. I am trying to get it somewhat finished now that I have retired.

South Penn
  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Saturday, February 10, 2018 10:11 PM
When I built my house, I was originally to have the entire 1300 sq.ft.-or-so of basement for trains.

However, various other "family considerations", plus a small workshop/paintshop quickly reduced that to an oddly-shaped room of about 560sq.ft.  This caused me to build a layout with grades a bit steeper than I had hoped, but also forced me to become more creative.  Even given the shortfalls of what I have, I think that it's better than it would have been with the larger space, and has helped me to focus on making it work.

With the kids all grown-up and moved away, I could reclaim about half of the missing space, but have no interest or ambition to do so.

Wayne

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: Ohio
  • 231 posts
Posted by josephbw on Saturday, February 10, 2018 9:05 PM

My basement is 62x30' plus a side room that is my workshop/staging area. I have one side of it pretty much full of layout, the other side I will have to shrare with a bathroom and mechanical room, which will be stage 2 of the construction. Making decent progress, but still a long way to go.Smile

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, February 10, 2018 8:53 PM

marksrailroad
I've got a dinky little 3'X7' n scale layout.

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My first layout was an N scale measuring 3 by 7, built on a hollow core door.

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Nothing wrong with that!

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-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    July 2017
  • 201 posts
Posted by marksrailroad on Saturday, February 10, 2018 8:37 PM

I've got a dinky little 3'X7' n scale layout... The reason it's so small is because I built it out in my shop which has a 12'X8' office on one end. I just didn't have room to build it in the house.

  • Member since
    April 2015
  • 329 posts
Posted by WilmJunc on Saturday, February 10, 2018 7:41 PM

I have about a 12' x 6' in a room that's about 18' x 20'

Modeling the B&M Railroad during the transition era in Lowell, MA

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 1,500 posts
Posted by ROBERT PETRICK on Saturday, February 10, 2018 7:16 PM

My layout room is 24'x25'. Up until about a year ago it was a double garage attached to my house. It has finished walls and a finished ceiling (9'-4" high). The floors are carpeted. It has windows in two opposite-facing walls that let in plenty of diffused natural light. The overhead lighting consists of multi-track directional cans that have fourteen 100-watt equivalent 5000K LED bulbs. It is as bright as a sunny day, but the lighting needs some tweaking because it produces odd shadows here and there. Maybe a few more bulbs. They are only about 13 or so watts apiece.

The room is insulated and heated, and is as warm and dry and clean and cozy and as dust-free as any other living space in the house.

The layout itself takes up most of the room. It is a G-shaped around the walls walk-in folded dogbone with two peninsulas. N scale. About 18'x25', including interior aisles but not including the exterior aisle. The two levels are connected via single track three-and-a-half turn helix (28.25" radius, 2% slope, 3.5" pitch). It is fairly well described in another thread, but since everyone is posting in this thread I figured I'd chime in as well.

Here is a plan showing the upper level and the entire room:

Robert

LINK to SNSR Blog


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    June 2007
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Posted by riogrande5761 on Saturday, February 10, 2018 5:01 PM

Old layout room in a townhome was 10x18' - tore it down and sold last November:

Bought a house and have the following space which 45' long basement - main room is 15 x 27.5 with another 18' to the far end in a step-over:

 

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

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