Hi to all, sorry if this may seem like a generic topic... Anyway, fellow HO train enthusiast has basement room, ready to be overwhelmed with trains! This is the sketch of his place:
He has mostly American rolling stock, with Seabord 4-8-2 "Mauntain" as starting point of the collection. So, any ideas for layout plan would be greatly appreciated!
Some "have-to's" on the plan: - continuous running- one or two logging/industrial spurs- hidden yard- tunnels- inclines
Thanks!
The best Idea I can suggest is, get a copy of John Armstrong's books, Track Planning for Realistic Operation and John Armstrong on Creative Layout Design.
Trying to design a layout for a stranger, based on a vague hint of interests, is like trying to design a custom-fitted wedding gown for a young lady based on one blurry photo and her height. A 'lifetime' layout is a very intimate thing, and it had better fit as well as a custom-fitted wedding gown or the marriage of modeler and hobby won't last long.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - building a layout that's a perfect fit)
Make that skinny portion in the middle a little bit bigger.
May seem like nothing, but you could possibly add another spur.
bighead wrote:read space mouses artical it takes 10 min it's in his signiture
http://www.chipengelmann.com/trains/Beginner/BeginnersGuide01.html
Thommo wrote: He has mostly American rolling stock, with Seabord 4-8-2 "Mauntain" as starting point of the collection.
Not necessarily the best choice for a small space. A 2-8-0 or small diesels would be waaaaay more typical and much much easier to design for.
Some "have-to's" on the plan: - continuous running- one or two logging/industrial spurs- hidden yard I assume that you mean staging to hold trains between runs.
Some "have-to's" on the plan: - continuous running- one or two logging/industrial spurs- hidden yard
- tunnels- inclines
Multilevels in a small area can be done, it just uses up a lot of space.
From the footprint there is really only one pattern that can be used and accomplish the continuous running goal. A turnback curve goes in the upper left corner and a turnback curve goes in the lower right corner. That will mean you have to widen the narrow benchwork on the right side.
Since you want to run a relatively large steamer, a 4-8-2, you will need as large a radius as you can get. I would go with 22" absolute minimum, with 24" standard. If you have excellent track you might be able to use 18" but it will look terrible.
You can go with a folded dogbone or a twice around trackplan. Either will require grades/inclines.
The real challenge is hidden staging. Since you don't have room to have long grades, you won't be able to get sufficient clearance to go underneath the layout for hidden trackage easily without prohibitively steep grades. You will have to put the staging all on the top wall and the right side (maybe 2 or 3 tracks) and will either have to provide lift offs to gain access or a low backdrop/treeline, just high enough to hide the tracks, but low enough to stand on a stool and see/reach over.
I see no issue with adding several spurs from a space perspective. A concern is that if you have grades to serve multiple levels, they will reduce the area that you can have spurs since the main will be steep enough (over 1%) that when you stop a train and uncouple the power to work the spur, the train on the main will roll away.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Thanks for answers!
As his plan is still deeply in planning fase, feel free to add anything of importance.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Medina1128 wrote:I hope there is space between the wall and the top of the layout. 4.7 feet is a long way to try to reach over.
I was thinking the same thing. It could work though--I'd keep the end (where the curve is) at the maximum width, but narrow the rest of that section to about 2, or possibly 3 feet or so. That way, you'd still be able to reach everything. If not, you'd need some sort of hidden access hatch.