Adding a 2nd level under the table

Linking the two levels, with a reasonable grade, both up, and down, becomes the monumental project.  It takes a minimum of 12ft to 15ft of grade to do a 7" to 8" difference in levels.  Two levels operating independent, relatively simple.

I have no experience, but I am starting my layout planning.  I have to ask, why put a second level under the table and not put one above it?  I was planning on a layout at the normal 4 foot height, and then expanding it with an upper level.  They would be different systems, no rail connections (at least I wasn't planning on one).

@Mike CT posted:

Linking the two levels, with a reasonable grade, both up, and down, becomes the monumental project.  It takes a minimum of 12ft to 15ft of grade to do a 7" to 8" difference in levels.  Two levels operating independent, relatively simple.

Great suggestion on considering the grade. Especially if I want to store long, heavy trains underneath - it shouldn’t be too steep. Plus making sure it clears the bench work…

@texgeekboy posted:

I have no experience, but I am starting my layout planning.  I have to ask, why put a second level under the table and not put one above it?  I was planning on a layout at the normal 4 foot height, and then expanding it with an upper level.  They would be different systems, no rail connections (at least I wasn't planning on one).

Underneath the table is relatively unused space, except for storage and electrical access. The majority of the bench work and support for another layer would mostly be there already.

Building up would affect the aesthetics of the layout. Especially if you want tall sweeping backdrops or mountains, for example. An upper level would probably also require rethinking some of the lighting.

I have seen multi tiered layouts in the smaller gauges but with O gauge it seems to me it would be more difficult to pull off since O is much larger.

Whatever works best and looks good to you is the way to go.

I took a different approach to under my table. I cleaned up all the wiring on the upper level and then built another layout below.  It is on furniture pads that allow me to slide it easily out if I need to do any maintenance on the upper level.  I too looked at the second level storage idea, but space is limited for me, and I just didn't have the 15 feet to create the proper incline.  I expanded my upper table so I'm going to expand my lower one too and wire it up as two sections so I can slide one or the other out as needed.

The downside of this is that my storage room is jammed with bins of train boxes since I don't have the normal storage under the table.

I have a main loop of track on an elevated layout and large storage yards underneath. For long trains the grade can be an issue, but with DCS I just add an extra engine easily to help pull long trains out of the yard up the steep hill to the main line, then return the helper engine to the siding.

I visited a layout that when the owner had finished the main level of his layout and still wanted to do some modeling he built a smaller narrow gauge layout in sections below the main layout. If he needed to get in to underneath the main layout for repairs wiring etc. he could slide out the railway sections below in large chunks to access the main layout from underneath!

VJ & P-

Have you had a chance to see the YT videos of Jason’s O Gauge Trains?? He has YT videos that show his basement layout with both the lower level under the main layout as well as a level above the main layout. He shows how the trains can get stored below, or just use the area as a turn-around. He also shows the long transitions up and down to get to the lower level.

His layout is still under construction— so you can see what he has done so far and look at back dated videos that might give you some ideas.

Carl J

I am contemplating the same thing. You have to drop down at least 15" to clear the benchwork above and provide some ability to get your hands on any misbehaving equipment. If you go up 6-7" may be enough. The biggest problem with a lower level is cutting through all of the existing benchwork ( 20-30' would have to be redone) as you descend enough to clear the upper level.

I can be done but it is much easier to do if planned for before starting to build benchwork. Not really much difference between going up to a second level or down to a lower level.

My plans called for some storage tracks on the first level and those will be covered by the second level. I am considering a lower level but more for extending the excursion of my main line. In my case I have more junk under the  benches to move than modifications to my benchwork.