Anyone else motivated by these fantastic trains to build a better layout?

Paul:

 

I completely understand your situation. Over the years, I was transferred frequently and stayed away from building much of a layout because of the reasons you have shared with us.

 

Only you can establish what the right time that is for you to expand your present layout, and from the sounds of it, you still have a good deal of work in front of you with what you currently have.

 

To answer your question personally, our current layout will handle anything we want to run. But I sure can understand someone who has their eyes on one of those new Big Boys to want to expand their layout to make it fit.

I have a small layout, with 2 outer loops of 43 ft (+/-). with 2 smaller dog bone loops(?) .I enjoy watching 4 trains and 1 short track trolley running round and round. Having said that, I have ordered the VL BB and have to  modify my layout or add a second level, don't have a clue how to do that but will get something done before Christmas.

 

Brent

I have the wide curves and also love the realistic speed. Since I joined the NJ HiRailers, I don't have that problem. A great group of guys, and I'm really happy to be with them.

 

Gerry

My current layout is under construction (really, really). It measures 14x39'. At the far end in the unoccupied area of the attic, I have 0138/0128/0120 curves. On the train room side, the double mainline is getting compound curves. They lay out at 080/072/080 and 089/080/089. All of the curves are super-elevated a prototypical scale 3" (1/16"). You can see the cars tilt through the curves. Just rolling a 60' car through the curves looks really neat. 

 

As for big curves, if I could have bought 0144, I would have. I have a number of larger models including the 3rd Rail N&W 2300 that I'm really looking forward to running!

 

I love big trains. The bigger, the better!

 

Gilly

I have 4'x10' in which to have a layout.  If it wasn't for O-31 tube track I couldn't even have O gauge trains.

 

Pete

I'm 9x16 in the 9x19 attic but with 084/096 and 072/084 end curves to help make the short and slower consists look decent when negotiating the curve arcs. Round-the-wall and running round and round.

Disposing of all but 6-7 engines as I wind down.

 Basically, they just go around in a circuit (loops) through some interesting scenery that I've created on a layout that's about 15 ft. long by 9 ft. wide.

 

That's my story, too, Paul.  But it's an even "sadder tale"....12 x 8.  For now, I have to be content running loops.  We just don't have the space here.

 

- Mike

If you want to learn how to make neat holes in the walls to have trains pass through...talk to Jim Barrett......the man has no shame. lol

 

Joining clubs or modular groups is one way to run trains in a decent setting. That's a committment of time I don't have though. Wide-sweeping curves > O96 and/or transition sections are needed to avoid the "whip-lash" effect of a train converging from tangent to curve track. If I had my way, I'd have wide-sweeping track runs throughout my living room and kitchen, but then I'd have no girlfriend and likely never would.

 

Paul,

 

I concur with your comment about running big trains on modular layouts. Our club layout has 072 and 081 curves and to date, we've yet to find anything that is "Too Big". The layout is currently 20x32' with a 12' eight track yard area (soon to be 18'). We run conventional, TMCC, Legacy, and PS-2.

 

Anyone that is in the Richmond Virginia metro area is certainly welcome to join us. Dues are very affordable and you don't have to own a module to be a member. Our most active season is August thru January. If you're interested, my email is in my profile.

 

Gilly 

I've been motivated by all the great steamers I've bought this year.  Can't wait to build a layout and see all of these monsters run. Using the widest radius curves I can fit (72" or 0-144) so those large articulated steamers look "correct".

Hi Paul,

This is a great question! I just spent the last six months expanding my layout from 8x8 to 10x10, so its still smaller than yours. The outer loop is 54 inch curves, which is the largest I could get in the space that I have. I did consider making it a round the room type layout which could have made for longer runs and wider curves, but that was a much larger job and I elected to do a simpler expansion.  I think next time I would build modular tables, which could be easily moved, if needed.  Forum member SIRT (Steve) has a great layout that is built that way.

 

In any event,  I am happy with my 54 inch curve which can fit a lot of different engines.  It has more of a scale look, but the old PW steamers like the 736 look great running on it.

 

 

I currently have a 11'x17' layout with a O-54 and O-63 double main. While this has been fine to run my medium size steam engines, my next project with be an 15'x12' "U" extension to the current tabletop layout.  I'll be pulling out the old double main and putting in a O-72 and O-80 double main to accommodate my passenger cars.

 

Jim

Our current layout is about 40 inch by 70 inch to fit under a twin sized bed in my son's room.  I have bought a house and have made a plan to build a bigger layout, and it will have one loop of O72 track for the VL BB, but until then, I'll be setting up a circle on the living room floor to run it when it gets here.  But I am happy to watch trains go round and round, no realism needed for me.

 

My "around the room" Texas layout presently has 060 FasTrack for the main loop.  I am in the process of modifying the layout changing to 072 curves and turn outs.  This will handle most anything I get in the future.  I'm not into the Big Boy, but the Lionel Legacy E7 Texas special set will sure look great running on the new wider radius track.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

I built my test track to clear the biggest locomotive I had at the time, a DDA40x. Same for the basement loop. It most likely will clear the Big Boy I bought about a year ago .

 

But that's about all. The basement filled up with clutter so fast that it killed all progress I was making down there. There's room for the double-track 072/081 loops I framed out once I complete the lift-out bridges, but not much else.

 

---PCJ

I am very happy with the Ø108” and Ø99” curves I chose for the dual main on my layout. I wanted to use Atlas track, Ø108” was the largest curved sections they offered, and I did not want to use their semi-flex track. I also used Ø90” and Ø81” at some sidings and spurs.

 

I could have taken up a little more of the 33 x 38 feet train room for the train itself and perhaps fit larger (flex) curves, but then it would have been more challenging to entertain more than just a few people in the train room at the same time. We have had 20 people in the room, and it was not too crowded.

 

Alex

To answer your question....I SURE AM.Also I am motivated to do better by the UN real amount of talent I have seen by many many of you on this forum.I will continue to reach higher.I will get there.Nick

Sort of. After acquiring some vintage trains (which I think are fantastic! lol), I was inspired to redo my layout so I could run these locos that can't use modern switches and crossings. I went from simple loop within a loop with a few spurs to a loop within a loop with a figure 8 than can be switched to an oval with reverse loops.

Yeah, it's small (39" x 80") and not modern and all, but it's mine and it makes me happy!  lol

The thing that can get you into trouble, in more ways than one, is acquiring new trains with the expectation that you'll have a layout truly complimentary to run them on. This is not to be confused with collecting, which is just buying trains with no intention of running them. As kids, all we needed was a piece of plywood, a few structures and figures, and our imaginations filled in the rest.

 

I've got some wildly creative ideas for making my layout appear larger than it is, but it'll take alot of effort to implement, and with the warmer weather and later daylight hours I don't have much interest in working in the basement. When I recieve my Lionel catalog in the mail, I need to remind myself of what I'll realistically be able to run. That's the discipline.

My first house did not even have a basement or attic,... but I was compelled to have a layout. I built 24 inch by 6 foot modules in HO. put them together when I wanted to run in a room or garage, kept the fan fare up.

Flash to now. It took me 3 years to just complete the basement remodeling and 3 scales later, I am enjoying 3 rail trains.

If you are planning to move and buy a larger house, keep the layout planning going in your head and look for that house. You can always buy the trains later.

If you want to run your trains in much larger environment, try the modules. Or just set something up on the floor. That way when you move everything can be taken with you.

 

My current...and probably last....layout is approximately 30x40 feet.  The curve diameters range from 072 to 080"something" since in certain areas I used flex track.  All of my track is Atlas that I purchased many years ago as I was planned the "big layout".  I have had absolutely no problems running the largest locomotives and rolling stock currently available.  As of now, I am painting and ballasting the track and beginning the scenery (green) details......and yes Paul, the reason why I planned the layout like I did is because of the many great items I wanted to run so in affect, those items influenced the design of the layout....

 

Alan

I am more overwhelmed by starting a new layout. My last one was 8x16 with 0-72 outside loop but had to dismantle it due to divorce and now I have no space at all so I am hoping to build a modular 4x16 outside in the BBQ covered area or I hope to find a club in the San Jose area to run my trains. I have a few large steamers and Diesels and they do ask me to run them all the time, but I tell them to wait a little longer till the VL BB arrive!

Uh, I actually have just found myself with the opposite reaction.  I have about 12x12 now with an O72 loop that I can run what big scale stuff I have on... of course with a decent looking train the end of the train has barely gone by when the engine is back!

 

The reason for the opposite reaction?  Everything I want is more than I can afford.   But I suddenly flashed on this - I *do* have plenty of room.  Plywood, 2xwhatevers, chicken wire and plaster are cheap.  Track can add up but even at that I can expand my layout by x3 for far, far less than even to lease (they do offer leasing, right ) on a Vision Big Boy.

 

So I guess I'm going to go that way with the hobby.

Just rambling, and a slight veer to the left, but in the past 20 years or so the modeling

techniques - and therefore, standards - of layout (O, HO, and the rest) and layout "dressing" (scenicking, structures, ballasting/track work) have shot through the roof, along with the locos and rolling stock.

 

Now here's the problem with me: rather than finding all this Layout Super Modeling to be inspiring, I find it to be intimidating and off-putting. The locos and cars I do well enough;

even better than some. But all those nearly Perfect layouts with the fantastic trees

and buildings and...most of us can never achieve that. Ever. Regardless of pep-talks,

one cannot actually "do anything you set your mind to". With effort, one can only do what one can, ultimately. For me, articulated steamers are easy, scenery is hard (can't

visualize it).

 

Many of these Perfect Layouts actually make me want to give up, not try harder. How

about a magazine for the rest of us? ("Festivus for the Rest of Us") You know, "So-So

Layouts Monthly".

Do what I do - specialize in "night scenes"... it's the equivalent of soft focus for aging movie stars.

I think it's rather comical to see what's happening in the hobby these days. There are those who are out to impress others. The current Big Boy (joke) craze is one of the latest ("mine is bigger than yours") locker room event. There are those who bought the Big Boy knowing that it could not be operated on their layout. It's another excuse to expand their layout against the wishes of the spouse. It's not that they want a better layout. They just had to have the new Big Boy.   

I have week after next off dedicated to more track laying..... until then here's a few pics of the curves under discussion here.

 

 

 

I have a 12 x 21 foot layout and I wish I had more space. We all wish we had more space to build our layouts.  In my mind my trains go from NYC to Hoboken and beyond, but in fact they circle the air handler , come out under the stairs, and race across the  vastness of 21 feet of my basement.

We all want bigger and better, but what we have is pretty good.

 

Fred

If you have a section on 'plywood tabletops', I'm in!

 

I'm beginning to think that when I was 9 years old, and just painted the plywood, that was the way to go. (although it could still be the fumes from using airplane dope all those years ago!)

 

I'll probably never have a magazine quality layout and that's okay with me, as the only person I need to please is myself.

 

Jim