Anyone ever done it this way?

I've never really been great with plans, I've always kind of let things take care of themselves, that being said I've always been accepting that there will be fitment issues in the future and have done extra work. My best advice to you wood have a plan prior to laying track, you could also use cut outs if fitment is an issue

Yes, and it turned out pretty good. Theres no "wrong way" as long as you don't screw anything down until your satisfied.

Most of my layouts have been built that way

 

My layout has two levels. I tried to draw a plan for both, and managed to get the lower one almost fully drawn, and built from the plan.

 

The upper one has been more like what you are suggesting. Define the space with benchwork and add track to fit. I just draw some quick sketches first so I have some idea of what I want. I will go back and draw the final plan after the fact, so I have something for switches and electrical.

 

It's probably preferred to have a plan first, but there's nothing wrong with taking the space you have and making the track fit. I had a plan and a size and I ended up making some changes while laying the track. After running the trains for a while, I now have some more changes I want to make. I see nothing wrong with your idea at all, unless you end up having to purchase extra track and make a few extra trips to your LHS or online orders for track and have some extra track leftover at the end. Nothing wrong with having a little extra track for back-up when finished though.

 

To add a bit more, while trying to decide on a track plan for my layout, I would talk to people at my LHS about their layouts. Many of them told me to just get some track and start laying it and see what happens. This may be a more popular way to build a layout than we think? I also believe some of them were fairly experienced modelers and had been in the hobby for some time.

Ed

Large space mean large layouts and expensive layouts. Invest some time into planning as the FIRST step.

What trains do you want to run will determine the curve radius

 

Sketch out a pike you will be comfortable operating

 

Have a technical drawing done (suggest RR Track)

 

These are enjoyable but lengthy steps but the build will go smoother and a whole lot less re-work

 

Myself I am not the best at planing things out.But I totaly agree with L.I. Try to have some kind of plan before you start building benchwork.Even a rough sketch is better than nothing.I didn't plan properly and wound up cutting parts out and adding benchwork several times trying to fit the track design.I wound up spending a ton of money and time that could have otherwise been avoided.Nick

I would not build the table before giving a lot of thought to what kind of layout and track plan you want and need. It was very helpful to read about and study the pictures of layouts in the magazines. I then could then design the layout to to take into account HVAC apparatus, egress from the basement, support poles and other similar structural things that had to be worked around. I wanted long runs, 72 inch minimum curves on at least one line, two levels, and the trains to disappear and then come back into view. Once you figure out things like that it starts to make certain shaped bench work practical or unpractical. Do not underestimate the nuisance caused by too many duck unders, aisles too narrow ( should be wide enough that you can walk into comfortably and turn around), and track out of reach (more than 3.5 feet ), spacing of pop ups if needed ( nice if can  do all the track work and scenery with minimal trips under the table ). Once  you get a handle on things like these and other ideas you will get from fellow Forum members, then you will have a pretty good idea how to build the bench work to use your space to the maximum. Have fun! Planning and building has been my favorite part of the process.

Ed Kazaria

When i built mine i followed the rules "Givens" and "Druthers". Among my "givens" were amount of space, annual budget, size (scale or traditional) -in my case it was traditiona, etc. and my "druthers" which included a model RR opposed to a toy train layout, appearance of point to point operation (but not really), urban setting, passenger operation and a large urban station.
From there i sketched out several (dozens) track plans finally deciding on one i thought would work. Then laid it out on the floor, made a few adjustments, and then built the benchwork. It has served me well for over 20 years without any changes except for two small additions -- a 3' by 6' trolley loop and city scene and a small engine service area that i was able to add with some new found real estate. For me all the planning - months of it - paid off.

jackson

As other members suggested i would do some research, there are several good special publications dedicated to layout design, I think one is titled Track Planning for Realistic Operation.  

 

I purchased RR Track software, it's really easy to use, has libraries for most all of the track systems, it's really a great planning tool that's easy to use.  YOu can save as many layouts as you can create and copy and paste sections of one layout into another, or create a copy then change it.  

 

I suppose you could do the lay it on teh floor, but I think its much easier to lay it out on a monitor...

 

As many have noted here on the forum, the L Girder benchwork table system is really great.... Wish I had done my first 3 layouts that way.  With the L girders and joists you have alot of flexibility some sections can be open benchwork, where you can easily create ravines, canyons or low lands, while cities and yards and engine service areas can be accomplished by just using 1/2 inch plywood over the joists. 

 

In any event, some thought as to how many and what type of trains you want to run and whether you want or need an engine service facility and or yard tracks are important elements that will be easier to incorporate in a plan.

I think the radius and turnouts you plan on using will determine the layout. If you have a large room, broad curves, 54inch to 84 inch radius , 108 inch to 168 inch diameters respectively look really sweet if you are going to run long modern equipment or passenger cars. Get set on the radius and then begin to at least sketch with a compass and then make a large traverse to swing around and see if clearances make sense.

 

Good luck!