bored with what I had

What are your overall room dimensions? I operate in a 9x16 attic with a window and a door. I use a hinged drop section to enter my round-the-wall layout. Service Yard on one side and Village on the other --all unfinished.

Do you want more switching operations?  Or are you satisfied with trains running?

Some things which add a lot more interest include:

• adding multiple layers of track
• modeling a prototype
• a few industries
• operating accessories
• Loop to loop instead of a simple oval
• dog bone shape layout
• mountains or tall hills
• set up a yard for operations rather than simply storing trains

If you need help figuring out a track plan, do this:  get drop cloth and majic markers and then design full scale track plans on the floor.  The only '3D' about it is that the layout is off the ground a few feet.

Or start laying track on the ground until you get a plan you like.

Do you have photos of your old layout or the room?  That might help us offer advice.

--James

can't seem to get the pics to attach.  Overall it is a large room, but there is a 20 x 12 HO scale table in most of it.  Its track was damaged in the moved and needs repair so I thought of taking the HO track up that is nailed to glued cork roadbed and putting foam board down and making a L shaped O scale layout and putting the HO on the former O tables.  I already have a 4x12 layout for HO in another room that will be dedicated to MTH Ho scale trains. With the other table it leaves room for the 6x16 folding tables I have set for the current O scale.  I am tired of just having tables with trains and want to make actual layouts now that we moved. 

Posting Pics from your Computer-by Rich

part of the view of the now dismantled train track and view of the neighboring Ho scale tables and in the far left is my sons layout a 4x5 decorated with grass and painted and working track and buildings.

another view of the tables.  They are 6x2 folding tables  I thought I would cut the plywood to just over the size of the table and put 1x2 around the edges and the tables fit inside the 1x2 to make a non sliding table top.

I think I see you're problem; you tried to build too much at once.  From your posts and photos, it sounds like you have 4 different layouts plus an extra loop of track on tables.

Below is completely a suggestion, but I think it may be your best plan of action:

1. take up and sort out all the track you have.  from the photos it looks like there's track going everywhere.  I'd also fold up the extra tables which aren't needed.  Basically you're making space to plan your layout.  This should take a day or two. Once your space is clean then comes step two
2. Sounds like you have a second room for HO trains.  If that's the case, then put all the HO in that one room.  Dismantle the track from the HO you had wanted to put O scale on instead.  After that's done you should have all the HO in one room and all the O in the other.
3. At this time, start thinking about making a larger O scale layout that uses space well.  You can lay track on the floor if you wish and design a track plan that way.  You can also use computer program or draw out the track.  You can add onto the bench work for the HO if you wish or you can start completely from scratch; that's completely up to you.
4. At this time you can begin designing and constructing the bench work in whatever fashion you chose.

Doing this will result in you having one room for HO scale trains and another for O scale.  You'll have three layouts; one in HO in another room, your O scale layout, and your son's layout.  I would also work on a way to effectively store whatever isn't in use at any given time.

The way your room is now is essentially what my basement (and some others' basements) look like.  Organize first and then you'll have a clearer vision of what you can do with the space.  From what I've seen, the best layouts almost always have space for storage rather than boxes lying around the room.

That's probably going to be my number 1 suggestion is to organize.  You can also measure out the room and make a drawing for reference when you start planning the O scale layout.  Overall, it's about a 3 day project by the appearance of your photos.

--James

build a switching layout for operations - - it is a great cure for boredom.   I have had a couple of layouts with continuous running and once the track was down and debugged I found my self asking "is this all there is?".

Use car cards or switchlists that generate a different set of required moves each time you operate.   

You've done enough model railroading that you should easily be able to determine what will increase the fun factor. This NMRA article from down under my help focus your thoughts. Use the givens and druthers.(John Armstrong method)

20 x 12 is large enough. So, keep the HO or move it? Tables or not tables.? That will get the first given taken care of..How much space am I working with for the layout?

You can take a 2D approach and pretty much determine what it look like.

I used to have a 6x16 layout in my garage with a reverse loop so the train could return to it's origin.

If you can envision these 2 photos as one, you should have a good idea of what it looked like.  In the 1st photo you can see the lumber yard building and in the 2nd photo you can just see the roof:

054 curves and switches.  The reverse loop track goes left just past the lumber building and you can see that if you keep straight the train while continue around the perimeter of the layout.

This photo shows a single track yard on the right, but I later put in a 3-4 track yard.

You can see the doorway in the left of the 1st photo (along with a stool and my mini-lathe).  Without the yard track the door could have been moved to where the yard track is.  This would have given me room to make the loop bigger on the end where the original door is.

The aisle was narrow at the doorway, maybe 16-18", but I could get in there easily (and I've never been called "Slim" )