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Well, I can't make up my mind as to what to do.  I've bought a house, it has a back room that is an addition.  I'm going to build a layout in that room.  I thought I had set upon a design as seen in this post.  It's along two adjoining walls.  The other two walls have the entryways, one to the rest of the house and the other into the backyard.  On the walls between the entryways I was planning on putting our computer desk and bookcases.  This lead to a layout that was 5 feet from the wall.  More than I can reach.  But I didn't think it'd be that big an issue with a couple of access hatches.  It was also limited to mainly O36 curves with a couple O48.  this wouldn't be an issue for my current stock, or my foreseeable future.

 

But then my wife said she wouldn't have a problem with an around the room layout with moveable track to allow passage thru the entryways, or the train tunneling in the bookcases.

 

There are also a couple of locomotives I'd like to get that either are very rare in O36 or only made in as small as O42.  My 1st thought was to go ahead with my plan, and then do an O72 around the ceiling for the big locos.  But it'll be hard to enjoy the locos if they are above the head.  So I started laying out an min radius O72 layout, but it seems even around the room I can't get the same action I had on my 1st plan.  So I'm at a loss as to what I should do.  Thoughts I had are as follows;

 

1.  Go with the min O36 plan as it's doubtful I'll be in this house forever and the next one may have a bigger room.

2.  Go with the min O36 plan as everything I have runs on it, and add an over the head or carpet O72 layout if I ever get a loco that needs it.

3.  Make an O36 layout around the room so as to not have a 5 foot deep layout.

4.  Make an O48 layout around the room so that I can run some bigger locos.

5.  Make an O36 (or O48) layout around the room with outer O72 curves to have one loop to run the bigger locos on.

 

I've included a floor plan with measurements of the room.  Looking at it, the 3 foot pocket at the top is the back door.  The pocket on the right side is the arch to the rest of the house.  In the lower right corner is brickwork, hence the jogs into the room there.  All I know is that I also need to get my desk (60"x30" and can be in front of the track so that the track isn't taking up desk space.) and 3 bookcases in there (Either all store bought, or two/three store bought and one homemade corner unit.).  I'm planning on using FasTrack and it'll be more of a toy train layout than a realistic one.  My current biggest locomotive is a K-Line Titan Big Boy, and on O36 the cab swings approximately 1.5 inches from the FasTrack roadbed edge (Which doesn't bug me in how it looks, these are ultimately toys in the whole scheme of things.).

 

Thanks!

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It just now occurred to me that it might help some to know what elements I'd like.

1. I'd like a passenger station, I have a MTH RailKing NYC Dreyfuss train that's around 11 feet long I'd like to run.  I'd also like to be able to get around it with my freight when it's at said passenger station.

2. Some freight station/transfer warehouse to shuttle box cars to and from.

3. A gain silo for covered hoppers to be loaded/unloaded from.

4. An oil refinery/storage spot for tank cars.

5. A yard to switch my other cars in and out of to make trains for my Big Boy and/or GP38-2 to pull.  Blocking the main when switching (gasp) isn't an issue since I'm the only engineer at the moment.

6. I'll be running conventional.

7. I'm not interested in operating accessories except maybe a grasshopper oil pump or two near the storage tanks for my tank cars.

8. And I'd like a loop since I do like to watch trains go round and round.

I'm in much the same predicament with my 10 x 21 room with 2 doors. So far, I've played with a single around-the-wall design done in 031 and redone in 054. I'm getting ready to redo part of it in 072 just to see what will happen. Even without 072, my plan is to use liberal amounts of FlexTrack through the 2 corners on the left side, I just did the design in 031/054 to see how much track I could stuff in and this is just my initial shot at something. Most 031 curves on the right side will be hidden. I've attached a picture of the first design attempt in 031. The blue is Phoenix, green is Flagstaff, purple is grades and light blue is the partially hidden yard. I don't like switching cars, but I do want to run any train on any track, hence all the turnouts. I've got more than a year before I can start construction, though I might start earlier if I go modular. I have a 6 x 8 table to play with designs once I buy some ScaleTrax to work with. The table will eventually serve as a Christmas layout with the RealTrax I have.

 

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From the look of the room layout, you have an entry showing at the top and at the right. You have a lot of room to play with and could make a nicely scenic'd layout with some industries.

 

Layout Design SIG follows a philosophy of "Givens and Druthers" -- basically the balancing act between what you'd like in a layout and the space restrictions you're under. You note a long passenger train (11 feet stem to stern) which you'd like to run. That's not going to operate well on a small loop with O-36 ultra-sharp curves. With the space you have, you could conceivably put in O-72 curves which will support any 3-rail equipment produced to date.

 

You could also do an "around-the-walls" layout with lift-outs to allow access to the doors. This would allow for narrower layout shelves at a good viewing height which would also allow you to put your work desks underneath. An advantage to around-the-walls is that you can't view the entire layout so watching the train forces you to watch it move through the scenery as opposed to seeing it run around the scenery (the big down side of island type layouts).

 

So, you need to ask yourself some questions:

  • Watch trains run around vs. operating (station stops, industry switching, etc.)
  • Long trains vs. short trains (determines how long a main line you'll need)
  • Scale vs. semi-scale equipment. This is a major commitment as your curve sizes will forever (or until the rebuild) determine what you'll be able to run. And you'd be surprised how many 3-rail locomotives are rated at O-54 and above.
  • Scenery vs. track. This is a sore spot with me, even with the club layout. More track will allow you to run more trains, but it comes at the expense of scenery options and operational possibilities. In a club context you need to be able to run more trains safely, but my home designs aren't under that requirement and have been mostly single-track mainlines with passing/holding sidings.
  • Track selection. Fastrack is an easy setup and comes in O-60, O-72, and O-84 curves with O-72 turnouts. However, it's structure isn't flexible. Atlas is a little more expensive, but comes in a broader fixed curve selection, has flex track, plus has numbered turnouts for your mainlines and closer parallel spacing (you have some wiring issues, but they're minor.) Ross makes a broad selection of fixed curves and a very broad selection of turnouts; for flex you'd use Gargraves.

I know this is a lot to process, but some pre-build planning will prevent changes during construction (something I've also become all too familiar with.) Here's a basic oval to fit the room with a work bench underneath on the left and a desk underneath on the right. The layout bench height could be around 54" giving a track height of approximately 60". Track is Atlas-O with O-99 curves and one flex section at the bottom left.

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Sinclair_Rec_Room_01

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Last edited by AGHRMatt

AGHRMatt, I don't know about Sinclair, but you've given me a lot to think about. I tend to think in terms of single-train running from my old HO days and haven't quite grasped the concept of multiple trains sharing the same track using modern DCS control, etc. Now that I know how much track I can fit in my space, I think I'll take a page out of your book and redesign my layout with that thought in mind. If I run 2 trains on each line, I can get by with only 2 lines instead of 4 and still have more than 2 trains running. Thanks for the example.

Thanks for the replies.  Since starting this thread, I have been messing with some designs and doing some thinking and trial and error.  Below is what I have come up with.  Min radius is O48, which should allow most locomotives to the sidings and yards, but the outer is O60 so I can run some bigger stuff around.  The height will be around the height of kitchen counters.  I want to be able to store items under it, but also keep it low enough for my kids to watch it.  I do like to watch the trains go around.  It'll be more toy like I think.  For me the details are nice to look at, but not my thing to do.  Just dropping the buildings on the layout is good for me.

It's a double main around the room so I can run two trains at once.  I'll have some kind of lift outs at each doorway.  I've also set it up so that I don't always have to put the lift outs in place to run. This will give me a nice switching layout as I did manage to get all the industries on the same side of the room.  The computer desk will be that rectangle at the top, and you can kinda see the lines of the bench work edge.  I'm planning on conventional, and that large flat place in the bottom left near the yard entrance will be the location of the control panel.  And never mind the gaps you see, I just haven't gotten all the track set in yet.

Layout v2

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Good utilization of space. I'd still consider going with O-60/O-72 in case you get larger equipment, though.
 
Originally Posted by sinclair:

Thanks for the replies.  Since starting this thread, I have been messing with some designs and doing some thinking and trial and error.  Below is what I have come up with.  Min radius is O48, which should allow most locomotives to the sidings and yards, but the outer is O60 so I can run some bigger stuff around.  The height will be around the height of kitchen counters.  I want to be able to store items under it, but also keep it low enough for my kids to watch it.  I do like to watch the trains go around.  It'll be more toy like I think.  For me the details are nice to look at, but not my thing to do.  Just dropping the buildings on the layout is good for me.

It's a double main around the room so I can run two trains at once.  I'll have some kind of lift outs at each doorway.  I've also set it up so that I don't always have to put the lift outs in place to run. This will give me a nice switching layout as I did manage to get all the industries on the same side of the room.  The computer desk will be that rectangle at the top, and you can kinda see the lines of the bench work edge.  I'm planning on conventional, and that large flat place in the bottom left near the yard entrance will be the location of the control panel.  And never mind the gaps you see, I just haven't gotten all the track set in yet.

Layout v2

 

Well, O72 does physically fit, but with little boys that will be running in and out of the back door, throwing it open, I wanted some breathing room to put a stop of some kind in there so that the layout wasn't the door stop.  Right now I'm working on designing a drawbridge style lift up for the two walk ways, and that has to fit behind the door too.  I guess I should say that the door hinges are on the left side of the opening, near the yard.

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