My children and I have a 5.5 x 8 foot layout in the basement that is a work in progress. It is great fun, but I went a tad overboard and made things more complicated than needed. It was all in the name of fun and making it interesting, but ultimately, it has been a slow process to get everything operational. The trains can run, but all of the accessories needed a little work when I bought them, so we are slowly still trying to get everything running.
A realization occurred to me over the last Christmas season. We had a simple oval set up in the living room that acutally got played with a lot! Imagine that, for kids, a simple and running layout is greater than complex and, at times, finicky layout.
The other issue as I see it is that the 5.5 x 8ft layout in the basement is "Out of sight, and out of mind." Our children are younger, and they do not typically spend a lot of time on their own in the finished basement (nor do we really want them to). They are young enough that they generally need supervision. I happily take them down to run trains once in a while, but generally speaking the trains are not available to them at their fingertips.
The other thing I do not like about the 5.5x8ft table is that the track is all fixed to the table. The semi-permanent track configuration stifles creativity and creating new track designs. Looking back at when I was a kid, physically creating new track designs was one of the best aspects of model railroading/toy trains. Also, the table size limits the straightaways and reduces speed.
In an effort to solve the above issues, I want to make a more simple, but still intriging layout that can be slid under a bed. I want to combine the best aspects of a permanent train board and the play value of a carpet central. The ability for a youngster to plug and play at a whim is essential, alongside the ability to use the entire bedroom for track design. The “core” train board will have track semi-permanently fixed to it along with wiring and the transformer on 3/4 in plywood. I also want to have tracks that lead off of the board and out into the expansive space of the bedroom for track building.
Thinking through the design, I started with the basic design below - oval with figure 8. Excellent play value in a small space.
Then I considered, why not move the top switches down around the ends of the oval, to allow give a slightly different look to a very basic design? Also, I like that all of the switches are on one side, so they could be manual if desired. The around the top loop is the default position of the "freestyle track".
I want to provide the ability to lay tracks off of the board while the "core" of the layout stays on the board and can be plug and play ready - running trains within seconds. Below is what I would expect the core to be. At minimum, we can run a figure 8 with nothing else needed. There is always the option to install the default loop, or go off the board and create virtually any track design.
Freestyle off the board example:
I would love to hear your thoughts and or experiences with slide under the bed layouts and the flexible aspect of going off the board. Is this approach worth while?
