Ideas for for first X-mas Layout

Welcome aboard!  This is the best place to be for beginning railroaders, as well as

veteran train nuts.  I would suggest you go to Thor trains, their 'all gauge page'.

They have dozens of track plans on different pages that are suitable for small to

medium setups.  Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

     Hoppy

You might want to try your hand at a computer track program.

 A program called SCARM is free and has a 3d preveiw. Lots of people here use it.

Downloads are to the left under contents in blue, Not the big green ad in the center  http://www.scarm.info/index.php.

 

How would you access the center of an 8"x8"? A hatch? Climb?

Or is it going to be down low? Tip toe across?

 

Some things people might need to know that might be helpful....

 

• Which diameter and the amount, of curved of FT pieces do you already own?
•  Which model power supply is being used?
• Which engine do you have?
•  How long is your longest train?
• Are you going to want any turnouts? Ask yourself- Will there be switching, loading, play, or just relaxed viewing?
• How thick are the boards? Are they layered plywood, masonite/hardboard/pegbord or pressed (chips)?   

Thanks Adriatic and Hoppy for the replies, I appreciate the help.  I did check out thortrains and that's a good resource I'll continue to visit.  Adriatic, here are the answers to your questions.  Wow, there's a lot more to this then I realized I'll definitely check out the scarm site too.   I hadn't thought about accessing the middle of an 8x8 so maybe that won't be a good option as I have to keep it high to keep small hands away.    

Here's my inventory - 

Track 0-36 curves - 34

10 inch straights - 34

90 degree crossovers - 4

4 inch straights - 5

Power - MTH z500

Loco - Lionel 4-6-2 Pacific Steam Lionchief + tender & 4 cars

I would like to add switches.  There's a train show coming to my neck of the woods this summer and I'm hoping to pick up some discounted ones.  

Boards- 3/4 inch OSB   

 

 

Do you use a live tree or artificial?  My main design goal was to avoid building and decorating the layout in December amid the Christmas rush.  Since we use a live tree which goes up later in the month, I went with a design that goes behind and around the tree.  You can see pics at my website which can be found in my signature below.

 

This is my 4th year doing a Christmas layout.  I started small and went wild from there.  I just posted my 2015 design in a post titled 2015 Christmas layout.  Check it out.

Garrett, That's cool, thanks for sharing.  I have 3 little ones so that type of layout isn't doable for me right now but I hope to have something like that around the tree in the future.   I'll have to keep things out of reach until the kids are a little less grabby.   

Gbrooksy,

First, Welcome!!

 

Second, We put our Christmas layout on a table in a separate room for different reasons.  We have a small living room, in fact, the Christmas tree crowds it.  There is no more room for a train than a circle under the tree, and then it can run into ornaments and branches. Both our daughters are grown, one married, but no grandchildren.  We put the Christmas layout on a table in our married daughter's old room.  It is just two Fastrack loops, as can be seen, her bedroom furniture is still there, so I evidently don't have as much space as you.  My wife's Dickens Village buildings that had belonged to her grandmother make up the village.  I am running a 2012 Polar Express and a RailKing NYC Hudson pulling heavyweights.  I didn't run freight during Christmas.  The snow blanket is by Forum sponsor Randy Harrison.  I just left the white power cords to the building lights on top of the snow blanket, and they weren't really noticed.

 

Welcome gbrooksy.

 

I've been building Christmas layouts for our family for over 20 years. This is actually what got me into 3-rail O gauge. Some of the things (common sense, really) I learned along the way and that others have referenced are:

 

-Keep it off the ground, if possible, even if only a few inches - but not so high small kids can't see it. At a minimum, this minimizes accidental steps or kicks by people or pets;

 

-Using a track with a built in roadbed (which it sounds like you are doing) is not a necessity but in my experience makes operations smoother;

 

-Switches can make things interesting but add complexity. I love them on my permanent layout but keep them to a bare minimum on my holiday layouts. Also, my family seemed to engage with the trains more when the layout was simpler;

 

-Related to the previous statement, consider designing for unattended operation so you can turn them on in the background and let your family or guests enjoy them without you having to watch everything like a hawk to avoid a disaster;

 

-Start small, experiment a little, and grow based on what works. I found starting large and scaling it back was more difficult and did not result in my best holiday works;

 

-Two trains are more interesting than one, but 3 plus can get crazy-noisy. Keeping the number of trains down allowed me to keep them running longer while people were gathered in the same area;

 

-You've probably done this, but if you search on 'Lionel Christmas layouts' or use related phrases you will find a lot of ideas from pictures, to videos and even plans.

 

Good luck to you! 

Just for ideas, here's one of the small Thor layouts I set up with O-31 Fastrack just to see what it would look like. One is 4x5 (O-31) and the other 5x6 (O-36).

 

 

Thanks guys for the advice and pictures.   Its helpful to see what others have done.  I've been messing around with the scarm software and while I'm certainly not proficient at it, it looks like in order to get some more track down on an L shape I may need to add some O-31 curves to my collection?   Len I like your advice on just letting it run without having to watch it so much to start out.  "Relaxed viewing" as Adriatic put it sounds good for right now.   Does anyone have track plans done on two 4x8 boards?  I couldn't find any for that specific size.  

Hi gbroosky,

Welcome aboard!

 

I like an L for your application. 2 4 x 8's give a 12' x 8' on the rear edge with a corner.

A couple of places to put the Christmas tree and lots of room for buildings and such.

Flat on the floor. It will need a few power feeds.

 

It uses what you have for track inventory, except you need 10 5" straights.

 

Do you have 12' wall for the long leg?

 

I don't see a need for switches unless you go with a different plan. I would use manual switches for a reverse loop or something that will change the route on it's own.

 

Len B, has some good advice to keep it a simple runner with some interest.

 

 

 

 

Thanks Moonman!  I checked and my short straight sections are actually 5" not 4" so I could do this one with only having to purchase a few more 5" sections.  I do have the wall space required and both walls have power so I should be covered there.  My plan is to have this on a table with no tree but I hope to build a Christmas village.  This will be in the basement but eventually, if I can get it to look nice enough maybe I'll get permission to bring it upstairs into the living room.  Great support on this forum, thanks a lot to all of you.   

No problem. 90°'s work nice with figure 8's. The other uses need switches.

 

If you have idea, just draw it on paper, take a pic and post it. I'll turn it into track for you.

 

Try a small twice around like Phil designed for upstairs under the tree to break the ice. You would need a 45° for those. There's a good thread on those, if you search the forum for "twice around".

 

When a model RR line crosses or does a reverse loop on itself, that loop determines how long the train can be. 

 

The transformer question was about knowing the options.

 

 Each train has it own "curve overhang". It happens in curves, and straight approaches/departures to curves. The pilot/cowcatcher/cab makes a wider outside sweep.

  Cars and diesels, hang over inside edges at the center between the bogies/trucks/wheels.

 Leave a little room near room walls, and layout objects for that.

 

  How you watch you train-

If you were used to sitting and watching, consider being below eye level while sitting.

(I took 4" off my legs to get down to 36")(Still a touch to high maybe. 32-34" would be Ideal for me relaxing in the rocker.)      

 

I second the L vote for many reasons.

Access should always be a thought though. You want to reach it all.

Even your 4' reaches aren't going to be easy.

Hatches aren't that hard.

 

 Also think about attaching two, 3/4"-1"x 3'-4' boards, along the top's bottom edge, to provide a stable mating area, for the table tops to be held together with a couple of "C" clamps, or screws.  

 

 Note: "Track don't fit".

 Gaps & overlaps in the track laying programs, don't mean it cant be fudged a bit and work in real life.

Custom, at home cutting, has been done too.

Caulk temporarily glues it down well.

 

Never use Simple Green to clean your plastic track!.  ....?? 

 

The "cake" is an easy display that looks great.

With that size, two cities, or a city and a country area is nice idea too.

 

It's operation, or how you lay track, can be simple or complex, its really up to you.  

 

 You said that you had played with trains as a kid(welcome back), and I somehow got the impression you've done this recently on the carpet, and wanted complexity.

 And before I got to see your list, my net service went down, so I just played around in SCARM, dove right in with 0-36 and the mindset to lay a ton of track.

  I don't know if you have room for every building or not, and I didn't "clean it up" parts wise(better combos might exist) 

 

  O-31 opens up more design possibilities, but limits use of some future engines and cars. If you stay small stock wise, you'll be fine.

 

Scarm: I think Moonman said it best, "Right click is your friend"

 

 

 

 

 

Adriatic
Thanks a lot for the plans and advice it makes getting started a whole lot easier.    I appreciate the twirl in the software.   These plans would both work well but the figure 8 one, which is the same as moon man sent works really well for my space and I don't have to buy any extra track which is great!   It doesn't take a lot of research to realize that this is an expensive hobby.   
As far as being back to the activity yes I think that's a cool thing.   My father was and still is way into trains  and we would have an HO train set up every Christmas.   He hasn't been doing it since he retired and downsized so he's excited to come and run trains again with his grandkids. 
I'm hoping to rekindle an old Christmas tradition that my kids will hopefully carry on.   Now I'm rambling. ......     Anyway, I really appreciate those who replied with the help and ideas and I know I'll be back on here with more very elementary questions.    Have a great weekend.

I completely agree with all of the feedback you have gotten. Attached are my two examples. Both built up on 2x2's with a 1/4 ply top. I use a twice around design with escapes so that I can run two trains at once. A circle is cut to accommodate the tree. I use cheap bedsheets to cover the top. My first one was using O-27 track and the second was O-31 Realtrax (their switches are cheaper to pick-up used, and they still work great). I add some center-rail block sections to allow for a section to be shut off if I am running conventional.

 

Edit <the O-31 video is too big to add with this one, I'll just add my O-31 SCARM file>

 

Mike, Thanks a lot for the input.   

Just remember one thing...

 

There are NO bad Christmas Layouts.  They are all good because the memories they provide will last a lifetime,         

Another consideration is balance of elements within the layout.  I recommend leaving a minimum 10-12 inches between track paths to allow for placement of lighted houses, trees, people figures, and vehicles.  A well balanced Christmas scene looks really really nice even if it means less trackage and more non-train items.  I had two mainlines last year with trains moving in opposite directions.  I'm going with a single mainline this year to allow more variety of scenery and non-train elements.

I really appreciate the feedback I received on this topic so I was hoping that I pick your brains again.   To complicate things but make them more fun too I found a great deal on (4) B&O Baby Madison passenger cars and my father gave me one of his Steam locomotives and tender plus transformer so now I have two trains I'd like to run on the layout.  Based on the "Keep it Simple"advice that's been universal I think it would be best to run them on separate tracks so I don't have to babysit the operation and friends and family can run it without risk of a collision.   Below is my inventory so you know what I have to work with.  I can potentially add a little bit more track but I can't afford to go too crazy with it.   

Trains-
Lionel Pacific Steam (4-6-2) Lion Chief Remote with tender and 4 passenger cars

Another Lionel (4-6-2) Steam (no Remote) with tender and 4 freight cars-

Transformers - 

MTH z500 & a Lionel 80 Watt (unsure of exact model)

Track-

0-36 curves - 34

10 inch straights - 34

90 degree crossovers - 4

4 inch straights - 5

The layout will be temporary in my basement on two sheets of 4x8 3/4 inch OSB on top of saw horses.  If the plan would work better with shorter trains I can always pull a car off each one.   Thanks for the input!!!  

2nd track elevated 8"-12". A half sheet of plywood additional 2' x 8'. Make some portals and pylons.

That would make an outstanding layout, thank you.  Is there a tried and true method to building the second level so that its easy to break down?  Even though I'm CEO of the railroad my Chief Operating officer won't allow me to have a permanent layout.  Would the Fastrack trestle set be best to use for the elevated portion of track?   

There are many ways to skin that cat. 

 

If you must be able to remove it, use 2' x 4' for legs under the deck. Use 1" or 2" foam insulation board around the edge and carved as rocks. You could fit the foam under the elevated deck. Cut the portals and carve the stones into the foam board.

 

All of that could be removed and still look respectable.

 

For the pylons, I would use a 1" piece of a 2" x 4" top and bottom with a 1" dowel in between to achieve the necessary height. Paint them some shade of gray, like concrete.

 

One screw in the foot of the pylon would hold it in place. Easily removed.

 

You should be able to scavenge at lot of that material or find it for not a lot of money.

Here's another possibility. requires 4 pieces of track that you don't have, perhaps a little more than another 1/2 sheet of plywood.

 

It makes the top loop somewhat more interesting and hides the boring part of the bottom track.

This is ok, but I think I'd want at least some fairly long straight section of track to see the train barreling down under the tree, this has it always in a turn, or hidden

I ran a simulation of the train on the first layer. A train long enough that it would just miss the end car at the crossover on each end. It looks way better than the boring straight to me. It's a toy train to provide entertainment.

 

Actually, there is no room for two trains unless you do two 4' x 8' ovals or figure 8's.

 

I went this way to provide entertainment with tunnels and an elevated train.

 

Let's see what your thinking. He may like it.

Unfortunately, I have a Mac, so none of the simulators work on my computer. I'm not saying yours is no good, and I hope it didn't come across that way, and I can see why some might find a long straight boring.

No offense taken, ideas are always worth examination. It's more a case of the Givens, the size of the table and the track inventory. Switches are not in this year's layout.

 

I thought about the corner 90 and two loops, but with two trains, it would require anti-collision circuits.

I really appreciate all the ideas and it's always great to see multiple plans so thank you both.    There won't be a tree on this, it will be in the basement but I do agree that it would look better if the trains weren't in a constant turn.    I really like the idea of an elevated 2nd track and tunnel so I'll start tinkering with the building plan.   How big of a piece of ply would be used to create the upper layer in the first plan?  Would it be a 2x8?

I put the advice I got to work and here is the result.  My first layout.  The kids like it the trains didn't derail and I didn't burn the house down so I'll call it a success.  Thanks for all the suggestions.  This is a very helpful forum.  


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Very nice result! I love your criteria for a success!! So, true.

 

Enjoy.