New House, New Layout

First off Chris - a hearty 'THANK YOU' for your service.

 

You certainly have an adventure ahead of you!

Choosing ScaleTrax is a good one too IMHO. We were most pleased with it on our (dismantled) layout of roughly the size of your room. Used #6 and 072 for our switches.

 

Am certain you'll receive some good suggestions and ideas here...

That is a fabulous space, Chris!

Congratuations.

 

Peter

Best of luck to you on the adventure. Love that uniform.

Semper Fidelis

Larry

C.sam, do you have a track plan of your previous layout you can provide? I'm trying to get basic ideas for now that I can develop as I continue to plan. Thanks!

Thank you for your service.

 

What's the height at the "knee walls"? Where are they in relation to the floor plan? I'm thinking with that room layout and access requirements for the closet, bathroom and utility room, a hybrid of around-the-walls and table is called for to maintain access and decent aisle width. Yes, you're 27, but crawling under a layout still gets old fast.

Hi Chris. It's interesting that our perameters were quite similar to yours above.

I'm not very computer literate and don't know how to create a drawing here.

Essentially, ours was a 24 x 16 'L' configuration with two loops down and one loop elevated. There was a single up/down ramp at the rear connecting the inside loop to the upper one with two crossovers (ea made from a pair of No 6 switches) at the front connecting the inner and outer loop. Also and two long passing sidings and reverse loops above and below. It worked out well as we could easily have three long trains running continuously and if desired, one or two more threading between them under command. Here's an overhead view from the end of the 'L'. The far right is out of view.

A handful at times but fun!  

The only knee wall is at the lower right of the diagram. I am not sure of the exact height, but I can find out. The double window is the dormer. The opposing knee wall is hidden in the closet, which will probably be used for boxes, etc. I could block it as long as I have a lift out or some way to access it "as needed" - we wont need to get in there every day. No access is needed to the bathroom, the door is on the other end in the hallway. The "utilities" area is a chase for ductwork and wiring from the garage below. I don't believe any access to it will be needed from inside this room - I will verify this, however there's no door or access panel in this area on the model - it's actually usually hidden in a second closet which I asked to be left out for more space. C.sam, thanks for the picture, gives me more ideas!

Thanks. I'll tinker around with a couple of ideas that are rattling around in my brain.

I've been extremely busy this week, but I got a base design done. This one has a minimum radius of 40.5" (O-81) on both mainlines. Rail spacing is 4.5" and since it's scaletrax, you'll have to do it all in flex. I haven't had time to put in crossovers and the branch-offs for industries. Cutting down to 36" radius (O-72) would provide more available floor space. The up side to this is that everything made in 3-rail to date will operate on it; all MTH fixed-pilot scale-wheeled diesels will run on it, and most of your scale cars with body-mounted Kadees will operate. The grades would work out to about 1.75%.

Matt,

 

Thanks for the ideas!  I like the overall concept, I'm thinking maybe a single track mainline with the occasional passing siding would be better however, simply to keep things "basic."  I'd like to be able to reverse trains and have the ability to run at least two trains independently / continuously, perhaps by isolating loops.  I'm just really bad at this whole layout planning thing.  I'm working with your design and some others to try to get something that would work together... fortunately I have plenty of time!

Chris,

Many thanks for your service.

I would like to offer a thank you in "real" terms.

Please go to my website and select a photo you like.

I will send you a matted copy as a thank you.

 

www.scaramouchephoto.com

 

I'll be glad to assit with your design.

A couple of suggestions learned from building the Munoz Lines:

 

1) Don't try to use every inch of available space

2) Sacrifice size for quality

3) What to do with windows and other access?

4) Make certain you can reach everything

5) Decide on your backdrops/backgrounds BEFORE bringing a piece of track into the room.

6) Get your lighting set BEFORE bringing a piece of track into the room

7) Decide what your minimum radius must be and make that a rule

Scrapiron,

 

Thank you very much for your generous offer.  I will contact you offline.  As for the remainder of your points:

 

1) AGREED!

2) AGREED!

3) I'd like to keep the dormer and access to the closet open for the most part.  I'm not opposed to blocking the other windows.  A "duckunder" or lift-out would be OK for access to the center of the layout for me.

4) Understood  I can use access hatches as needed as well.

5) We already plan on painting the walls blue / with clouds.  My wife is involved in the design process and has enlisted her aunt (who is a high school art teacher) for this process.

6) We have an overhead light prewire that will be in the room.  What would be recommended for lighting?

7) I've already decided - O-72.  If this means less track, then so be it.  I want wider curves and the ability to "run anything."

 

Thanks everybody for your help - I'm toying with some ideas.  I do want the trains to have some "vertical" meandering as well, with some tunnels and/or bridges - but I want all track accessible from the layout - no separate / non-connected "loops" unless I decide to add a subway line at some point.

I've been playing with AGHRMatt's design.  The more I look at other designs and play with the space, the more I like that basic design.  I've added a 5-track yard and an engine servicing area inside the main loop, along with several industry sidings and a couple of crossovers.  I'm liking this design pretty well, but obviously need help refining it.  The one thing that I'd like to do to it that I haven't had an opportunity to is make the upper loop a little smaller - I think I'll need a slightly larger passageway between the layout and the corner of the bathroom there.  A jpg and rrt file are attached.  Let me know any suggestions, and feel free to play around with the file!\

I really like this layout.

 

( Remove the bathroom, closet and utilities area and make the layout bigger!  :-) )

 

You have a nice combination of length, curves, sidings and a center view of the round house.

 

 

Chris THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. gOD BLESS AMERICA

 

Looks like your layout thoughts are coming right along. Keep it up.