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New Layout Room

S spider1969OGR Forum Member

Hello All,

 

I recently moved into a new home and have a layout room in the basement. I have been playing around with designs with XtrackCAD. There is quite a learning curve there and I freely admit some frustration. However it is a great program and I am slowly getting the hang of it.

I have had 2 previous layouts in O gauge and layout design has never been something I enjoy. I am posting what I have and asking for any and all advice I can get. I really do appreciate it.

I have an around the room track plan that will allow for larger locomotives and rolling stock. There is also a 6' x 10' layout in the middle of the room where I wish to focus on smaller trains with more operational opportunities. I realize there will be reach issues so I may reduce the width or incorporate pull out sections.  I have begun the design in Fastrack but may switch to good ole O gauge tinplate as I lean towards that track. Most likely for nostalgia reasons. I am not interested in scale operations or realism and lean towards a fantasy pike with all the toy train quality I can incorporate. I am considering multiple levels and elevations but not committed. I enjoy running both passenger and freight trains. While I would love a turntable I will not be doing one for now.

I am not committed to what I have designed so far. I am only in the research and design stages and willing to change whatever needs changing. I am hoping to begin building benchwork in a few weeks time.

I am including the XtrackCAD design as well as the SCARM file. I do not have the full version of SCARM so it is just the layout room.

Thank you in advance for and advice or suggestions. Browsing this forum and all its extensive knowledge has been extremely helpful to me.

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Last edited by spider1969
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S spider1969OGR Forum Member

An update is in order:

The train room has been painted a pale sky blue color and should be getting new carpeting later this week.

I am currently working on the track plan. To this order, I have made the plunge into AnyRail as I prefer this software. After playing around with XTrackCad and SCARM, I found AnyRail to be easier to use, for me personally. It was close though as SCARM is a great program in its own right. 

This past weekend I got a chance to have my first visit to my new local hobby shop. I had been looking forward to this ever since the move to Green Bay was first planned. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed my visit to GB Train Shop. I thought I had a good handle on what I was looking to purchase over the next few weeks. This visit changed all that. First and foremost I will be building my layout with Lionel Fastrack. Again this is just my personal preference. I kicked around the idea of using almost every other brand but in the end Fastrack was my choice based on my experience with it on my last layout.  I look forward to many more visits to GB Train Shop in the near future. If anyone is planning a trip to Green Bay in the future I highly recommend a stop at this gem.

So that is where we are at at this point. I will continuing track planning and hope to start some benchwork in the next 2 weeks. I will post pictures at a later date as my progress continues. I appreciate all the inspiration this forum has given me.

S spider1969OGR Forum Member

Dave,

Thank you for your kind advice. Not being the most patient person I am doing my best to take it slow. Planning is definitely essential. Otherwise I would end up with just a spaghetti bowl layout. 

You pictures are inspirational. I especially love the ceiling track with Standard gauge tinplate. I was looking at Standard gauge tinplate over the weekend at my local hobby store. I had to stop because If I continued I would have changed my layout to Standard gauge rather than O gauge. I am considering adding a loop or two for a standard gauge train. I will determine that as I move forward.

Thanks,

Last edited by spider1969

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