New to O Gauge- Layout ideas?

C&O FanOGR Forum Member

Hello, everyone. This is my first post on this forum, as I just joined today. I am new to O Gauge. I used to have a small HO layout, then we moved and I never got around to setting up anything new. Recently, however, I acquired about 20 years worth of O Gauge stuff so, now, I'm planning to switch over possibly. I am looking for ideas for a layout that will work in a spare room. I have 2 options and I've attached diagrams of those options to this post. O Gauge just seems so big compared to HO and I'm not sure how to make the most of what I have available. All of the locomotives I have will run on O31, as that is what the layout they came off utilized. I don't want a point-to-point switching layout; I'd like something with a continuous run and a small yard. I'd really like to have a double-track mainline, but given my limited space, I'm not dead-set on that. I'm open to any creative suggestions anyone may have; I'm just not much of a visionary at planning layouts. Thanks in advance.

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4/7/184:37 PM

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JanOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

You are at the same point as this thread.

https://ogrforum.com/...87#78860923743519087

I would probably chose what's behind door #1. Besides being larger, its rectangular shape is easier to design to. I both cases I would do an around the room layout.

Jan

4/7/187:36 PM

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Mike WyattOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

No matter the scale, no layout in a room is going to be a scale model of the great outdoors- all are compressed, just to different degrees Even if you had 1:1 scale locomotives and cars in your back yard- it would look fake in any space smaller than the King Ranch in Texas.

I had built FOUR HO scale layouts, over 30 years. In every case, I had to vacate the room (to build a new kid's bedroom) or we moved, all before I got the trains to run properly. I finally jumped back in with O Scale Lionel a year ago after a 5-year term with no trains.

Here's what I have found over the past year: The O Gauge stuff runs great. It might be the AC vs. DC, it could be the weight of the cars and locomotives, they could be just better quality- I don't know, but they run great! The HO stuff just seemed "fiddly" to me- constant derailments, and I had a hard time laying good track, AND keeping it clean enough so that it didn't run erratically.

I have O Gauge locos and cars dating to 1948, an MTH from the early '90s, a Lionel 773 Century Club Hudson and several current Lion Chief Plus locomotives. They ALL run great.

Another fun part of O Gauge is the sourcing of cars, locomotives, and accessories from e-Bay and shows. I think that I am buying something that will LAST vs. a toy.

Build the best layout you can given the room you have, Be creative. Build what YOU like, not what you see in the magazines. Have fun!!!

4/7/187:57 PM

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Penn-PacificOGR Forum Member

Ah, A painter with a blank canvas, where to start. Tons of good ideas here, maybe like a Lionel display type layout to mess around with at first. Just to get used to the trains and accessories various behaviors. Or an around-the-room layout to right away to maximize space. Here's a link to just a couple ideas; the possibilities are endless.......

https://ogrforum.com/...-and-postwar-layouts

https://ogrforum.com/...-for-a-smaller-space

There's just dozens and dozens, hundreds even, of good ideas for layouts posted all throughout these forums......

4/7/188:42 PM