One more layout; just one more, please.

@K. Edward posted:

1. I intend to use all tubular track, 0-22 switches, and original accessories--which I've gathered up over the years. I want to somehow add the Bascule bridge, so any ideas are welcome.

2. I will be creating this in early February after we've moved into a home we are building. An entire 12 x 22 room is "My Train Room."

3. I want to use benchwork from Mianne because I can easily put it together without help.

4. My next question: I feel not all areas of the layout can be easily reached from the edges. True? Or am I not seeing this clearly?

5. Complicating #4 is the other revision I'm puzzling over. I'd really like to see an outer loop perhaps with 54" curves so I might run my Santa Fe passenger set and my Lackawanna with a freight consist. I sense this may be out of the question. Even if the benchwork is expanded to accommodate this wish, then reaching all points becomes impossible. Pop-ups are not viable due to physical constraints.

For a 12x24 room, your 12x8 layout plan can be centered so all sides are accessible, that should allow you to reach virtually anything on the layout.  I'm presuming the scale is each square is one foot.  If you increase the width to 5 feet for the legs, an O54 loop will just fit.  However, there will be a section that would probably be a long reach at that point.

Kenneth, my layout has a different configuration than the layout described in your above post that you are planning to build, but there are similarities.

For instance, like your future layout, mine has tubular track, 022 switches and numerous Postwar accessories including the bascule bridge which I recently purchased from a local train buddy. See photos below:

I built my own benchwork 25 years ago but I understand Mianne benchwork has a very good reputation.

It is wise to be mindful of accessibility, which becomes more important as we get older. We don't crawl under tables and stretch like we did when we were younger, but when I do crawl under the layout to get to a derailment, I like to put a positive spin on it and think of it as my model railroad yoga. LOL.

I'm glad my layout is relatively high off the floor, ranging from 48 to 50 inches off the floor. This makes ducking under the layout tables a little easier.

Good luck with your grand project creating your layout. I hope you have a lot of fun building it. Arnold

Please make it wide enough to handle O-54 curves at least.

Congratulations Ken, it’s going to be like Christmas again and again. Since you are having your home built, I would suggest you add additional outlets. Perhaps a few in the floor in the vicinity of your control center. Keep the extension cords to a minimum.

Ken

It seems I've "walked in your moccasins" because of similarities:
* I designed and built my home layout in my mid-70s; it's my last layout. I'm now 83 and less able to crawl under it for wiring
   fixes or new wiring. However, I have a young, agile helper.
* My L-shaped, 15x19 feet layout fits in an L-shaped room. I can reach into the layout from the perimeter aisleways, although
    it's a tight fit; which I consider a practical reminder for me to watch my waistline.
* Like you, I favor a retro look -- Lionel tubular track and switches.
* You have the space for O54 curves; I envy your situation. My curvatures are limited to O42 to fit the platforms. I have
   several locos that require larger curvatures, so those trains rest on display shelves - never to run on the rails. I
   considered solving that problem by installing a ceiling layout with O72 curves above the existing layout, but that's just a
   dream (rather, a nightmare -- for construction and access).
* However, in your situation a ceiling layout installed ABOVE your layout with O72 curves might be an option. Tip:
   build the ceiling layout FIRST and provide movable ladders for convenient access to the "nose bleed division."
* Mianne benchwork is the way to go!
* You have opted to use your existing vintage trains and accessories. Perhaps that includes a KW or ZW transformer(s)? You
   may add modern era locos later on, so you might consider installing Lionel's TMCC or Legacy Command
   Base and a Lionel PowerMaster (which will provide control for conventional locos). Further, TMCC technology provides
   control of accessories, switches, blocks, and more -- if you are a tech-friendly guy.

Carry on, regardless ...

Mike Mottler   LCCA 12394   Some pix attached for reference
Conway, Ark - not all that far from your Ozark locale.

Gentlemen--

Your responses lifted my spirits and as I looked at the various pictures several of you included they added a touch of inspiration and several excellent ideas to my plan.  I'm currently sitting in an apartment waiting to move at the end of January. I did not plan such a time frame! In any case, I've been without my trains and my layout since October 2021 so I'm wanting to focus on how I can best design the layout I desire. The 1957 layout is on two 5 x 9 boards making for a 14' long by 9' wide "L" shape. How much more width would then be needed to add an outer oval done with 0-54 curves? My best guess is adding about 2' all the way around but then I'd be unable to reach all the areas. Add to that, my desire to find a place for my Bascule Bridge. Maybe I just need to do a completely different configuration, but this is where I falter. I was the kid who could build anything with his Erector set--as long as I had the picture.

Here is my meager contribution.

Ken, it’s good dilemmas, such as this, that keeps our brains stimulated. Keep in mind that if takes another 2” for 054 you will soon be contemplating if I had another 6” or so I could do 072 curves. And then if I had 5’ more I could etc., etc., etc.

Jay

Try Ken Hogenson's 21 Great Track Plans available from OGR here. I believe he has a version of the 1957 layout. Also, you can search for that layout on this Forum. I know for sure that Ken posted a version here. INMHO, I would not use Fastrack it is noisy and hard to modify for other than standard sizes.  Good luck, I am on my last layout.  Art

Given your desire for wider curves and ease of access, have you considered an "around the walls" type layout, even one that looks something like the plan you desire (more "L" shaped).  With Mianne benchwork, you can purchase a lift mechanism that would allow you to walk into the middle of the layout, and with the size of your room, the finished layout might not have to abut any walls.

To expand the layout for an "open" middle, simply install some straight track in the middle of the two 180 degree curves at each end.  Then you could use three bascule bridges to "edge" your way into the middle of the reverse loops you plan once you are inside with the lift.  As a bonus, you probably should be able to use O72 curves on the outside oval and O63 curves on the inside oval (O54 if you plan to stick with tubular track).  The only drawback to this idea is that the accessory sidings would have to be rearranged along the sides of the oval instead of in the middle.  This should not be hard to do.

Chuck

Yep, the Mianne Lift-Bridge is the Bee's Knee's!  It sure beats crawling under the benchwork!

I’ve been away for a week! I read the last few responses to my “dilemma” of trying to expand/modify the 1957 catalog layout; I’m encouraged and confused. So many of you have it “so all together” when you offer ideas!

My confusion is I must see the ideas visually. I saw the Mianne lift-bridge at York a few years back and I’d like to include it as my way into the middle. Now, if I could visualize Chuck’s ideas of opening the middle of the layout I might have a clearer idea of the look.

In my head I thought of running another continuous loop around the existing 1957 layout plan. Doing so causes the “reach dilemma” and Chick seems to solve that with opening the middle. Gunner and others solve my reach concerns with the lift-bridge. Now, to bring it all together!