seeking ideas & suggestions for a kid's layout

If the boy is very young (like 2 or 3), I suggest not powering the layout.  A friend did that with his grandkids when they were little, and it worked great.  Kids at that age are much happier pushing things by hand than working a transformer.

I built an O27 loop with 4 switches that created a figure 8 in the middle, mounted it on a hollow-core door, and painted some grass and roads (so the grandkids could drive their cars).  I bought a dummy diesel engine and a very cheap Lionel 0-4-0 at a train show for the layout.  I removed the motor from the 0-4-0 so it became a dummy as well.

That layout saw heavy use for about 4 years.  We would run some trains on my layout (using electricity), but they always wanted to play with "their trains" after a little while.

Here is a private Facebook group dedicated to 4 x 8 and smaller layouts:

https://www.facebook.com/group...56332937737920/?_rdr

SCARM has a 4'9 x 4'2 layout on their site (with a Christmas Tree):

http://www.scarm.info/layouts/track_plans.php?ltp=85

Also check this thread:

https://ogrforum.com/topic/4x6-027-track-plans-ideas

John

I think that I have to agree with Bob on this one. Our granddaughter loved playing with the wooden trains as well as trucks outside on the pavement. As she got older, 1st grade, maybe, she enjoyed helping me build a holiday layout in our town adding her Disney Princes Pez dispensers to it. She would occasionally help run it for the crowd (made her feel proud) but lost interest quickly. If he is already school age, then a small, powered layout would be great especially if it has operating accessories.  I would leave some of the "building" to him at that point, give him a few buildings and cars and let him plop them in as he sees fit and can change as often as he likes. They do love going to see train layouts but then they are ready to move on to the next adventure. Time goes by so quickly that you can still start planning it now and have it ready for him.

Mikki

I set this up for two generations of kids. They like the big size and played with the little people riding the train for hours.

FWIW, a simple track plan that folds back on itself makes for something interesting instead of an oval.  I would stay away from turnouts as they create derailment opportunities.   Finally as someone stated above no electricity if the child is young but consider a battery operated loco.  It will require some effort but you take away the danger of shorts.

Build a table and let the kid decide how they want to set up their track.  Don't mount it permanently.

LGB is around the same size as the cheap battery operated ones that are sold around Christmas time and are a lot better built (especially the track).

John

I am going to side with the "no electricity" folks above.  With my grandson, who came to live with us at age 5 months, I just accumulated a box of track, mostly 0 27, and we put it together in various forms on the carpet in a game room.  He then pushed the train, dummy locomotive, around with various cars (all purchased from the "under the table boxes") connected.  He would play with that for some time but quickly lost interest in watching "my" trains go around.  As he got older, I used a lot of gondolas and hopper cars as he was always wanting to " take something for a ride".   All lasted until he was about 5-6 then he went on to computer games (dang!).

Don

I think this is one of the best small plans, and good for kids. All the components can be old school Lionel tubular track with manual turnouts that can be found very inexpensively on various sell sites.  Put this on a 30 X 60 or so platform using either the foam roadbed or old school cork over  a painted green sheet of 1/4" plywood supported by a frame made by 1X3's with cross stringers a foot apart. Put casters in the corners, and it will roll under most beds.  You can remove tracks in the middle to make it less complicated, and add decoupler sections, but a transformer with a fixed output would be needed for those for best results, and those too can be found on the cheap.  You can switch cars, park trains or locos using E unit neutral or a section of track isolated with a simple toggle switch to turn it off.  The plugging in of the transformer into the wall outlet would have to be an adult monitored thing if the child is too young, or replace the plug on the cord with a hospital grade plug that is a large barrel shape that is easy to manipulate and plug in and out without getting near the terminals.  You can delete the turnout and track going off board, or use it for an add on fiddle yard of just a straight piece of track on a board to give the trains someplace to go, or someplace to come from.

I forgot I had some pix of building this plan.   I used an very old train board I built for my boys 35 years ago for an HO GI Joe train set, and expanded one end.  The stringers are 1 1/2 inch tall and that is 1/4 plywood on top.  I used cork roadbed just because, and sorted a box of old Lionel track I had to get the best pieces with all brown ties.  The turnouts I got off a sell site, wanted to use manuals.  I added a Lionel  trolley line  which goes through the cross over.  I opened up the electrical connections and rewired it so the center rail was separate, and added extra wires to assure solid connections since normally they are just metal tabs bent over.  Why the white paper?  Because I am frugal (cheap?). A roll of grass paper was too small for my plan and if I used 2 I would have almost a whole roll left over.  Sooooo, I layed down the white paper, put the track down to mark where the roadbed needed to go, and secured that, then cut out the white paper with a razor knife for templates to cut out sections from the grass paper  mat and glues them down. That let one roll do the whole layout.  The S curve you see is due to the coal delivery business building I want to put there and the track would have been too close to the loading dock, as a minimal S curve made room.  The trolley runs from one end of the layout to the other, with a passenger platform on one end, and a hotel on the other, complete with its own business car siding. The other two sidings have a decoupler on one, and a  operating section for a dump car on the other.  The hotel siding has a decoupler section that has the electromagnet off set, which allows the business car to be dropped off, as a center magnet would not have been under the coupler on such a short siding. I use a Lionel Type R transformer to run it with an outboard reversing switch. I cut a hole in the plywood to make a small pond area with a wooden bridge for the track which uses the edge of the table to appear as a dam the water pours over.   I added 4 legs to it, and included a pic of some really good leg hinges that lock securely when the leg is folded down.  They were inexpensive on Amazon, and you get 8 with all the hardware.  I just used the other 4 to make a slot car track table for my grandson.  I take this with me when the wife wants to go to the beach, and set it up on the dinette table for something to do, otherwise I would go crazy, I am not  beach person.

@CALNNC - Great Plan!  I have been thinking of a small plan for our summer cottage as we always have those rainy days when I am looking for something to do...what an idea....PLAY TRAINS!  Thanks for posting.

Don

Here's my layout on a 4' x 5' 3" sheet that slides under a bed or transported in the back of an SUV. It can handle O-42 engines on the outer loop; O-31 on the inner.

I love the idea of getting a dummy engine and letting the kid play with it unpowered when he's younger. I do wonder though if coupling and fixing derailments might be a source of frustration until he's older. For a younger kid, a wooden Brio or Duplo (Lego for littler ones) are great. They can easily build and play hands-on with them. Yes, they can be expensive, but good toys are worth investing in. You can probably finding used items on Ebay, Craigslist, FB Marketplace, et cetera.

We gave my son an O-gauge Thomas set when he was five and in hindsight, he was a little too young for it. Waiting until six or seven would have been better. Somewhere around third or fourth grade, he began to be much more interested in playing with O-gauge trains. When he turned nine (third grade) we got him an O-scale "set" that I assembled mostly from Ebay; a LionChief+ loco and five scale cars, all for the price of an inexpensive starter set. He doesn't care about scale vs. non-scale, per se, but he loves the fine detail and things like opening hatches on scale cars. In fourth grade he become more and more interested in running trains on my permanent layout.

There are a couple of things that I've done to help foster my son's interest in trains, and I think can help with kids in general:

• Setup a (powered) train around the Christmas tree. Twice-around-the tree is simple, but more interesting than a simple loop. Make it a family tradition. I know some of my favorite memories from childhood are of my Dad's American Flyer and pre and post-war accessories around the tree.
• Include operating cars and accessories to the Christmas layout. My son has loved watching the motorized aquarium car since he was two or three. He now has his own (shark rescue) and wants another (Road-runner). As he's gotten older, he's had a lot of fun out of the gantry crane and the sawmill. Postwar accessories on the used market can be great.
• Take them to local train shows, if they are in your area. Focus on them having fun. Listen to them and what they want to see; don't stay too long. If you want to check it out for your own interests, go by yourself before or after you take them. If the show is farther away, wait until they're older. Each show we go to, my son gets to pick out one pin. While I may suggest certain ones, it's his choice as to which he gets. When he was younger, I gave him $5 to spend as he chose. I would ask him questions to help avoid purely impulsive buys and encourage him to bargain with the seller, but ultimately, he got to pick what and how he spent the money. Now he brings his own money. On the trip to the show we will talk about what he's interested in getting and remind ourselves that if he doesn't see something he really likes, he doesn't have to buy something. If there's an item that's more expensive, say over $20, and it's on his "wanted list," we will split the cost.
• Show them real trains. Drop by the local yard and take a quick look. Take the local commuter rail into the city. When they're older ride the Durango & Silverton, Cumbres & Toltec, Georgetown Loop, et cetera.
• Limit screen time, whether it's TV or computers. Avoid video games. Encourage imaginary play.

Here is my mini-layout using O-27 track that fits on a standard-size foldable card table (34" x 34"). For kid use, the legs can be folded to rest the table surface on the floor. That will greatly lengthen train life for engines that try to go airborne. For any O-27 work, I always recommend using Lionel Track Clamps to keep the track sections together.