Steaming Jon’s (future) layout

Check out some of member Ken-Oscale designs. Great stuff for small area. 

@GVDobler posted:

Check out some of member Ken-Oscale designs. Great stuff for small area. 

Yes! I’ve already been looking at some of his plans, full of fantastic ideas!!

My plans are changing a little bit… I’m going to go 2-rail instead of 3-rail…

I’m going to do a shelf style around the walls switching layout. The modular/semi-portable rule still applies. Return loops/continuous running is obviously out of the equation (unless I want to run a lift-out section across the open end of the layout).

I’m going for a western New York/western Pennsylvania shortline feel based on the Wellsville Addison and Galeton RR, I’m thinking of basing the layout loosely on Wellsville NY. I lived in Wellsville as a kid in the 90’s, and went to the SUNY tech school campus on the old Sinclair Refinery grounds in Wellsville. The WAG was long gone before I even came into existence, but I still feel an attraction to the shoestring budget, weedy track feel of lines like the WAG…

Bringing this thread back from the dead… I really need a more permanent (and toddler resistant) place to run trains than the floor.

The idea of building a 2 rail layout has come and gone. I just don’t have the space for reasonable curves, and I continue to come across great deals on 3R equipment at the club. At this point it just doesn’t make sense to try to switch to 2R.

So step one is to clean up the complete mess that is “my corner” of the basement. Then I can start building.

I’ve thought a bit about size, shape, and track. I’m considering an around-the-walls layout with a lift out section for access. That would allow for wide curves which look much better no matter what the minimum radius of any particular locomotive is. An around the wall design would also allow for narrow “modules” that would fit up the basement stairs easier. On the other hand, I came across an old insert from some other magazine that had an interesting 5x16’ plan that could have potential, but would require curves that my SD40-2 probably won’t negotiate with cars…

As for the track, I’m now leaning towards gargraves. I love the detail of atlas track, but it’s rather expensive (yeah, I know there’s nothing cheap about O, but…). Fastrack looks decent to me, but the noise is probably going to be an issue for me. The cheap option would be Menards tubular, and I have a circle of O72 and a bunch of straights already, but I want a more realistic look. So it would seem that gargraves would be a good compromise… as for the ballast I have no idea why I was concerned about that, I’ve ballasted plenty of N and HO scale track and I enjoyed the process…

I’m considering trying to post a video series on the construction of the layout on YouTube, but I’m not sure if I’m confident enough to go through with it…

Jon, I moved from HO to O gauge 3-rail for the same reason you are dropping 2-rail, space limitation.  I have been working on an around the walls layout with a lift up bridge walk in that is located in an 11x11 room.  I have had success with GarGraves track and Ross switches.  Right now it has 054 curves, but I am considering some inside loop trackage that would be 042.

Are you not confident with making a nice enough video for YouTube or not confident in your layout building skills.  I have been bouncing ideas off everyone on this forum for years, which has helped me with skills I never thought of.  I say, just give it all a try.  Show us a little more what you are thinking of doing.

Here’s the space I have to work with, and an extremely rough sketch of what I’m thinking… I might go for a double main line so my son can run his train too…

I’m not confident in my ability to produce a watchable YouTube video, I feel quite awkward in front of a camera…

If I ever talk on a video, I am behind the camera, not in front of it.  I really dislike hearing my voice on a recording.  It look to me you have the space to do a lot more.  On the other hand, you can build something, see how you like it and change it around to something you like better.

It is a decent size room, but I’m limited by the fact that the layout has to be relatively easy to remove if we move. I don’t plan on moving any time soon, but I also can’t see into the future…

I know exactly what you mean.  We have moved more than I ever thought we would.

Hi Jon, you may want to consider using some foam core doors for your layout.  You could see if a local door store has some used ones.  They are light weight and very rigid.  so not too much worry about them sagging or warping.  You can wire each section independently using level wire connectors like those below to link each doors wires to create a circut.  I would buld a frame for the doors to lay on  hope this helps.   Dave

Because everyone likes pictures… here’s looking into the future train room…

So let’s talk layout design. I really like a small town/branch line/short line feel. Some of my first train ride memories are of the Arcade and Attica RR in western New York in (probably) the late 80’s or early 90’s. I remember places where the train appeared to wander through fields of grass without any tracks… I like the scenery in western NY and PA. Rolling hills, lots of trees, farms, etc.

I’m thinking a double track main would not really fit the “vibe” described above, and would require almost twice as much track, so I’m leaning toward a single track line… I would like to have an interchange  at one “end”, and a few places along the line to deliver cars to (maybe one industry on each wall- I don’t want it to look crowded).  The line would run from the interchange on one side of the doorway around the room to the end of the line on the other side of the doorway. A lift out bridge will allow for continuous running if I just want to watch a train, or for visitors…

As for the modular benchwork I’m thinking 2’x4’ modules would make good use of 4x8 sheets of plywood, but I wonder if it would be better to go with 30” depth… 30” is about the max I would want to try to reach across when building the layout, or maneuver up the basement stairs…

I do like the idea of the doors, but unless I can find someone who is getting rid of a bunch of them for cheap I don’t think it’s going to be very cost-effective…

Just a quick mock up to get a feel for layout height… the camera is at eye level with me sitting in a desk chair…

Jon, my layout has 30” deep shelves, though it is a twice around, over and under.  You have more space than me, so I think your ideas are good.  It doesn’t utilize the 4x8sheets, but I ended up using every bit of it.  That’s a good idea to make the mock-up.  

Here’s a little bit better sketch… the room and table dimensions are in scale, the track is free-hand…

The lift out would not be in place for a “switching session”, incoming cars would be dropped on the interchange track by the connecting railroad (the 5 finger switcher). The short line train crew would leave the engine house, retrieve any outgoing cars from the industries and take them to the interchange, swap them for the incoming cars, and deliver those cars to the industries, then head back to the engine house. Having some trailing point sidings and some facing point sidings makes a runaround track necessary and adds a bit of action to the switching… Trains would be 3-6 cars long (1 or 2 cars going to each industry).

Don’t want to mess with all of that? Just drop the lift out in place and watch the train go around in circles!

Looks great!

Found enough 1x4 scraps in the garage to build a frame for one section of benchwork…

With the price of lumber right now I’m tempted to use OSB for the top instead of plywood but I’m thinking I might regret it later…

A little bit of progress! Three sections of benchwork are done except for the plywood!

A little bit of progress on the track plan too! I wanted to see what O72 curves look like in this space and I decided I wanted the sidings to be on the isle-side of the industries for easier access when switching. The interchange still needs work, I want the main to be straightened out, and I’m not putting a switch on the lift out…