Top 10 'Must Haves' for a club layout

A run with at least 072.

A point to point trolley.

Some Miller animated signs.

Some push button animation.

Lots of people, cars and scenes.

Camera car and TV.

We give out little plastic train whistles which the kids love.

*Some provision, at some site, for "little kid viewing," without them having to be held by adults. That could also be where some push-buttons are.

*At least periodic opportunity for conventional operation.

Long sweeping S-curve in at least one place - well engineered with easements and adequate straight track in the middle. Trains look good on that.

Only if you use a very thin blade to do the actual cutting.

I have modified the original post to say this is for a 'permanent' set up please

Our club modular layout uses plastic 6' tables from Lowes with two lines of Fastrak which works well for ease of transport.

c.sam

A lot would depend on the size of the layout and how much space was available, but since it's a club layout let's assume it is large

1. a lease - all kidding aside, you don't want to put in a huge amount of work and money only to find 3 years down the road you have to move and start over. Also, make sure you are legal and meet all building code requirements with the local municipality.
2. a fairly detailed trackplan which shows mainlines, sidings, yards, towns, mountains, elevations, clearances, etc. Debate and agree this upfront and it will avoid a lot of debates later on. Also, this will serve as a guide when it comes time to do the scenery work
3. give some thought to the height of the layout. Too high and it makes it difficult to see the action especially children. Too low and it's a pita to crawl under and do the wiring
4. Again subject to space, wide radius curves everywhere. Our mainlines never go tighter than 096 and even then, rarely go that tight. Normally, ours are in the 0110 to 0130 range
5. long lead tracks at both ends of the yards
6. turntable and roundhouse
7. since you are starting fresh, might as well wire it for all possible control systems (Legacy, DCS, conventional). In our case, we started with conventional, added TMCC and then Legacy, and now this year we are adding DCS.
8. multiple elevations with trains passing over each other often
9. mountains with trains going in and out of tunnels and across bridges
10. a unanimous desire to remember that it's a hobby and the main objective is to have fun

John

Some thoughts about a permanent display: I wonder if it would be a good idea to have a possibility of flexibility in the scenery, perhaps by season? If you want to have repeat visitors, maybe having at least a section of the display that is changeable might maintain interest. For example, have a house that is "haunted" for Halloween and has Santa on the roof at Christmas, and Easter eggs in the trees in the Spring.

Certainly changing the trains provides variety as well.

First and foremost would be a guy that can cook like Vinny!

I'm not sure its just for club layouts.  This is what I think a layout should have, club or otherwise, in the order I prioritized for mine.

1. A town with a nice variety of buildings, traffic, pedestrains
2. Some open country side with interesting terrain
3. At least one loop with 72" or larger curves
4. At least one long (the longest possible) straight section, entirely viewable from a single viewing point.
5. Water: a port, a lake, a river - more than one.

6. A nice train station(s0

7. A trainyard with control tower, coaling tower, etc.

8. A turntable

9. A large roundhouse

10. A big bridge

My layout is only big enough to get 1 - 6 and I had to forego 7 - 10, although I'm trying to squeeze a bridge (#10) in - it just won't be but about 34" long. 

Is Vinny a "free agent" for drafting this week?

Sam

I would consider suggestions from people that are actually club members.  Here are my ideas

1- Wire the layout to be able to run both commans systems  Club members will tend to lean to one manufacturer  Be prepared for everybody

2- If a permanent layout is involved look to lock into a long term lease or even buying your space.

3- Get a guy that can cook like Vinny

4- Try to get a contact in the media so your open houses and special events will be publicized ( Hopefully for free )

5- Make people want to come back  Try not to have members have the grupmy old man attitude that many clubs exhibit to the public.

6- AT least O72 curves but try to go as big as your space allows.  The bigger the better

7- Use a track plan that keeps people guessing where the trains went  The TMB club and NLOE club on Long Island both have great track plans that keep you looking.  I wish our club started from scratch instead of getting an existing layout.

8- Try not to use the same structures you would see everywhere else.  We worked with a custom model builder that makes the layout unique

9- Have something to keep kids occupied when the big kids are looking at the trains.

10- Did I mention get a guy that could cook like Vinny

The layout ideas are great but I assume that this club layout is NOT in someones home soooooo  Equipment will be coming and going off of the layout in between sessions.  Make sure you design in a safe and sane way to accomodate a few folks showing up and trying to get their stuff on the layout at the same time and not destroy the layout or their equipment at the same time.  Also where do their train boxes go during this process and where are they stored while running.  The layout will evolve as you run and you learn what the members like and don't like about the railroad but the loading and unloading may be an issue from day one.  Russ

-Yard tracks with switches to turn power on and off for setting up trains without disturbing other operations.

-Trolleys or street cars always seem to be popular (at least around here), especially with those who remember riding them when they were more common in the U.S.

-I always like seeing scenes, buildings or other things related to the town the layout is in. In my annual Christmas display at the Redford Theater, I try to work in touches of Detroit to the town, though the town itself isn't modeling Detroit.  The Glancy layout also has some buildings set up to look like former or current Detroit landmarks.

-Bridges are cool

-Because my Christmas display is in a pretty dark area when the regular house lights are on at the theater, I like using plenty of lights so the layout can light itself up.

-Small scenes or other things people can look for.  I have a bunch of Santa Clause figures that I distribute that people always like looking for.

-Change things occasionally.  We have several lighted billboards that we put advertisements for our upcoming movies in.  As movies are shown, we swap out signs for the next one.

-As stated, O-72 curves and up is always a nice thing (maybe a minimum of O-60).  Even at O-60, you can run just about anything on the layout, but O-72 would be even better.

-The Glancy layout has a Lionel Transfer Table on it which is always a crowd pleaser when we operate it.  I usually bring a couple smaller switcher type locomotives to demonstrate on it.

-If you're having kids visit (or ever plan to), push buttons around the fascia board to operate a few accessories are fun.  Even adults like pushing the buttons.

Good luck with the layout.

I'd echo what Lee suggests and add:

1. A farm with the quintessential dirt road.

2. A mine with an underground area veiwable by the public.

3. A waterfall to go with the water features.

4. A section with 2 or 3 mainlines running along side each other and going into a double or triple portal.

5. A camping scene with a smoking fire pit.

6. Snow capped mountain with a ski area.

Jerry

Wow - Thanks guys.  There are some excellent points presented here that I hadn't considered. Ben, I have been thinking about importing a cook up here from New Orleans however... 

Am sending this link out to our club this evening to give us some ideas for tomorrow's weekly meeting.

Our website is new

http://smokymountainmodelrailroaders.wordpress.com/

Sam

Have you thought about a small part of the layout where the kids might

be able to run a remote Thomas without interfering with anything else ?

Maybe a small oval at one end of the layout for the little people....

It would take a little more supervision but I'm sure the patrons would enjoy it.

We usually let let kids blow the whistle off the remote. If they could control

the engine look out....

I suggest you watch our live video feed Tues - Sun  11 am pacific time to 4 pm pacific time(5 pm on sat & sun) to see what the children do when they arrive.

Good luck Sam and Smoky Mountain Club.

In keeping with Ben's suggestion above regarding apppropriate structures; your mountains had:

paper mills, textile mills, jeanswear sewing plants, rayon plants, furniture factories, tobacco industry, first class liquor stills, a major rail Yard[Asheville], rapid white water rivers and tunnels, tight curves and % grades like no other area.

Keep de new Cajin cook sober.

Sam,

Consider if you want primarily an operating layout that mimics prototypical RR activity -- passing sidings, yards, turntable, point to point operation or if you want primarily a public display layout with loops allowing trains to go round and round. You may well settle on some combination to keep all of your members happy.

I enjoyed operating sessions where a dispatcher had us build trains in yards, send them out on the main line, put them in the hole on passing sidings, brought them into the yard, etc. I also enjoyed throwing switches to create loops that would allow the trains to circle the layout for hours. Some club members only liked one of these approaches. Fortunately, we were able to retrofit the layout to allow both.

Work out your track plan (incorporating space for the major scenic and operating features of the layout) first, because that will be most important in terms of how the layout operates.

The point mentioned above about being in compliance with local codes is very important. The club I was in prior to moving had the layout in place for 16 years when an inspection revealed that there was inadequate space between the layout and walls and that a partition behind the layout that formed a meeting room was a fire violation resulted in the inability to hold open houses and ultimately in the dismantling of the layout and a move to another facility.

Good luck in working out your plans.

I am glad I checked out this thread, lots of good ideas.

Only things I could think to add is to make sure the viewing access isn't pinched.  36" min aisle required for wheel chairs but that min width makes impossible for others to walk around/with someone in a wheel chair.

Also give some thought to what the edges of the layout will look like.  A small imprvement such as maybe painted paneling instead of curtains around the edge of the layout can make a huge difference in the overall aesthitic.  Once things get underway have some with no interest ( usually a significant other!!) come in stand by the entrance.  Get their opinion about the look of the room before they close enough to see your details.

Oh - my 7 year old loves to find hidden scenes such as mining areas below the layout where most adults don't even bend over to look at.

Here are some:

• Support for both command systems, plus conventional.
• Two "club" locomotives -- both switchers; one running TMCC; one running DCS.
• At least one "club" remote of each type.
• A collection of "club cars" -- rolling stock so that members don't have to haul a bunch of cars down to the club all the time. Our collection basically came from surpluses of members.
• A few club cabooses. We have a "caboose rule" requiring a caboose, FRED, flag or clearly identifiable car at the end of trains when multiple trains are running on a line. That way we know the last car of a train coming out of a tunnel is indeed the last car.
• No curve in a mainline less than 36" radius (O-72.) 48" radius (O-96) and above would be preferable. At least one or two very broad sweeping curves.
• 36" Aisles. We screwed up and narrowed one to extend a bench.
• Access hatches on wide bench work sections for maintenance.
• Multiple power supplies.
• A staging yard capable of supporting at least 8 trains of 15-20 feet.
• A workshop area
• A bathroom
• Separate power for accessories
• Kid-friendly viewing height.
• Operating accessories with control buttons on the fascia so kids can operate them. Doorbell buttons work great for this.
• Humorous scenes or something way out in left field.
• Stuff for visitors to find on the layout. We have a "scavenger hunt" list and we've had several teenaged visitors seriously get into it.

A lot of us have stuff we just never use.  While I hate to throw things out, I would gladly donate some items if wanted by a club.  You could post for some you are looking for.  Unused track is just one example.  Rolling stock is another.  Nice way to expand your world too.  Nothing like having a girl friend in every town. 

I'm just getting started with my layout, but both my 6 year old and I have stayed interested because of the way the NJ Hirailers run their shows.  Yes, the trains and scenery are fun, but there are plenty of fun, outgoing, and patient people there.  My son can run trains on the smaller layouts, and once was allowed to run a train on the main layout, which he promptly shut down with the emergency button.  Everyone laughed and moved on, for which I am forever grateful.  I expect mistakes and accidents on our own layout and refuse to get angry over a hobby, so their attitude was wonderful.  I have asked many questions there which have been answered, and the food is pretty good.  We go to several shows every year.

 I guess my point is that after you get all of the nuts and bolts in place make sure you still like each other because it shows.

Most everything has been covered, but I'd like to add a layout door greeter on the outside of the display. If just for safety and someone to answer any and all questions about the club (a go to person) which in turn let's other members enjoy running the trains for the folks.  Hope that help's Sam.

Originally posted by AGHR Matt:

A few club cabooses. We have a "caboose rule" requiring a caboose, FRED, flag or clearly identifiable car at the end of trains when multiple trains are running on a line. That way we know the last car of a train coming out of a tunnel is indeed the last car.

From a member of my 2-rail club:

River City 3 Railers is a 501c3 and would be more than interested in your donations. My email address is in my profile. Please feel free to contact me off line and we can discuss this further.

Tom Gilsdorf

http://www.rivercity3railers.org/

I know from personal experiance that a Drive-In Movie using a "personal" DVD player and showing the Our Gang "Railroadin' " movie is a BIG hit with the people viewing a layout. Done well, it takes up most of the space on a 4x6 module. Unfortunatly, I've seen some that look like a quick after-thought.

Interesting.  It may be a bit more important to review the basic club organization/individual responsibilities first.  After establishing basic objectives both for the club and each individual, then move on to nuts and bolts. Personalities and meshing them may be more of a club issue than actually building a working layout. IMO.  A very good club should be able to deal with multiple talent levels and extremely different personalities.    There is a lot to be gained, not just in a club, but in life, if everyone is able to get-along, and work well together. 

Number one on my list.

Mike CT

Michael C. Thompson  

Ed Zachery!    Great summation Mike...