"Creative" HO layout ideas for the space-constrained: Wall-mounted, outdoors, etc.?


I live in a house, but I'm fairly space constrained (living in Los Angeles, unfortunately, we don't have basements). Also, I have a number of other space-consuming hobbies: A full-blown music studio with a drum kit, three half-stack Marshall amps, a ton of keyboards, etc. I have a living room which is mostly now a converted photo studio. The garage is probably a no-go situation as well: It's used for photo and lighting equipment storage which is quite bulky. A pulley-based raised platform in the garage isn't totally out of the question, but I'm using quite a bit of the overhead space for additional equipment storage. So, I've been trying to think of more out-of-the-box ideas:

1. Since I plan to eventually build a dead-rail system, an outdoor layout isn't totally out of the question. Has anyone done this in HO dead-rail? Though, I imagine the weather-proofing required to protect delicate scenery (and any scenic lighting) would largely make an unprotected layout impractical.

2. I once went to a guy's house (a movie producer) who had a huge separate building, used as an office, in his rather spacious backyard. He ran an O-scale train around the walls, around the entire perimeter of the rather large space. No scenery, however. I've been half-thinking of an around-the-wall layout, but it would kind of ruin the aesthetics of the house's interior (it's mid-century modern--very sparse).

Any other ideas?
 
Now, I'm thinking of an elevated around-the-wall garage possibility, or some kind of protected outdoor shelter. Or, I may even do a short-line (non-looping) along a single interior wall of the house and try to be happy with that.
 
I suppose, sectioning-off a rectilinear portion of the garage may end up making the most sense. I'm thinking of a fairly rigid platform which could be elevated when not in-use. Perhaps a 4' x 16'-20' platform which could be hung from a pulley system. Or, a piano-hinged platform, which could simply be "closed" like a Murphy bed?
 
Well, I think I've now decided to go N-scale . . .

Yup. Moving to the big 'N'. I just discovered the Kato N-scale Unitram products (including Kato's Diotown scenery system), and it's right up my alley: Very urban and street-oriented, as well as being well-suited to making small layouts still interesting. I'm thinking of first building a Kato Unitram system using Kato Portram streetcars (which I think look really cool), then add a perimeter loop using Kato double-track pieces around the Unitram "city" using modern EMD/GE diesels, pulling N-scale freight-bearing rolling stock.

The "diorama" motif of modeling in a smaller scale will be satisfying even without the large, multi-dozen car consists of 31K crude-oil tankers I was first envisioning. Instead, the freight diesels will be pulling double-stack Maersk well-cars (another type of freight very common in urban areas). I do also want to model an Amtrak Superliner somehow around that layout. (I already have a Kato N-scale GE P42 Genesis and set of pre-lit Kato Superliner cars in my ModelTrainStuff shopping cart).

Edit: I also just found the Tomix line of track and scenery (e.g., an N-scale 7/11 building!), plus Tomix/Tomytec's very interesting Faller-like, coin-battery powered bus system (i.e., magnetic under-wire). Cool stuff.
 
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I had space issues at my house as well, but I wanted a fairly large layout. My solution was space sharing. My layout is built on top of 48" high Ikea shelving in two bedrooms. Its a nice height for viewing. Under the layout in one room is a full size bed as it is my guest room. Under the layout in the other room is where I have my desk. Two holes in the wall allow the two halves of the layout to be connected.
 
Thanks for your comments, Jim! An interesting solution. A similar approach may also be feasible in my house. We have fairly high ceilings (open-beam), so an interior "second-story" isn't out of the question. Thanks your ideas!
 
a piano-hinged platform, which could simply be "closed" like a Murphy bed?
That has been a space solution for many years. My first "permanent" layout from 1963, was a 4x6 that was hinge-hung over my bed. That was HO. When N-scale came out in 1969 I switched to a 2x8 that was over my bed, but it was not hinged. I just slept under it. Had that not been my parents house which I planned on leaving soon, I would have done an L layout affixed to the wall, with more narrow (much less than 24") portions over the bed.

Much later 1995, I built a layout that replaced the matrass on the top of a bunk size/full size type bunk-bed for my daughter.
 
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