How high is your layout?


D

Dameon

Member
How high off the floor is your track?
How tall are you? (for comparison)
How easily can you reach things?

My rail height from the floor is 54" (4 and 1/2 feet).
I am 5'7".
I can't reach more than about 2' into the layout without use of a step stool, however I can reach all the track/switches. So basically I can't reach all the way to the back of the scenic ridge/ backdrop.

I just put the deck on the bench work for my new HO layout and I am concerned I might have made it a touch too high. As it is now, from my PoV you are nearly track side, or standing about eye level with the 2nd story windows of a building. I am really liking this because it puts the viewer right into the action. The roof of a large tall structure, like the New River Mine, can't be seen by someone (well, me) standing next to the layout.I've made the mistake too often in the past of having tables and layouts that were not tall enough, and you loom over them like some giant and IMHO that makes it just far to toy like.
 
My layout is double deck, and my bottom deck is 44" from the floor and the top deck is 59".

I am 6'1"

I can reach the back of both levels without any trouble and reach everything. my bottom deck varies from being 28" wide up to 32" wide and I can still reach the back of the top deck.

I could imagine though f my bottom deck was any higher, i would start to run into problems reaching the back of the top deck.
 
My track level is 61.5" I am 5ft 10in. I had to go this height to clear the shelf on my workbench and still use the small room. I like this view too. My sky is 16" with a valance. My smallest of buildings look huge there. I know mine is extra high but it's not a shelf at the ceiling. I think the details when building a scene will have to be looked at a whole new angle! Also protects it more.(cats n kid-critters)LOL
 
Last edited by a moderator:
My layout is at 50 inches high. I'm 6' 2" so I have no problems reaching my whole layout. Of course my layout is only 24 inches deep! It's just high enough to not feel like God looking down on my little world.
 
Track is 41" and bottom of frame is 37". Have built a couple 36" high cabinets on casters to tuck away under layout when not in use for scenery, wiring etc. The 10x16 room is an add-on with sidewalls of 6' and ceiling of 7'4". Typical layout depth is 24". On the dogbone loops there is a small walkway between loop and wall. I stand 6'2"
 
I'm 5'8" and my layout height is only 39 inches. Still, I can't reach the back of my four foot wide section without using a step stool. Reach problems are always the thing you discover after you build the layout. :)
 
Well I have been looking around the interwebs as well as reading your replies. Seams like I am really on the extremes of the spectrum of personal height (short) and layout height (mine seams pretty high except for those with multi-decks).

I'm going to keep it this high for now and see how it works out. Lucking the way I made my supports I can lift the layout off and set it down and then cut down the supports if I decided to make it shorter. So modifying the height is not a lot of fuss.
 
How high off the floor is your track? 53"
How tall are you? (for comparison) 5' 4"
How easily can you reach things? I can reach everything, but no part of the layout is deeper than 24".
 
I'm 5'9" and my layout is 42" with 12" between two upper levels, Total:~66" The top level is in one area only and I have a permanent platform to stand on when operating there. The reach is also a matter of arm length: On the 42" level I can reach about 28", but can only do work at about 24" without a stool. (I do have short arms...about an inch too short for most everything I do :D)
 
43 inches at the lowest elevation and 49 inches at the highest point. The basic shape is a folded dogbone with the 49" level in the center ( 0_0 ) of the two loops along a flat wall. This is also the narrowest part of the layout at 26 inches. I'm 5'8" and can reach to the back of the high point for routine things during operation but use a stool if I'm doing any actual track laying or other construction. I was also careful to keep tall buildings and tall trees out of the foreground for this area. The loops at either end are better than 80% accessible and what isn't within easy reach is or will soon be just scenery so that isn't much of a problem.
 
I'm 5'11" on my good days but only 2'6" on my bad days (when I'm crawling... ;-) )

Anyway I use adjustable shelf brackets so I can set the heights from 48" to 78", using a step stool if needed for operating. My shelf layouts are 18" deep and 30" deep. I usually put them on a coffee table or folding banquet table to work on them though.
 
Scenic Track Height 56" (1.4m)
Hidden Track (Sector Plate/Fiddle Yard) 42" (1.1m)
Baseboard Width 28" (70cm)
My Height 6' (183cm)

Ross McConchie
Canberra, Australia
 
I'm 5'8" and the rail tops are at 28". Remember that my layout is supposed to be for
my kids (3 and 5 years old :) This level will eventually just become a staging
area below the actual layout or will be scavenged for a larger, more mature layout.

-ik
 
What do you think about a suspended layout?

What do you think about a layout suspended from the ceiling with cables & pulleys? I'm planning my first layout and was thinking about this so I could adjust it as needed. Seems like there are different desired heights for different occasions, i.e. kids, maintenance, etc. The disadvantage would be the cables coming up through the scenery but do you think this would be worth it in the end?
 
Dameon said:
How high off the floor is your track?
How tall are you? (for comparison)
How easily can you reach things?

My rail height from the floor is 54" (4 and 1/2 feet).
I am 5'7".
I can't reach more than about 2' into the layout without use of a step stool, however I can reach all the track/switches. So basically I can't reach all the way to the back of the scenic ridge/ backdrop.

I just put the deck on the bench work for my new HO layout and I am concerned I might have made it a touch too high. As it is now, from my PoV you are nearly track side, or standing about eye level with the 2nd story windows of a building. I am really liking this because it puts the viewer right into the action. The roof of a large tall structure, like the New River Mine, can't be seen by someone (well, me) standing next to the layout.I've made the mistake too often in the past of having tables and layouts that were not tall enough, and you loom over them like some giant and IMHO that makes it just far to toy like.
Click to expand...

My layout is a narrow layout (9" to 1' wide and 26" deep in the corners), which makes it easy to reach anything. It is 57 and a half inches high off the floor and I'm almost 5'8" in height. I like this because I see my layout from as if I am viewing it from a scale 3 storey height. From standing a foot away from the layout, I can see the detail of undercarriage, which I really like seeing as the train rolls by. If I bend my knees and lower my head slightly I'm viewing my layout as if I'm siting on a scale sized porch watching the trains operate.
 
zoegraf said:
My layout is a narrow layout (9" to 1' wide and 26" deep in the corners), which makes it easy to reach anything. It is 57 and a half inches high off the floor and I'm almost 5'8" in height. I like this because I see my layout from as if I am viewing it from a scale 3 storey height. From standing a foot away from the layout, I can see the detail of undercarriage, which I really like seeing as the train rolls by. If I bend my knees and lower my head slightly I'm viewing my layout as if I'm siting on a scale sized porch watching the trains operate.
Click to expand...

And this is a corner of the layout, which is a lift up section in order to get out of the room. Pics taken at eye-view level.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top