How much fun can you have in a foot & a half? (HO Scale)


KB02

KB02

Well-Known Member
Looking at tearing down my layout and rebuilding. I have a 32' by 13' room to work with, but I have an 8x4' pool table I need to work around. I've been thinking that I wanted to go a Free-Mo style modular set up, but when looking at the Free-Mo standards, the space I have doesn't really fit. The Free-Mo standard is a 24" deep module; the maximum I could go is 18". Anyone see any reason an 18" deep module wouldn't work?

I want to incorporate some industries and switching, but I also like to set the trains running and just let them go, so turn arounds at both ends would be needed. I've been fiddling with SCARM and actually came up with one design that incorporates helixes at both ends to add a second level. 18x48" double level modules? Am I just getting too far ahead of myself? Making this too hard?
 
18" deep is not a drawback. And depending on how you set things up, it can be quite workable if you use one level to go one way to a helix, and use the second level to return to the other helix. Just don't line the track up parallel to the edge, but gently move it from front to back to make it more interesting. Some industries along the wall can be two dimensional backdrop industries, with some jutting out an inch or so for variety. Or sell the pool table and have a lot more room!!!
 
KB02 said:
... I've been fiddling with SCARM and actually came up with one design that incorporates helixes at both ends to add a second level. 18x48" double level modules? Am I just getting too far ahead of myself? Making this too hard?
Click to expand...
I'm afraid only you can answer that last question. What is 'too hard,' anyway? For you and for me are going to be two different things. You appear to have a burning desire to get trains running in your games room. It's not a bad idea, but the execution might trip you up if you fail to keep in mind certain must-have criteria. The more you compromise on an ideal, the less 'ideal' it becomes....right? So, start compiling a list of 'givens' (thanks, John Armstrong) and 'druthers'. What simply MUST BE in place for you to enjoy your efforts and running trains after you're calling it done? What else would be nice to have, but not critical for success? Add at least three of those to your list, but under the title of 'druthers'.

You could enjoy trains running, if that is important to you, on a simple 3" wide splined roadbed suspended with brackets at about shoulder height going all the way around the room. The corners would need to be brought out for a reasonable radius, say 24" so that you could run passenger trains and longer framed engines, but that is doable...who lives in a corner anyway, except maybe a floor lamp? Place strips of plexiglass on the outer edge of the splined roadbed, or plywood, to keep the trains from tumbling to their doom. Just high enough to catch them, not so high that reaching over to correct a derailment will require a foot stool.
 
KB02 said:
Looking at tearing down my layout and rebuilding. I have a 32' by 13' room to work with, but I have an 8x4' pool table I need to work around. I've been thinking that I wanted to go a Free-Mo style modular set up, but when looking at the Free-Mo standards, the space I have doesn't really fit. The Free-Mo standard is a 24" deep module; the maximum I could go is 18". Anyone see any reason an 18" deep module wouldn't work?

I want to incorporate some industries and switching, but I also like to set the trains running and just let them go, so turn arounds at both ends would be needed. I've been fiddling with SCARM and actually came up with one design that incorporates helixes at both ends to add a second level. 18x48" double level modules? Am I just getting too far ahead of myself? Making this too hard?
Click to expand...
I had a friend's layout that had the staging area on the bottom and two helix to get from and to it. Running a local one didn't notice so much because there were six switching locations where one spent most of the time. However running a through, was insane. On spent 7/8ths of the run in the helix. Take train out of staging hit the helix ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (5 minutes later) come out of helix maybe stop at 1 town to wait for another train. loop through rest (3 minutes) and hit the down helix ... ... ... ... ... ... (5 minutes later) put train back into staging. I hated it. Fortunately he put a couple windows in so one could look in and see the trains progress going round and round. The smaller the layout the more noticeable time in helix is.
 
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Attached is the concept I'm thinking about at the moment. I think I'm going to ditch the helix idea... for now... It was just getting too complicated. This is mostly just a doodle, but it gives you an idea of what I'm thinking about. The kind of unfinished tail that goes off over the bar leads to another part of my layout that will not be torn down. I like that bit. In the bit of an alcove beside the bar, though, there may be another turn around. I haven't decided on that yet (also where helix #2 would be if I went bi-level).

The pool table stays. It was a family gift, and a condition of my wife's (and quite frankly, I want to keep it too). I have looked everywhere in our house for another location and the only other option with enough room would be the middle of the living room which, for obvious reasons, wont work. I'll just have to work around it. (First World problems, right?)

A couple years ago we had a plumber come in to do some work in our basement and he gave me a small shelf layout that he had picked out of another customer's garbage bin. Turns out it was a Time Saver Puzzle shelf layout. That is only 16" in depth, so, by adding another 2 inches, I'm comfortable going with the space I have.
 

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A friends layout was only 12” deep with a loop at one end.
There was a yard at one end, loop at the other like you show, then a track that went up to a second level that was a spur to a cement plant. (only a few inches above)

A train running at low speed would traverse the line and loop itself back while you ran a local out.
It was great fun to operate on!
 
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