I was given permission to start fresh!


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psychobeagle12

Member
Seven years ago, we moved into a three-bedroom half-double house. Thinking I would have people over to stay, I put myself in the basement for trains. Well, life happened and not many people stayed over, so now I have been given permission to convert a bedroom! This is a rental property so no major mods to the room, but I am thinking about a standalone-type modular frame, probably around the walls. My room is shaped as such:

layout.jpg

But I'm not even sure where to start! Obviously with a benchwork design, but what kind of design do you guys think favors this space the best? The lower-left lines are doors (30 inch) and the square in the upper right is a radiator. What I want for this layout:

Transition era of the Pennsylvania RR, mostly diesel but some steam (2-8-0s most likely, a few 0-6-0s I already have)
Run 3-4 locomotives with some switching, some freight
Occasional passenger trains with shorter equipment (older era PRR, probably 60' cars)
I prefer a single track main with several passing areas for multiple trains to run
I want at least four decent sized industries. They can be in the same general area as much as possible

Not sure what other details I may be leaving out. I was originally thinking folded waterwings with a reversing loop at each end, but am starting to think around the walls with a removable section near the entry doors for access to the center of the room. I want to start this one off right and have a solid plan going in, so any help would be great! I'll start planning tonight and hopefully come up with something, but input is seriously very appreciated. Thanks!
 
psychobeagle12 said:
! This is a rental property so no major mods to the room, but I am thinking about a standalone-type modular frame, probably around the walls. My room is shaped as such:


but am starting to think around the walls with a removable section near the entry doors for access to the center of the room. I want to start this one off right and have a solid plan going in, so any help would be great! I'll start planning tonight and hopefully come up with something, but input is seriously very appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

SINCE you are renting I think the around the walls with the lift out would be a great idea. I am finding out more and more that a great backdrop can really spruce up any railroad, and reduce the amount of landscaping necessary to make a really nice display, and with the around the wall you can get a lot of track plus have the walls to get the backdrop applied to. Even just painting them sky blue makes a nice background.
 
I have plenty of room in my basement and chose to build an around the wall layout with a drop down bridge to make entry a bit easier into the room. I built the layout in sections that could be removed using 1x4's. I do have hidden staging tracks that will allow for continuous running, but I don't do this very often. The layout was built mainly for switching and is a point to point layout. The hidden staging is used for storing outbound and inbound trains. I used an old cabinet makers trick to mount the sections onto the wall, but did have to screw into the wall studs.

Keep up posted on your progress. Glad that you can finally spread your wings.

Chet
 
Do you have pets or small kids? You could just remove the hinge pin with a hammer and nail and store the doors.

Also what is your minimum radius? I can only guess that 18"R would be fine for the era you are planning on modeling. Could have broader curves for the mainline if you want to have a passenger train look good. How tall are you, what is a comfortable reach for you? I'm 5'8" and 20" is what I am comfortable with as far as reaching into a layout that's chest height.

Almost forgot, what kind of track will you be using?
 
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psychobeagle12 said:
The lower-left lines are doors (30 inch)
Click to expand...
I presume one of those doors is to a closet? If so can you take the door off and use the closet as part of the layout? I helped a fellow with a layout once, where using the closet really changed the nature of the layout and opened all sorts of possibilities.

Transition era of the Pennsylvania RR, mostly diesel but some steam (2-8-0s most likely, a few 0-6-0s I already have)
Run 3-4 locomotives with some switching, some freight
Occasional passenger trains with shorter equipment (older era PRR, probably 60' cars)
I prefer a single track main with several passing areas for multiple trains to run
I want at least four decent sized industries. They can be in the same general area as much as possible
Click to expand...
That sounds like a very reasonable list of things. At least you won't be trying to cram too many "wants" into the space.

Also sounds like it might be a good candidate for a twice or thrice around the room type layout.

I would recommend researching some Pennsy branches or lesser main lines where they ran single track main line. Did they have any single track mains? Anyway, that might serve you up the appropriate industries on a silver platter.
 
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The door IS to a closet, but I think I will be preserving the closet for storage space. Closets are at a premium in my house so I can't take away the closet. I can take the door off the room, that wouldn't be an issue. There's nothing really big stored in the closet so as long as the door still opens about half way I'm probably good there. Twice or more around the room; I'm not sure how that would look. Actually, I'm terrible with any kind of planning that isn't a rectangle layout. I guess I just have problems thinking in that kind of space? I haven't had too much a chance to start looking. Been extremely busy since I posted, so it'll most likely be at least until tomorrow afternoon that I get to look at the new space again. As far as inspiration from Pennsy's prototype, I just like the look of their equipment lol. I don't mind freelancing a bit on this one, but I'll do some research. Yeah, I can probably accept 22" radius, but I really don't want to drop down below that, at least for any mains. I'll start looking tonight and go from there. Thanks all!
 
psychobeagle12 said:
The door IS to a closet, but I think I will be preserving the closet for storage space. Closets are at a premium in my house so I can't take away the closet. I can take the door off the room, that wouldn't be an issue. There's nothing really big stored in the closet so as long as the door still opens about half way I'm probably good there. Twice or more around the room; I'm not sure how that would look. Actually, I'm terrible with any kind of planning that isn't a rectangle layout. I guess I just have problems thinking in that kind of space? I haven't had too much a chance to start looking. Been extremely busy since I posted, so it'll most likely be at least until tomorrow afternoon that I get to look at the new space again. As far as inspiration from Pennsy's prototype, I just like the look of their equipment lol. I don't mind freelancing a bit on this one, but I'll do some research. Yeah, I can probably accept 22" radius, but I really don't want to drop down below that, at least for any mains. I'll start looking tonight and go from there. Thanks all!
Click to expand...

"Visualize...and ATTACK!" LOL!
 
Ok, I think I'm stuck. If you guys can't see this let me know and I'll try to make it better. This is just what I started toying with today at work. I feel that I am not using the space to it's full potential. I think I am trying to plan a bigger layout than I actually have here. Any opinions on it thus far, or ideas what to do next / what to change?

Scan.jpg

Actually I'm not even 100% sure if this is feasible since I did this in pencil at work. The turnouts I'm sure are incorrect so sizing may be an issue here. The lighter blue lines are benchwork, and the dark lines are track. I can do better once I'm home and have access to CAD.

Last edit I swear. I would really prefer not to have to do switching on the main! But I seemingly can't eliminate it from the plan if I want to put in industries along the edges of the walls. Not sure what to do because I want some of EVERYTHING! Sweeping mainline curves, space for industries, no switching on the main. Man I just can't compromise.

Ok I lied (see my previous lie above regarding editing this post.) This is the last one though, you can trust me! I noticed a question earlier that I felt I should answer. I will be using code 83 flex track, most likely with Atlas custom-line turnouts. I would like to use #6 minimum on the mains and #4s where needed.
 
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Well no edit this time, but the plan is on ice. I showed it to her and was promptly told I only had permission for a small switching layout, one or two walls. That's not what I want to do so it's a no-go anyway. Back to the basement I go...
 
Ok, question. If I take a 6ft x 8ft section of this room from the lower right hand corner, what kind of layout could I look at on ~1ft wide modules there? Maybe I shall explore that option...
 
psychobeagle12 said:
Well no edit this time, but the plan is on ice. I showed it to her and was promptly told I only had permission for a small switching layout, one or two walls. That's not what I want to do so it's a no-go anyway. Back to the basement I go...
Click to expand...


How much cubic do you have to work with in the basement?
 
The problem in the basement is too much other stuff in the way. Gas meter, washing machine, shelving, etc. Plus it's an unfinished basement so there's that. But I probably do have more footage down there. Maybe I'll take that plan and put it down there. I shall explore my options.
 
Ok, so in the basement my current layout takes up basically a 10ft x 10ft space (It's L-shaped sorta.):

Old layout shape.jpg
Sorry, this is a picture from an old thread. So I am thinking if I redraw the other plans to 10ft x 8ft I will still be taking up less room (kinda...) but still have more trains and running area. I'll have to measure tonight. I can't have all the space that is in the upper left corner because the stairway comes down there kinda close and there is shelving on the left hand side (it's actually kinda being blocked by the current layout, so what I may have to do is trim the dimensions to 8x8.) The other option is a smaller table in the spare room, 8ft x 6ft, with a 3ft x 5ft area in the center for me to operate from. I'll post up that idea here in a bit. When I get a chance to measure tonight I'll let you know what I come up with. The problem I forsee in the basement is the location of the fuse box and the stairs. There may just not be enough area there for this.
 
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Not sure if the image I want to post here is allowed. Actually not sure if this link is allowed, but I'm going to put it in anyway:

http://www.layoutvision.com/id56.html

I want to do the 10x8 on the left, modified for my era and desires a bit of course. I think that this kind of layout will maximize my basement space. What I have now just... doesn't do it for me! Sorry if the link is not allowed, just let me know. I'm going to put it in Xtrackcad tonight and start modifying it to my needs, then I'll post it and see what you guys think.
 
psychobeagle12 said:
Not sure if the image I want to post here is allowed. Actually not sure if this link is allowed, but I'm going to put it in anyway:

http://www.layoutvision.com/id56.html

I want to do the 10x8 on the left, modified for my era and desires a bit of course. I think that this kind of layout will maximize my basement space. What I have now just... doesn't do it for me! Sorry if the link is not allowed, just let me know. I'm going to put it in Xtrackcad tonight and start modifying it to my needs, then I'll post it and see what you guys think.
Click to expand...

Saw it no problem, interesting choice!
 
Glad to know the link works. My main concern was a copyright issue lol. Yeah, there are several 8x8 and 8x10s on that site that will fit in my space and provide a more interesting railroad than I have now. I'm just trying to decide which I want, and trying to get a few minutes to plug it into the planning software. I seem to be really busy the last couple days trying to get my carbs fixed on my CL450. But I need it to ride to school so it'll probably be a bit 'till I get a chance to think about trains more than to answer a few posts :(
 
Any of the plans in the Kalmbach books are there for all to enjoy and put to use or modify to suit. That's why they do them. :)
 
That's excellent, because that's the one I want to do. Not even sure I'm going to change it too much, just shorten the interchange track since it'll get in the way of my stairs. I'm planning to do a few industries. The coal mine near the top of the grade, a fuel dealer, possibly a lumber yard, and I really want to do an old style blast furnace (we have some cool examples of old blast furnaces in my area.) Which will mean ore cars, coal cars, box cars, and small locomotives. Still gonna stick with PRR, or maybe model my own short line with interchange w/ PRR. Are there any obvious modifications I should make to fulfill my plans? I want to move the lower left industry to the left more and eliminate the access area since I will have access to the three sides in my space. For that matter, I don't need to have either access area, so I will likely use them for scenery. One other thing I for sure want to have is a trout stream! Sounds stupid, but water is my favorite thing ever and especially trout streams. I'll modify the plan a bit right now and post it if I can.
 
psychobeagle12 said:
That's excellent, because that's the one I want to do. Not even sure I'm going to change it too much, just shorten the interchange track since it'll get in the way of my stairs. I'm planning to do a few industries. The coal mine near the top of the grade, a fuel dealer, possibly a lumber yard, and I really want to do an old style blast furnace (we have some cool examples of old blast furnaces in my area.) Which will mean ore cars, coal cars, box cars, and small locomotives. Still gonna stick with PRR, or maybe model my own short line with interchange w/ PRR. Are there any obvious modifications I should make to fulfill my plans? I want to move the lower left industry to the left more and eliminate the access area since I will have access to the three sides in my space. For that matter, I don't need to have either access area, so I will likely use them for scenery. One other thing I for sure want to have is a trout stream! Sounds stupid, but water is my favorite thing ever and especially trout streams. I'll modify the plan a bit right now and post it if I can.
Click to expand...

Don't apologize for a Trout Stream! (pretty cool actually!) I'm turning about 3-4 feet of my layout into a "SWAMP"! LOL!
 
Funny you should mention a trout stream, there was a local fly fishing program on TV the other morning where the Aussie presenter had gone to Montana (which of course is what peaked my interest) to sample the fishing with a local guide. High up in the mountains in a lushly grassed valley. Beautiful spot.
 
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