Layout ideas & suggestions


W

woodcamp66213

Member
I have a 4' X 16' platform with no room for expansion. I originally planned to have about 4' X 6' utilizing an urban area with a train yard and the rest with a mountain and tunnel for HO trains. I currently have 1 train (Lionel Berkshire Passenger Set) with plans to purchase another loco and some fright cars of various styles. But I'm having trouble with coming up with a design and a layout plan. I'm experiencing imaginary issues o_O.

Since I'm new at this hobby I would appreciate suggestions & ideas from those of you with more experience.

I do have and am studying "Built Your First Layout" FWIW.

Thanks
Jim
 
woodcamp66213 said:
I have a 4' X 16' platform with no room for expansion. I originally planned to have about 4' X 6' utilizing an urban area with a train yard and the rest with a mountain and tunnel for HO trains. I currently have 1 train (Lionel Berkshire Passenger Set) with plans to purchase another loco and some fright cars of various styles. But I'm having trouble with coming up with a design and a layout plan. I'm experiencing imaginary issues o_O.

Since I'm new at this hobby I would appreciate suggestions & ideas from those of you with more experience.

I do have and am studying "Built Your First Layout" FWIW.

Thanks
Jim
Click to expand...
I would highly recommend Linn H. Westcott's 101 Track Plans For Model Railroaders, published by Kalmbach Books. It has plans from very small to very large, and has lists of suggested materials. While not a direct copy, my track plan is inspired by one of the plans in that book. Some other books I would recommend are: Small Railroads You Can Build by Bob Hayden, (Kalmbach Books), HO Railroad That Grows by Linn H. Westcott, (also Kalmbach Books) and Six HO Railroads You Can Build by John H Armstrong and Thaddeus Stepek, published by Atlas. (That's the same Atlas that makes track, locos and cars.)
 
woodcamp66213 said:
I have a 4' X 16' platform with no room for expansion. I originally planned to have about 4' X 6' utilizing an urban area with a train yard and the rest with a mountain and tunnel for HO trains. I currently have 1 train (Lionel Berkshire Passenger Set) with plans to purchase another loco and some fright cars of various styles. But I'm having trouble with coming up with a design and a layout plan. I'm experiencing imaginary issues .
Click to expand...
So, first, I presume you want the train to run continuously. To do that the largest curves you can have are 22" radius, but I presume you are good with the 18" that came with the Lionel set.

Then I presume you are wanting to run both trains, but do you want to just put them on the track and watch both run simultaneously , or do you want them to meet each other such that one stops while the other passes or overtakes the other? Second or, is the 2nd loco just for switching the yard while the first one runs out on the main track?

Can you get around the outside of the 4' x 16' space or is it up against a wall on 1 or 2 sides?

Of course, I always recommend a out and back type layout, as below. It has only 1 yard / station where the train originates. It does out and runs on the mainline for a certain amount of time and then returns to that same yard / station as a destination pretending it is a different place. Imagine stretching this out into a space twice as long.
RAT Lines.JPG

lg150-HO20_540x188.jpg
 
Last edited:
I can walk around my platform even though I plan to put up a backdrop. At times I would like to run 2 trains simultaneously at time and other times park 1 and run the other. Since I'm a new guy I'm sure it'll be a work in progress as it evolves.
Thanks, the sketches they'll be quite helpful.
Jim
 
woodcamp66213 said:
Thanks, the sketches they'll be quite helpful.
Click to expand...
If it isn't obvious the first is a standard 4' x 8' and about the smallest one can get away with a out-and-back type design. The second is an Atlas plan that is 4' x 12' and is what inspired my design of the first one.
woodcamp66213 said:
I plan to put up a backdrop.
Click to expand...
Considering that, makes me think of a "staging yard". Consider this design. It is n-scale on a 2'x8', basically a simple loop with a branch to a mine, but it houses multiple trains between the backdrop and mountains. So one can just have lots of parked trains and just hook the loco to the one you want to run at the moment. They don't distract from the illusion of a train running through scenery as they are hidden under the mountain. With 4'x16' space that could work well.
PINERIDG.jpg
 
Colbert said:
I think I found it:

MAGAZINE 5 COMPACT TRACK PLANS - Model Train Forum
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was going to say Jim Hediger was Model Railroader's executive editor for many years so it is probably from the pages of MR.

The problem with a loop-to-loop design and DC trains is the constant manual flipping of the track polarity switches just to run the train. Basically one ends up "running the track" rather than the train. DCC auto-reversers take care of that.
 
Last edited:
Colbert said:
There must be systems for DC loop too, I guess.
Click to expand...
None that I know of that are reliable. I've seen a few try it with infrared sensors, and others with flip-flop type latching relays. Or the kind that is a diode matrix which require the train to stop while in the reversing section (aka LGB brand) while the operator manually switches the direction switch.

But there is always something new out there, so if anyone knows of one please let us know.
 
Well considering N is pretty close to half HO in size you could get twice the scenery in theory, certainly much broader curves.
If you like to run longer trains through nice deep scenery then N would be the way to go.
It all comes down to what you prefer really and how much you have invested in HO?
You could even do an N scale layout and have a small HO switching layout to satisfy that craving.
 
woodcamp66213 said:
So it'll be worthwhile to sell the HO stuff and go with N? That is to say a 4' wide platform will allow me to do great things?
Click to expand...
That is hard to say. The good thing is that 4x16 is a pretty immense space for N. Much more track per square foot. I did that once and for that reason, but went back to HO when I realized that I could not get the detail in the equipment that I wanted with N.
 
Iron Horseman said:
That is hard to say. The good thing is that 4x16 is a pretty immense space for N. Much more track per square foot. I did that once and for that reason, but went back to HO when I realized that I could not get the detail in the equipment that I wanted with N.
Click to expand...
Right now I'm considering an oval with the HO and incorporate N gauge somehow in suburban and oral scenery. How hard is it to mesh HO scale with N scale buildings, etc.?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top