Looking for some layout ideas.

[stang_crazy]

So ive been in my new house for about a month now & im ready to build a layout finally.

the room I have is 15x15.


Im thinking of just doing an L shaped layout that roughly 6ft long both ways. but will give or take if needed.

Im looking for something that i can let trains run on but also just do some switching ect... Not looking to replicate anything just want to have some fun with it.

So if anyone knows of any decent layouts that would be expandable even that be great, or if ya got some ideas to throw out there by all means go ahead.


thanks Mike

 

[lmackattack]

Ho or N scale? a 12' L shape is small not much larger than a 4x8 plywood. you cant fit much of N or HO in that space... If anything I would use both walls and the full length of each wall. If you dont want to use the whole room make a shelf type layout thats about 2'-3' feet deep this way you have a decent mainline and plenty of room for switching. in HO scale figure you will need at least 4' at the ends to get the track to do a full 180. N scale you will need about 3' for a 180. Also the radius of your track will limit you to what engines and cars you can run.18"radius is very tight 22" is a minimum for most small HO modelers. 30" is considered very good and some will even go beyond that. Keep your grades below 3% if you want to pull more than 10-13 freight cars. There are a few people here with layout ideas . im sure they will pop in with ideas

trent

 

[Rico]

First thing that comes to mind (after my AM coffee) is a yard going out to a loop and back, or maybe to a 2nd level above the yard.
As Trent sez, go for the max run. You could start with a small yard module with some industries to switch, then go from there.
My layout is based on getting a train from the city up to a papermill and back. Make sure you have industries that swap cars to keep it interesting.

 

[stang_crazy]

my bad this would be Ho scale.

 

[lmackattack]

HO scale. thats what I runalso and I have aprox the same size room you have. mine is a bench layout about 3' deep 22" radius with number 6 manual throw switches I have a single track mainline that has 2 sidings for passing. a 2 track yard, a reverse loop, and 4 spur tracks for industrys. A train running a scale 30 mph takes about 1-1/2-2 mins to get around the layout. I normaly let 1 train do loops as i move a 2nd train down to the industrys. this gives me little time to get the 2nd train out of the yard on the main and into one of thea siding before the 1st train is comming thru again. about 1/8 of my layout is hidded with the mainline track dissapearing into a wall and then coming back out on an upper level. I desined the layout around 3 diffrent ideas i had with the space needed. Just remember that to have fun with a train set you need some action... sidings,industry, grades etc... all add to fun. and remember ...Good track work is the key!!!

 

[Selector]

Forgive my blunt message here....but what would be the purpose of your layout's railroad?

When building a railroad, keeping to the logic and purpose of the real thing as closely as practicable is the best way to go about designing a layout. You should read Chip Englemann's (Spacemouse) design basics under his signature if you can find a post of his. Also, someone who has a big head of steam towards the hobby should have, or have read, John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation. In that book he points out that there must be a balance between fancy, gotta haves, would like to have, and what the real thing does in order to earn a buck.

You need a vision. You must derive from that vision a list of givens and druthers. Then, you go about figuring out how to get the givens into the space you have, plus its confines (its shape is very important!), and see if you can't also manage to shoehorn into it all a good bit of your list of druthers.

The givens are what must be in place...your acceptance of what is obviously essential to have a "working", or workable, track plan. The druthers are the like-to-haves, some of which you will have to give up on, and others will actually find a spot on your layout.

My main message to you is this...without some complexity and realism, your design will only be an experiment, perhaps a costly one, and a frustrating one. You will tire of it quickly and find yourself watching it collect dust, guilty for not playing with it, but loath to play with it. Or, you'll soon enough find that you have to tear it down and start all over again. There's nothing inherently wrong with starting over...except when the reason was entirely avoidable in the first place. We all build two, four, seven layouts over a lifetime in the hobby, but they should be because of a new direction and interest, not because of a realization of catastrophic errors.

-Crandell

 

[stang_crazy]

thanks for all your input guys.

I have the room i can make it longer on each end. But like i said looking for something that has roundy rounds (ect) & switching areas, a yard, industry setting (like a scrap yard) stuff like that. I guess i just wanted to see some layouts to help get a vision of what im really wanting, since im not a 100% sure right now.

I do know i want to have a more modern railraod, with like i said a staging yard, a scrap metal area, a small town/city for starters. I know i want to start from that and make it so its expandable at any point & time.

 

[SpaceMouse]

IF you go to my site and click on the contests, you will find quite a few layouts designs--some better than others. However, it sounds from your last post that you "only want" thinking that you have mentioned something easy, when in fact to make that work will take some work in designing.

First take a look at my Beginner's Guide and get the lay of the land so to speak. The vision that you have for your railroad will determine a lot of the limitations you have during your design.

 

[PELindy]

You may want to consider modifying something from a layout plan book. I took an Atlas trackplan (15" X 10', shown in black) and widened it to 24", adding on two 5' X 4' "dogbone" ends to accomodate a mainline loop with a passing track (my changes shown in red - roughly )

It wouldn't fit in your space, but may give you an idea of how you can take something already planned out that you think would be interesting, and add to it to better suit your space.

 

[lmackattack]

here are a few shots of the south end of my layout during final construction last year. track is the same but new landscaping was done. I have more pics at home and will get those for you later tonight... The tracks up near the window is the yard aera and reverse loop lead. these are about 2" raised from the lower level. As the tracks leave the other end of the yard (north) they climb abother 1-2" to get over the lower mainline,it loops around and drops back to the lowerlevel and heads to the pics you see.

 

[joem5127]

My layout is built in a space about the size of yours. It will give you an idea of what you can do on a shelf in that room. Follow the link in my sig.