Nice to meet you guys.


C

clayguthrie

Member
My name is Clay and i am new here. I've been a train fanatic since i was little, though i don't really have any ties to it ( in fact the closest tracks to me are a half hour away - i live in southeast Missouri ).

I've finally decided to take the plunge and build a model railroad, but i'm still gathering details as to what i want. Here is my initial thought.. I have a home office that is about 12' x 18'. My plan is to build an n scale double track on a 8" wide shelf that goes around my entire office. It would be about 7'3" off of the floor ( to clear door, window ). The shelf combined with n scale will give me plenty of scale miles to build on. I plan to model several small towns from around the area at various points on the wall, plus add a tunnel, trussel bridge in corner and a 4 wide yard for parking spare rolling stock and such. The theme will be Missouri Pacific/UP in the Missouri bootheel.

Can anyone see reason this would not work on a shelf like this? Or have any suggestions? I realize i will have to get creative for the corners of the room to make the arc big enough, but I'm not a big fan of watching the train run in small circles all day.

Thanks in advance and once again nice to meet you guys.
 
Hello, and welcome. There is nothing inherently 'wrong' with what you are contemplating, but some of us have found through trial and a few zingers that a model railroad layout must be two things to succeed: buildable and operable. With the height you mention, although it will solve your ingress/egress problems to the room, building it will be demanding, and later on, appreciating it will be about 18" above useful eye level.

I do endorse having layouts somewhat higher than most people build 'em. Having them run above door jambs is a bit of a stretch unless you happen to be well above 6' in height. Not only is it hard to see to enjoy, even after you go to the trouble of crafting such an arrangement, but later on you will experience the typical glitches and errors, such as derailments, that will require you to hoist and move a step ladder so that you can get up there and fix whatever has gone wrong. Not only that, but you will have a major challenge to make what one readily sees, the nether parts with wiring and levers, aesthetically pleasing. In fact, good luck with that.

Sorry to be so contrary, but I hope my message is clear.
 
Thanks Selector, it just so happens i am 6'2", but i do see your point. I'm going to a show in St. Louis Saturday, so hopefully I'll see a standard layout that i like. Thanks again and message is definitely loud and clear.
 
clayguthrie said:
Thanks Selector, it just so happens i am 6'2", but i do see your point. I'm going to a show in St. Louis Saturday, so hopefully I'll see a standard layout that i like. Thanks again and message is definitely loud and clear.
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There is NO SUCH THING as a "standard layout". There ARE a few {very few} "ready-made kit layouts" you can buy to build on a table. 4x8.

I too, contemplated building an HO layout around the top of the LR to enjoy trains in there all year round like we do under the Christamas tree from Thanks Giving to Orthodox Christmas Jan 7th. I nixed the idea on cost alone for the project. I had planned to build it with Plexiglass "shelves" about 6 inches wide and so that the shelves were see-throughable so one could see the trains from below. It would have been a nightare should a train derail, become uncoupled or haveing a switch {turnout} go bad up there and needing a ladder to reach it {im only 5'6" but that doens't matter if you need to get up there to see what has happened or trouble shoot}. Then there was the matter of wiring and the shear amount of it I would need to run along the wall to hide it and feed the tracks with power and switches for siding or "yard" { a spur}as needed...and the controller...unless remote radio controlled, and even then, where would I put THAT? And the amount of track required {even using 3 foot flex track} was staggering when I figured what I wanted to do, and the fact that one MAY NOT SEE IT AT ALL FROM BELOW!!!! All this for a 13.6 foot by 15.6 foot LR!! I can't imagine doing it with N scale!

{I will grant you ANY "around the room layout" will still have the costs associated with it...but for a layout one MIGHT NOT EVEN SEE FROM BELOW is rediculous to me!!! :D}

Oh, I ended up building a 3.5 foot by 5.1 foot Ho scale layout in a spare room...the only space I could afford in our trailer.

Good luck at the train show and welome to the hobby!!!
:)
 
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Hello Clay and welcome to the forum, glad to have you join in.

One of the biggest things to enjoying a layout is easy or at least half-way easy
accessibility to most all parts of the layout most all the time and the reason most guys sooner or later wind up going to an around the wall layout. Also it seems most tend to build their layouts about waist height for easy reach over.

I have seen some layouts that are built at about eye level which is great for viewing or doing any needed wiring under it but to do any scenery work or general maintenance above would not be accomplished as easily as thought with any buildings and scenery installed. A lower layout viewed from a sitting position can be every bit as enjoyable and a lot easier to reach everything but that creates a problem when trying to run it around the office above everything else. One way would be to have a layout that could be stored above door height and hooked together when lowered might be a modular shelf type layout? Or even an actual around the wall shelf that could be lowered or raised as desired. Just food for thought.

Even though your 6' 2" you would still need a step stool to climb up on to avoid knocking things over farther back from near the front edge when attempting to reach something farther back if your layout is above door height.

I would seriously re-think things so you could build an around the wall or similiar layout that is about waist height or maybe chest height at most unless it's not going to be very deep but most layouts are at least 18" to allow for scenery, yards, towns and various industries. Easy reach over in corners can get to be challenging even then especially if built very high.

Also unless all your friends or visitors are as tall as you they won't be able to enjoy the work you've put into your layout except in pictures.

Hth,

David
 
welcome to the site Clay! It sounds like you have a pretty good plan thought out so far, glad to hear that you will be running some Union Pacific trains :)
 
Thanks guys. I went to the show Saturday and got some really good ideas. N scale is much smaller than i realized. That means i should be able to build one on a 36" x 80" door or if i have room, a 4' x 8' plywood sheet.
 
Welcome to this forum Clay!

I certainly see your dilemma. It goes without saying though, and is something I will always abide by when model railroading. The majority of your layout, including the trains, scenery, tracks, accessories, etc, should, first and foremost, be relatively easy for you to get to.

This is a truly consuming hobby and many of us are perfectionists to some degree. Therefore, when someone who is really into this hobby undertakes the complex but, yet, enjoyable task of building a full layout, we usually tend to continually change things along the way, even after we have finished and are satisfied with the end result.

If you could find some way to create your layout that is say, no higher than five feet and gives you relatively easy accessibility to most components of it, you would likely have the best option.

It would be interesting to hear what nuggets you got from the show.

Mark[FONT=&quot]

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Please feel free to visit my website: http://www.trainsoscaledepot.com
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Here's my two cents. Build it a height you can reach the back while standing on the floor. For windows and doors make removable sections.
Greg
 
a tip

Here's my two cents. Build it a height you can reach the back while standing on the floor. For windows and doors make removable sections.
Greg
 
Being new to all of this, i never realized just how small n scale was. That's the big thing i learned lol. I could use ho scale but in order to have room for any buildings it would have to be 10-12" wide which would be gawky I'm afraid.

I finally found the youtube video below with an n scale on a shelf at that height, but my shelf would be deeper and would have buildings behind it. If the track is to the forefront where it can be seen from below, then I'm happy. I don't have to see every detail of it from the floor. It's mostly for the decoration of it. However, to get a better idea i have purchased a n scale freight car to test visibility with from a similar shelf at equivalent height.

As i said above though, I'm not overly concerned with seeing every little detail from below. But i would like to feel like the train is "going somewhere" and it not pass the same scenery every 30 seconds or be able to see the rear car from the cab.

And after some measuring, a 4x8 plywood sheet would not fit well in my office due to my desk and such. My only floor option would be a 36x80 hollow door layout. I guess i can make some more decisions once my n scale freight car arrives and i can see it in position.

I'll update when i have more. Also thanks for your input i really do appreciate it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0XlHo8bLqs
 
So my mind is made. I'm going to build a 30x96 table layout. N scale of course. I think that will give me enough room to do what i want to do and not seem to small.

What do you guys think about that?
 
I think you will have fun building it and enjoy watching and operating it. And people will enjoy watching it as well. Do you happen to have a track plan in mind or are you still in the designing phase?
 
Thats about where I am at. Still designing mine, though its been difficult to come up with something. However one of the guys provided me a link to some layouts and I have chosen two that I like and leaves room for me to modify for the space I have available.
 
Is that site called like "Mike's Small Trackplans page"? If so i did see that.

I was thinking of using Atlas code 80 flex track, what is your thoughts on that?
 
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