4 X 8 Help!

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Railrunner130

Railrunner130

Well-Known Member
I had a layout in mind. However, in using the rediculously difficult RTS from Atlas I've discovered that what I want to do is too complex for a 4 X 8. It ended up being 6 X 8 with some awkward areas. I'm using HO scale.

What I'm looking for is-

1. A double loop which uses a bridge to go from inner to outer or vice versa without a switch to do so. This will allow trains to travel at long range before repeating.

2. A small, pull-through yard.

3. Several areas where I can hopefully, eventually, expand.

4. A few switches that would service industries.

5. I'd like to keep it contained at 4 X 8 for now.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
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That is a sweet little layout! It would adapt nicely in to a larger layout as well. So far my great failing in mine is to not incorporate multiple levels except for that hairy helix to nowhere!
 


Depending on the room available, you could go around the room on a shelf style thats anywhere from 18-30 inches deep so that way you have more room for scenery and tracks as well as have what you want.
 
I also am in the midst of planning my layout, I decided instead of going with a 4x8 sheet of plywood, to go with a shelf style with operations in the middle. That way I'm maximizing my space and turn radius. Very similar to what the 'Layout Vision' has designed on ratled's first link.
 
I'm considering eventually expanding into the shelf method. I have a huge basement, but it will be eventually finished. I have to figure out not only what we are going to do down there, but also where I can expand the railroad without interfering with other things going on. For example, I'd like to set up a library with built-in shelves. One of my ideas is to run it through the room on one of the shelves. Just a nice, long run. In the mean time, I want to stick with the 4 X 8 size. If it blossoms, great. If not, the 4 X 8 will be great by itself.
 
Railrunner130 said:
I had a layout in mind. However, in using the rediculously difficult RTS from Atlas I've discovered that what I want to do is too complex for a 4 X 8. It ended up being 6 X 8 with some awkward areas. I'm using HO scale.

What I'm looking for is-

1. A double loop which uses a bridge to go from inner to outer or vice versa without a switch to do so. This will allow trains to travel at long range before repeating.

2. A small, pull-through yard.

3. Several areas where I can hopefully, eventually, expand.

4. A few switches that would service industries.

5. I'd like to keep it contained at 4 X 8 for now.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

If you want a H0 scale layout with a continuous run loop on a rectangular table, and you have ample space in the room for walk around aisles on at least three sides of the layout, I would suggest a few changes:

1) Go 5x9 instead of 4x8. Larger radius allows you to run larger engines and larger cars.

2) Forget twice around. Instead, split your layout with a "view block" back board (straight or curved) splitting the layout into two scenes - to the right of the viewblock and to the left of the viewblock.

You now will have trains that come from somewhere else (presumably hundreds of miles away), do something at your location, and then either continue "onwards" or "head back towards where they came from", instead of looking at an amusement park ride where the train clearly runs in several loops before coming back to the same point.

3) Forget the double ended yard - yards ladders take a lot of place. Two yard ladders takes twice as much place. You only need one runaround track (not necessarily a part of the actual yard) and some single ended yard tracks to have a functional yard.

Smile,
Stein
 
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