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Thanks for the feedback guys. The third plan is appealing, what holds me back is that it's a lot harder to built sectionally as the other plans, and I wonder about how tight that entryway would be. But it does eliminate the duckunder.
I feel like I'm not finding all the possible scenarios for this room, I lack "vision" when it comes to layout planning.
UP2CSX, I'm not quite following what you're describing for plan two. If I had two 4 foot square blobs side by side that would only give about a foot-foot and a half aisle, right? Unless you mean to stagger the blobs, resulting in something that looks similar to plan 3? Sorry for being dense, again this is not my forte...
GMTrainNut,
I don't have a scale drawing of my track plan but if you follow the pictures in the build thread it's simple to figure out. If your drawing of your room is to scale it is larger than my space.
Forget the track, and it's not to scale, but this gives you the general idea. You bring the blobs out into the room at both ends and leave a two foot aisle space. A 4x4 space gives enough room for 22' radius curves that will fold back towards the rest of the layout. You get a longer mainline run, more scenic possibilities, and no duckunder.
UP2CSX, thanks for taking the time to respond and sketch out your thoughts! I had thought of something along the lines of what you're proposing, but when scaled it doesn't work out...the grid on my plans are 12', so 4' square blobs would look like the first image below. Cutting them down to 3x4, or widening the layout a bit, still seem to make for a tough entryway. This is what's been driving me to the duckunder...but I really like the idea of the folded dogbone.
What if you move one blob to the right and other to the left? I'm thinking that if the end of the benchwork is rounded to match the track profile you could have a 24" gap to enter the layout.
I see your problem now. No matter how you move the layout, you are going to lose access to at least one side and that's going to be a real problem in terms of reach. The first drawing would work if you had one more foot in the room but you can't squeeze through 6 inches. You could try moving the loops so they are as close as possible to the far edges and gain about 8 more inches of space but that's still a tight squeeze. I think some kind of duckunder or lift out is the only answer.
I have to leave the door up to keep the cats out. I experimented once with cats and a layout, didn't go so well...
Since I also need to put a small worktable in this room I'm essentially looking at using everything to the left of the door as layout space, an area roughly 9.5 x 10. If there was a section of the layout deep enough (2 ft) I could have the worktable under that section and can expand into the upper right corner.
It sure does seem that building something like the HOG with a duckunder is the best option for me. If the duckunder section is narrow enough it won't be too bad, the layout will be fairly high.
Ah... cats. I finally have ours trained to stay out when the door is open, took forever!
So what if you just swing the door to the outside, that would be a simple fix and might help with the layout? With a little modification you could do a swing out or a lift out. A little easier than having to duck.
BTW... did you ever figure out the name of that hex shaped layout... it's driving me crazy. Thanx!
Ha, I married a cat lover, it's okay but I do have to keep the trains isolated. I suppose I could rehang the door to swing out, wouldn't be the worse thing in the world...
And that hex shaped layout...no, not if it's N scale. There was an HO layout built by Lionel Strang, Pacific Northwest based featuring logging operations. Forget the name, it was something like Northwest Timber??
Oh, believe me, I've viewed ALL the layout plans in the MR database, as well as many others. I'm just not finding anything that's zinging me. So I know I have to come up with my own plan, but I'm just a lousy track/layout planner!
Welllll... maybe you need to make a decision on a donut versus a folded dog to start. Then you can lay down a temporary mainline without a "final" plan so you can at least run a train. Just one approach...
I had to tear down my up-to-then pride and joy of a large E-shaped HO layout built of L-girders and Homosote for a move several years ago. Very little survived the move even though I really thought I could salvage a good bit of it.
That convinced me to always build something that's movable...
The blob sections against the wall are going to be a real problem, since you have at least a 4' reach to the back. If you can move it forward even one foot, it will give a skinny aisleway to reach the back and make your life a lot easier. I like the general track plan though.
Thanks again for the feedback. I definitely want this to me movable, with the turmoil in my career right now I can't be certain how long we will remain in this house.
Good point about the 4' reach, I could pull everything in a little to provide access.
I don't know, I'm not so sure about the dogbone now. The blobs are a scenic challenge and restrict the radius. And the center sections don't provide too many areas for switching. I have no delusions of a yard and engine facility on this layout, but I would love at least 3 or 4 industries and an interchange.
Which may be entirely possible here, again my lack of vision is holding me back.
I thought about putting a twist in the dogbone to make things more interesting by having a grade, but that does complicate having the layout movable, I would imagine having layout sections separated at grade is not a good idea. Maybe not, I'm just thinking out loud here.
But I have to remember that the goal is to be able to run trains, something I haven't been able to do for quite some time. I could think about this until I'm blue in the face, and the trains will still be sitting in their boxes.
Build 3 or 4 modules to start - 1 or 2 straight sections and 2 blobs. Keep the blobs unscenicked for now. Concentrate on the straight module(s) - mainline or a small yard or an industry or a passing siding. Connect the blobs to the ends of the straight modules and run your trains while you think about your design some more.
If you decide to go dogbone, finish the blobs - add track, scenery, etc. If not, toss the blobs - they're only an semicircle of track at this point, right? Or convert them to corner modules.
It'll take a bit of planning, but you'd have your trains running and you'd have an area to concentrate your efforts (the straight module(s)) while you think. This is a big reason why I like a modular approach - flexible, controlled investment in any one module, etc.
There was an article back in MR where they had the blobs hidden / separated by viewblocks from a long center module. The center module acted like a theater stage and trains would pass through the visible stage to give you a railfan's perspective.
Beachbum has some excellent ideas. My layout is similar to your second section but with only 25" wide straight sections. You can actually do a lot with the space you have. I have an inside passing track on one loop, a four track yard and engine house in the middle of the second loop, and three industries, a feed mill, a paint factory, and a lock factory. The last two are served by a street running track that goes though downtown on the straight section. The combination of the downtown buildings and a small range of hills behind town, alll the way to the feed mill on the other end of the straight section, serves as an effective view block and conceals the fact that the two return tracks are so close together. Beside the yard, I built another range of hills and the track runs though a deep cut and then across a small creek. The train disappearing into the cut adds the illusion of a grade change and blocks the view of the train until it gets back to the straight section. Since you have so much more space than I have, I think you could come up with even more ideas and way more operations.
You could try moving the loops so they are as close as possible to the far edges and gain about 8 more inches of space but that's still a tight squeeze. I think some kind of duckunder or lift out is the only answer. 
