New Member, New to the Hobbie. Layout Opinions Needed.

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R

rcduck

New Member
Hello all my name is Randy, I'm from Connecticut and my son received a box of trains for Christmas and I am in charge of setting up a layout for him.My lovely wife told me to cut up a piece of plywood and stick it under his bed... I knew it wouldn't be that easy. So almost 1 month later I have cleared out a section of the basement and have a 6X8 L-shape layout.

Bottom line, I need suggestions and brutally honest opinions. Not my first forum and I know you guys/girls love to put in your 2-cents.

Tanks in advance

Randy Duck

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And here it is...
u7y8e7u6.jpg


Btw, this is version 1, 534, 963. I think... I might have lost count around 550, 000. :rolleyes:

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There are only so many ways to lay track down on a limited space. I would imagine there are about 200,000 households across the country with this exact same track plan.
I would go with whatever gets trains rolling and look further down the road for opportunities to expand.
One of the problems I see here is how are ya going to reach to the top right part of the layout, unless of course this is on a table that you can walk around.
 


D&J (sorry bout that) thanks for the reply. I can walk around the left front and right. As for the back... I can pull it away from the wall. Any other forseeable issues?

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Randy,

There are probably hundreds of trackplans for a 4x8 space. A couple of places to start are google, atlasrr dot com, and books at your 'local hobby shop.' There is a big 'sell and swap' meet (aka model railroad flea market and displays) at the Big E exposition center in West Springfield, MA, if you can travel there this weekend. Probably would give you lots of inspiration, and a few ideas, although it could be overload for your son, and might not too good of an idea in terms of your wife's 'get er done,' approach to things. One book thats a reference for many is 101 trackplans by Linn Wescott. Its been around for years. You can probably find several copies on 'the bay.' There's even a sequal to it, if you want more of the same, sort of. I'd say take a gander at some 4x8 plans, with any eye towards expanding it to your 6x8 dimensions.

FWIW, its often times best to start smaller, and expand as interests develop/wane, and you gain more experience, or ideas about what you're trying to model. Best of luck; welcome to the forums, and keep us posted. Photos and questions always welcome!
Otis
 
Thanks Otis,
That was my plan, I looked at hundreds/thousands of layouts I kind of mixed one of the Atlas layouts with the San Dimas I saw on modelrailroader.com.

I will be heading up to The Expo this weekend, cant wait. My father in-law is coming with me (the former-owner and gifter of the box-o-trains my son recieved for Christmas). That way I can escape from "daddy look, daddy look, daddy look..." and actually talk to people and learn:rolleyes:(shop:D) as much as possible.

Randy Duck
 
Otis,

Here is a pic of where I stand right now. Need to get some track this weekend the only curved pieces that I got in the box-o-trains were 15", ugh.

As for questions I have to many right now that would test the limits of the batteries in my keyboard :p .

OK, maybe one.

Is there any way to run DC trains on a DCC layout. The reason I ask is I would love to go DCC, who wouldn't. The problem is my father in-law (who lives with my wife and I) has some older locos that he has dug out, he also took my son to a model railroad show last weekend and picked up a few more. I was thinking with such a small layout to wire it for both with a switch to select DC / DCC. This way switched to DCC I could run my trains, and switched to DC he could run his. Thoughts?
 
Hi Randy, how old is your son? My three boys are now over twenty, but back when the oldest was six we did a train. I did the "Gum Stump and Snowshoe" from one of the layout books. Expanded it a bit to 14" x 96" in HO. Their attention span was good for about 45 minutes. But this gave them a lot of hands on, switching, uncoupling, just moving a couple box cars from the upper level to the lower or lower to upper. 45 minutes would be a complete switching cycle. They were constantly doing something, not just watching a train go around. They could touch every bit of the railroad, the cars and engines were small so they could easily hold them and put them on the tracks. All the boys built their own cars at age 6. When the railroad expanded to basement size, they would still just work with the GS&SS section only.
 
I like the design you are starting with.
A run around track will be a big improvement to your layout though and allow you to do some switching.

Steve
 
Tim, I have a 5 year old, he is the train nut, and a 14 year old. Both are good kids, They keep me busy, wish my teenager would spend more time with me but what teenager wants to hang out with dad. I don't think my little guy has 45 minutes in him yet, half hour is pushing his ability to focus. That actually works right now because of course he wants to "help". I am thinking about doing a staging area off to one side that he can reach all of then go up a small helix to the track... that way he can play in the yard while I work on the scenery. As far as building stuff I think we are a year out for that, but that will give me a year to learn how so I can teach him. Thanks for the ideas.

Steve, Thanks for the positive reinforcement. I would like a run around track, I am thinking on the left side after coming out of the tunnel (brown track) or on the right side, same thing(after the tunnel). Thoughts?

Thanks again guys

Randy Duck
 


Randy, down the street from the Big E, are the West Springfield yards of NS or CSX(used to be B&A/NYC/PC/Conrail). Don't know if its walking distance in January, with a 6 year old, but if 'Grandpop' is coming along, maybe he can do that with him, to give Dad a break. There are plenty of operating layouts at the show, for 'shock and awe.' FWIW, my first visit to this show was 3 years ago, and the breadth of what was on display, and/or for sale, was virtually beyond my comprehension, leaving me at 48 years old feeling overwhelmed. This time, I have some idea of what to expect. My 'visit strategy,' this time is to look for particular things, and companies who's products I'm interested in, and to try and not get caught up by the mob scene, or movement between buildings.
The photo of what you've got so far, looks promising. 15" radius for an HO layout is on the tighter end of the spectrum, which if you keep it, will work best with short cars, locomotives, and trains, both in general and as a group.
As for your question about the ability to run DC and DCC equipment on one layout, and how to wire it, my advice is as follows:
1) Yes it is possible, with some or all DCC systems. To some extent its o matter of whether to hook up the DC powerpack, or DCC powerstation and 'loconet,' to the track wires.
2)You might focus on trying to get your questions answered at the show, by someone with better knowledge/experience than me with this issue. I am currently building a layout myself, and am comtemplating going to DCC, for better or worse when I get to that stage of construction/progess. Remember, its a mob scene at the show.
3)might ask over in the 'Electronics/DC/DCC area of the forum, as there all ready may be some threat that has previously addressed this issue/desire, and or, can do so for you, if you post a new thread, there, or continue an older one.
Its late here, I'll probably be to Springfield toward the end of today, or Sunday. Its a 3 .5 hour drive for me each way.
Otis
 
rcduck said:
...

I was thinking with such a small layout to wire it for both with a switch to select DC / DCC. This way switched to DCC I could run my trains, and switched to DC he could run his. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

You are correct! Using a DPDT, (Double Pole Double Throw) switch would be the way to go. Wire the DC outputs from a power pack to one set of 2 terminals on the end of the switch, and wire the DCC outputs to the 2 terminals on the other end. The 2 terminals in the middle go to the layout. Be sure to label which is DC and DCC when the switch is mounted to the layout.
 
Carey, Thanks for the info, thats what I had in mind. Any one else do this? I'm assuming yes due to the mix of available locos out there.

Otis, We took a drive by the freight yard, took some good pictures for weathering reference. I can see what you mean by beyond comprehension, by 2PM I was glazed over and unable to focus :eek: , running around looking for 22" radius code 100 snap track and failing.:eek: .

Plan for next year is:
One day with son to look at layouts and get reference photos.
One day with father in-lay to get information. Seeing that its only an hour away makes that possible.

FWIW: I was able to limit my minimum radius to 18" and most of that is buried in tunnels, you know... where trains are most likely to derail. Planning on an access hole in the tunnel for maintenance and search and rescue :p.
 
Randy,

I'm pretty much in the same boat. My 11-year old son and I are trying to decide on a layout. I have a 6 X 12 workable space and just can't seem to nail down a track plan that I like. Can you tell me what software you used to come up with that track plan? I've been using "Anyrail" and I'm having difficulty with even setting up a siding and passing track! I'm sure it's my inexperience but I wanted to know if there were better options out there to create a track plan.

Thanks!
 
Y2k

The program is called rail modelier, very easy to use. Only 1 drawback... mac only. Can only use it at work.

Randy Duck
 
DCC with DC

I'm pretty new to model railroading, but I joined a local club and have learned a lot by just hanging around a club. It took me over a year to switch to DCC but once you do you will have wished you did it sooner. I use the Digitrax starter set, and it was just as easy to use and more fun to control multiple engines.

With digitrax you can run 1 DC engine at a time while other engines run DCC.

Once I switched to DCC it changed my whole layout because it allows you to do a lot more operations, which can be fun.


steve
 


Duck,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

I got to the show at 10:40; left 4PM. I can't imagine trying to find 22" radius track, at a show like this-like finding a needle in a haystack, to me at least. Were you successful?

I got to the BLC building about 2:30. By that time pretty bunt out. Didn't look at all the vendors there as closely, or the layouts, either, which in some ways I regret. Took lots of photos I'm still hoping to post, probably on the Amherst thread, on the 'show page.'
 
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