small layout help

[gmoore]

The wife gave me some space in our spare bedroom for a small shelf layout. One wall is 8ft(next to the door) then a left turn with 9ft and left again for 6ft. I can't go any wider than 2ft.

 

[chimmike]

If you go N scale, you can fit a TON in that space!

 

[NickB]

Gotta agree sounds great for N-scale.

 

[SpaceMouse]

That would make a very good HO shelf layout. Or as pointed out, 3.5 times as much in N. However, even in N unless you run small engines and short cars, you won't have continous running. If you could negociate an extra 4 inches for bulb turn arounds, that would be helpful.

 

[NickB]

Actually he might have continous if he had a double shelf layout with a helix at both ends. I just thought with N scale he would have the oportunity with a bit more scenery and more industries.

 

[chimmike]

Actually he might have continous if he had a double shelf layout with a helix at both ends. I just thought with N scale he would have the oportunity with a bit more scenery and more industries.

You couldn't do a helix in N scale with only 2' space out from the wall.

 

[NickB]

I'm sure you could expand it a little bit to accomodate.

 

[gmoore]

I would like to stay with HO scale if I can. I have looking at a lot of urban industry type plans. I can also use the sections on a bigger layout some day when I get the space. Just can't seem to find the right plan or make one up so far.

 

[SpaceMouse]

I'm building an HO switching layout right now. I built mine based upon local roads in 1950. I got my interest by looking at local railroads, and reading about them. I lucked into some 1938 aerial photos and found the ideal track plan from the prototype. I then got the Sanborn Insurance maps and built the layout from that. Here's a link to show what I've done.

The Indiana Branch of the PRR in 1950

 

[chimmike]

I'm sure you could expand it a little bit to accomodate.

For a helix to be feasible and reasonable, you need, IMO, at minimum, a 22" radius. Figure 44" diameter, you're closer to 4' out from the wall, not 2'.

N scale is small, but it's not THAT small to cram a helix into less than 3' space.

 

[jbaakko]

That sounds like plenty of space to me. Skip the double deck idea, and just go with a simple switching layout.

 

[gmoore]

I'm building an HO switching layout right now. I built mine based upon local roads in 1950. I got my interest by looking at local railroads, and reading about them. I lucked into some 1938 aerial photos and found the ideal track plan from the prototype. I then got the Sanborn Insurance maps and built the layout from that. Here's a link to show what I've done.

The Indiana Branch of the PRR in 1950

How long is your switching layout?

 

[jbaakko]

BTW, here's what I came up with for my temp layout:
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7079

 

[SpaceMouse]

How long is your switching layout?

13 feet. The fun is in the research finding something really cool that fires your rockets. I found mine, but I had a couple false starts first. At first I looked at a short-line called the Cambria and Indiana. I could have done one of their small yards and a coal mine. But this one was right where I lived.

The point is, no matter what you are looking to build it will probably not fall right into your lap. You are going to have to dig a little. Sure other people can give you ideas, but if you really want something you can sink your teeth into, you're going to have to root it out.

Only you know what your vision is. Write out a list of what you envision the perfect layout would be. The writing itself will release new ideas. Each new idea will give you another direction to look.

 

[teamanglerx]

I know you want to stay in HO scale but for that space N scale would allow you to make better use of the space. I went through the same debate and decided on N scale. Another reason is I wanted a narrower layout but also to be able to fit alot of scenery in. My current layout project (which is in the planning stages) is several 18" x 8 ft sections that can be adapted if my layout space changed. I am also considering changing the width to 2ft and make a circle with a elevation in back. I can still get 11" radius turns to run a variety of locos and consists while able to keep it a shelf type layout. There is also a lot of N scale stuff out there to fill in the space.

 

[gmoore]

I looked at N scale, but I have some HO New Haven engines with DCC. How easy is it to have N scale DCC? I saw a nice layout in Model Railroading, Nscale New Haven that has got me thinking!

 

[SpaceMouse]

I looked at N scale, but I have some HO New Haven engines with DCC. How easy is it to have N scale DCC? I saw a nice layout in Model Railroading, Nscale New Haven that has got me thinking!

The new stuff is coming in DCC ready, so that is easy. The older stuff has a lot to do with dexterity. There are Chinese that paint landscapes on a grain of rice.

 

[pcarrell]

DCC in N sale is not a problem most of the time. The tough one is sound. There are a couple with factory DCC and sound, and there are some loco's that have room for sound, but some just have no room for it. But new things are on the horizon all the time!

 

[UP2CSX]

I struggled with the same decision between N and HO when I started building my layout this year. It's the first one I've built in 30 years and I've always modeled HO. I stayed with HO because I had enough space and it's what I'm familiar with. If I only had enough room for a shelf layout, I would gone with N scale. You can get so much more railroading in that kind of space and N scale has improved by leaps and bounds over the past five years, both in quality and availability. You can always sell your DCC HO engines on e-bay to help finance an N scale layout so don't let that be a deciding factor. Decide what kind of layout you want and how much scenery and operations you'd ideally like to have. Get a plan down on paper. When that's done, it should be much easier to make decision on what scale to go with.

 

[OldGettysk]

I had a 4x8 layout and stayed with HO scale before I looked at the quality of the new N scale stuff. If I had to do it over Iwould have also choosen N scale ! Just my two cents for what it's worth !