They say to start small.

[joed2323]

I just got back from my local hobby store, i spent 400 dollars on code 100 ho flextrack and probably 15-20 turnouts.... im happy i only brought 500 because i could have spent a grand easy... haha what did i get myself into

I have basically a 10x10 square bench work set up maybe a tad bigger, and i started planning/laying rd bed and track just to see how i like things, nothing set in stone yet.

My layout is/will be in my basement, and i can add too or subtrack to my layout if i want to. My problem is i started laying track around and it just doesnt seem like its very long to run trains. I want switching and to run.

Should i take this slow and start small with what i have. Ppl say its easy to get caught up in thinking that i need to have a large layout to have fun in model railroading.

 

[GN.2-6-8-0]

Absolutely' take your time, If it were me starting over I'd start with a small 10 to 12ft switching layout maybe 18" deep,Use number 6 or if you can work them in no.8 switch's.
Its really easy to start planning to large and then realise how overwhelming and expensive it can get.
Check out a few of the layout planning books and find yourself a nice little starter Road.....remember there were and are hundereds'a shortlines RRs out there

 

[joed2323]

im currently working with 2 layout ideas the wildcat central and the heart of georgia layout, basically trying to get the best from both of those layouts and incorporate a little of my own ideas as well. Both of those layout designs seem geared more to the beginner.

I have crazy thoughts tho, i think to myself well what if it just made a small helix or a nolix to get to a second level to make more room. I know i need to take it slow tho because i have plenty of room in my basement to "expand".

I guess what problem i have is i look around my basement from where my layout is located in one corner of a square open basement and i just start thinking big

 

[Pete V]

The tendency in first starts is to put down way too much track. Rather than rehashing that worn chestnut, I would put it differently. Don't glue anything down just yet. Use Homosote as a base for the railroad on L girder construction . It is easy to attach cork to, you can just screw to framing underneath it and it holds track nails well. When you discover that what you built doesn't actually work very well, and that is often true, it's really easy to unscrew it and start over.

I don't know of many layouts that were perfect from the beginning. That has certainly been my experience.

My current layout is to be in two distinct sections and each can operate independently from the other but are joined by a helix. It lets me work on a manageable section of the railroad

 

[Brakie]

Yes start slow and small so you can finish the layout..If you start large you may become overwhelm and never get that layout built.
In either case get the thing up and running so,its not work,work,work and work..I've known guys to quit the hobby because they bit more off then they could build and never ran their trains which is a investment.

Now give me that $400.00 and I will build a switching layout and have about $175.00 left over for the lumber and 4 brackground structures.

 

[Rybcon]

Absolutely' take your time, If it were me starting over I'd start with a small 10 to 12ft switching layout maybe 18" deep,Use number 6 or if you can work them in no.8 switch's.
Its really easy to start planning to large and then realise how overwhelming and expensive it can get.
Check out a few of the layout planning books and find yourself a nice little starter Road.....remember there were and are hundereds'a shortlines RRs out there

Thanks for the confirmation! I'm looking at 12 to 16 feet by 2 feet. I'm not necessarily concerned about running the trains. I'm mostly looking to work on the modeling aspect. I want to do 1950 Chicago with the track being available to some industry, but also running behind apartment buildings, etc. I saw a picture once in a MR mag and really liked the appearance.

 

[Pete V]

I think the NMRA has the specs for doing modules and you could consider doing some that could be hooked up to other crazy people doing modules. It's very specific as to mainline, height, etc. It is the way most displays at train shows are done and it leaves you with the back half to do scenery work.

 

[Iron Horseman]

I have basically a 10x10 square bench work set up maybe a tad bigger, and i started planning/laying rd bed and track just to see how i like things, nothing set in stone yet.

Even after 30 years I always keep a blank sheet of plywood and a big box of sectional track so that I can try out different track configurations and ideas.

Should i take this slow and start small with what i have. Ppl say its easy to get caught up in thinking that i need to have a large layout to have fun in model railroading

Very true. Often if people are not having fun with a small layout, they will not have fun with a large one either. I had a 6x8 O-scale layout with a very simple plan. People would come over and run the trains. Almost every time they left saying, "wow, I had no idea model railroading could be so fun." The problem is people often never figure out how to use the railroad they have to greatest advantage.

The final comment I have is that regardless of how well something is planned, new things will be learned and better ideas will come along. People who spend so much time fretting about "doing it right the first time" are missing half the experience of learning what "right" is for them.

 

[joed2323]

Even after 30 years I always keep a blank sheet of plywood and a big box of sectional track so that I can try out different track configurations and ideas.

Very true. Often if people are not having fun with a small layout, they will not have fun with a large one either. I had a 6x8 O-scale layout with a very simple plan. People would come over and run the trains. Almost every time they left saying, "wow, I had no idea model railroading could be so fun." The problem is people often never figure out how to use the railroad they have to greatest advantage.

The final comment I have is that regardless of how well something is planned, new things will be learned and better ideas will come along. People who spend so much time fretting about "doing it right the first time" are missing half the experience of learning what "right" is for them.

ironhorseman- I think thats where im at now. I dont want to make a wrong mistake, im trying to get everything right the first time around.

But i had a layout when i was younger it was basically 2 4x8s and it was just too big it never really got finished, it just seemed like work and work. I never had fun with it.

I dont want to repeat that mistake. i want to have a good fun layout. I work hard all day long at work, i dont need to come home and work hard on my layout and never achieve happyness.

I got a pretty good idea of what im going to do and how to accomplish it. Im done looking around my basement saying wow i could go huge, i will wait and work with what i have and if and when i get that done, if its not big enuf, well i can go 20 more feet this way and 20 more feet that way. haha. maybe in 10 years

 

[NP2626]

There shouldn't be a "Blanket Statement" that everyone should start small as it depends on your experiences. I've been a modeler since I was 6 or 7 years old (mid 1950s) and I've built Model Railroads in S and HO when I was younger, so I had confidence in my modeling abilities and knowledge enough to understand what I was undertaking, to an extent.

Having said that, I built some problems into my initial design, because of inexperience. I was able to fix/change these things as I went along; a couple of these things took some major surgery!

If you lack experience, then by all means start small! In the end it's the individual that needs to decide how big; or, small to go.

Now, I would build a layout that was smaller and make it so it could be easily modified to become a part; or, modmule of an eventual larger layout. Maybe start with a 4X8 foot or so size.

 

[B&O Sam]

Creating an illusion helps

I have a 4x8 layout for starters. When I designed it, I wanted to create the illusion that it looked alot bigger through some structural "tricks" I added tunnels at the curves which hides the tight turning radiuses. making it seem bigger than it is. Also I maxed out my main line on the outer loop to the edge of the platform. Even a 4x8 can give you a nice long straightaway if you don't mind tight turns at the end.
It also allows for more room inside for a good sized yard. Good Luck!...Sam

 

[Doughless]

I just got back from my local hobby store, i spent 400 dollars on code 100 ho flextrack and probably 15-20 turnouts...

My problem is i started laying track around and it just doesnt seem like its very long to run trains. I want switching and to run.

Should i take this slow and start small with what i have. Ppl say its easy to get caught up in thinking that i need to have a large layout to have fun in model railroading.

My advice is to decide upon what type of layout you want, with the realization that only so much can fit into a 10x10 space. If you try to fit a multi-train, class I mainline operations-based layout into a 10 x10 space, you will be disappointed in the final product and may get discouraged enough to stop building.

10 x 10 is plenty of space to have a nice layout. Its a matter of choosing the right kind of layout that will satisfy your major priorities and avoiding trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Personally, I like any type of layout, from a 1920's logging theme to a modern BNSF multi unit coal drag type. But I wouldn't try to shoehorn the latter into 100 square feet.

For a 10 x 10 layout, look at the January 2012 issue of MR. There is a nice track plan for a 10 x 11 room called Big Island Rail. Ignore the island theme and focus on the trackplan, which could be adapted for your space pretty easily. Its very interesting for a space that size. Its mostly switching, but it also has one wall devoted to a large canyon and bridge scene and also provides for continuous running. I would love to have that layout, and it is a better alternative than the Heart of Georgia, IMO.

One reason that perhaps your space looks small is due to the nothingness that your eye sees now when looking at the plywood and track. When you start adding track, scenery, buildings, ballast, details; it gives your eye a lot to focus on and the distances between things seem greater.

Don't buy anymore track until you settle on how you best want to use your space, and I don't think you need more space at this time.

 

[joed2323]

You guys are correct with the space. Its roughly a 10x10 square with the middle cut out. Im not going any bigger.

on the west side of square and north side its 10x2 feet, 10 long by 2 deep then on east side its basically 4.5x10. the west and north side of layout is against the wall and i have access around the 4.5x10 section on the east side

 

[Pete V]

I have reread this thread several times and what I don't see is whether the 10x10 is against walls or whether you can walk around it. I do get that there is a center knock out.

What I wanted to suggest if it all seems to appear too small and it is against walls, is what John Allen did on the Gorre & Daphetid, that hard to spell and pronounce amazing railway that has gained mythic status. He used mirrors to make things look larger and it was remarkably effective. They were always angled so you never saw anything in those mirrors that was not part of the actual layout.

 

[joed2323]

The west and north section is against wall. Its 2 feet by 10 on the west side and part of north side. Then on east side its basically a 4.5x10 section. The middle is open. Its a u shape as of now but im probably going to make a lift out section or make it fixed

Its in a open basement i have no walls to deal with except the west and north side since its in a corner of open basement.

 

[Doughless]

Just a thought....If you would like staging, the 4.5 ft wide section would be the ideal spot for it. Your scenicked layout could be 2 ft wide all the way around and you could hide staging tracks behind a backdrop that runs the middle of the 4.5 ft wide table, giving you plenty of room for staging tracks, origination and destination. If you have access from the outside, you could build the trains by fiddle before you go into the pit and operate the layout.

Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of things here...

If you left the layout a U shape, still place a backdrop down the center of the wide table and loop the track behind it for two scenes on that table.