Loxley Lane, 6x4, OO layout

[Graymee]

Hi
Just in process of building a baseboard and planned a 7x4. However now that i've cut the top to size and put it in situ it makes access all around pretty tight. I can get around one side with by back against the wall (about 9" gap) and i can stand behind fairly comfortably. I'm wondering as it is my first ever build and i've never tried any modelling or scenery stuff before, would i benefit from a bit of extra space or would i regret losing the extra room for layout if, i say went to 6x4.

Also could not get any 9mm ply near to me (tried 2 branches of B&Q and a specialist timber merchant) so bought 12mm instead. The whole thing will def have to be moved out to my garage at some point in the future and i'm a bit concerned about weight and maneouvering down the stairs. A slightly smaller board would be easier.

It is my first layout so maybe i'm better starting small and when it does move to garage i'll have oodles of space so could expand then..... I've got the jigsaw poised and ready to cut. what do you guys think...


BTW the trak mat is only there as guide for size, i won't be using it...

Cheers

Graeme

[Lewis Nash]

you have got the same hornby trakmat i am expecting with a train set in the post,have you got any rolling stock?,nice to see a trakmat layout on the forum,will be watching for updates!
btw you could cut away the board on the left hand side and use the bit of board which the trakmat dosnt cover on the right hand side for a town scene prehaps,or you could make some hills?

Lewis

[Graymee]

Hi Lewis,

Just to clarify caption under pic, i won't be using the trak mat, i only put it there to give me an idea of size.

Cheers

Graeme

[matthew-peter]

whats the track plan your using? will it be a couple of loops or an end to end?

As you said you cant get round the board you could try and make shlves all the way round and have the control point in the middle so that you can have full loops but enough room in the middle to have a chair to sit and control the layout.

[Lewis Nash]

Hi Lewis,

Just to clarify caption under pic, i won't be using the trak mat, i only put it there to give me an idea of size.

Cheers

Graeme

oh right,i missed that line
a bit of advice,it is best to make a frame under the baseboard top so it doesnt sag over time.

[Graymee]

Hi matt,

Haven't really designed a plan yet, idea of a couple of outer ovals with another smalleone inside poss with an incline, but reducing space is gonna scupper the latter i think, especially the incline. Kind of wish i'd gone for N gauge now but maybe next time. Kind of like your idea of a shelf type thing but not really for me. mainly because i know i'm gonna have to move it at some point and would like to be able to preserve as much work as poss. As a beginner at both Modelling and woodwork that might be a bit too complicated .

the more i look at it the more i'm sure it's gonna have to go 6x4...
cheers

Graeme

[CRABFAT]

Hi, I agree with Matthew Peter, instead of having a run around layout, what about a shelf type, you could use all the walls and have a removable section where the door is the shelfs could also be made modular so that when the time comes to move it would be fairly light and portable. This would also allow for a center well where you could work from. Something about 18 inches wide would give a larger track area and far more scope than just a 4x7. It could encorparate stations, yards etc and wouldnt take too much extra work to mount it on the walls as apermanent feature. Just a thought. Chris

[Spavo]

Hey Mate and welcome,

Rather than delaying the inevitable can you not just take the layout into the garage straight away and start bulding there or are you "practising" on this layout to get a feel,???

There are some wonderful 6 x 4 layouts on this site so don't worry about the size, it's what you decide to do with it that matters........

Good luck with your decision, we'll all be here behind you!

Gav.

[Graymee]

Hi Gav,

Yeah i could take it straight to garage but it's bl**dy freezin and also needs a bit of clearing first. Thought i'd start off indoors so that hopefully when it does move outside i wll be a bit more switched on to how things work and will be able to do more work and less head scratching. In my experience head scratching doesn't take your mind of the cold!!

I haven't done a proper trackplan, i'm just gonna do a lot of muddlin about to begin with, looking to by a few job lots of second hand track off e-bay and take it from there. I have just had a bit of a look at xtrcad and my head nearly went pop.

I'm just off upstairs to fire up the jigsaw!!!!
6x4 it is then

[sapper_k]

if you need any oval/ curved track i have lots of it going for a donation

2 stes of 3rd ovals and a few extra curves

[ChrisWV10]

If you can't get on with xtrack, try anyrail from http://www.anyrail.com/index_en.html. You're limited to 50 pieces of track unless you buy the full version (35 quid!) but it's dead simple to use. Has to be for me!

[Graymee]

Thanks for that link chris, i've d/loaded and i'll give it a bash later.

I'm just after any odd bits of track really sapper i've you have some that needs a good home i'll probably be able t put a roof over it's head. When you say oval is that the same as the most basic hornby layout?

Right I've just lopped another foot of the baseboard and made a good start on the frame, need to pick up another pack of 2x1 tomorrow to finish it. I'm now officially building a 6x4 layout...

Any thought for fixing some legs? I've got a couple of old tables in the garage. one is a gateleg kitchen table which would be good and solid to just stand it on but access underneath to run wiring, fit point motors and stuff would be rubbish. I also have a tubular steel round frame that has a detachable glass top. the legs are tubular steel and detachable so could be used if i can come up with some way of fixing them securely at the corners. I'm thinking along the lines of a block of wood fixed at each corner and a captivated nut (if i can find a matching thread) or maybe just standing the board on the completed frame and making some kind of brackets to eliminate any chance of it slipping or tipping???

cheers
Graeme

[leopard]

the peco book on track plans for small locations has a few good ones, but if you want one try to relay it out with something like xtrkcad, many of these plans assume hand made points (which is worth a go, its not as hard as it looks, and cheap if you end up binning the first few)

but the plans are generally pretty good, especially if you run stock that can handle 1st rad curves (15")

as for moving it... have you thought of cutting the board in half? with or without a central pit, but maybe a 12"x12" hole for emergencies, but it will make moving it a lot easier when the time comes. once in your garage if it gets glued back into one section with scenic bits it may not matter. not thinking a portable layout but one that could be broken down if it needed to into more movable bits.

6'x4' is actually not a bad space, the trick seems to be not flooding it with track, otherwise you get a lot of sigings too small to be of any use at all.

[Rammy]

Graeme
You could also try the Winrail software which is very easy to use. I am a complete beginner and couldn't get to grips with Xtrkcad but found winrail really easy. You can download the demo here. Although it says it's a demo, I have not noticed any limtations with it.
Good luck with the plans.
Dave

[Graymee]

Now that it's done and there's no going back you are right leopard, 6x4 isn't a bad size I did think about trying to build it so that it was collapsable or "take-apart-able" but aswell as being my first experience of model railway it is also my first experience of any kind of real woodwork! I am the flat pack king and pride myself on my skill and guile when it comes to assembling the latest bootload from that big scandanavian shop. but ask my to actually CUT SOME WOOD? So i decided that smaller would also mean that i could shelve those plans. As it hapens i've got all of the timber cut and almost completely assembled now and apart from a smal miscalculation and refit of two lengths it is going very well. I've also got a plan for some legs which i hope will work...

I've d/loaded the winrail demo dave but not tried to run it yet, had a play with anyrail and ended up with a twin oval but can't get the inner oval to join up I'll have to play a bit more.

Missed out on a load of track off ebay by 50p and a misskey with 10 secs to go. My £12.71 bid would have won it but i thought that i should quickly retract the one for £1271

How the hell do you make your own points? can you post a link to a guide anywhere???

Thanks for the support and advice all, always keen to learn from those who know better.

Cheers

Graeme