Thought exercise.

Any questions about designing a model railway layout or problems with track work.
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Lukerettie
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Thought exercise.

Post by Lukerettie »

So I'm fairly new here but I have a small layout in construction which is working out nicely. Only problem is its being built as a OO layout with old DC locos that i brought to Canada with me. They work well but i've recently come across a North American HO set that I got for a steal which would look wrong on my current layout. Now my thought is I could build a layout for HO running seperately but it has to be easily stored due to space restrictions. I figure that sections that can fit together and possibly be used independently as small shunting (switching since its HO) layouts. My question is, starting with an 8ft x 4ft board is it better to cut it into sections of 2 6ft x 2ft and 2 4ft by 1ft or 2 4ft x 2ft and 4 4ft x 1 ft? Right now its theoretical as I wont be able to start anything until late September but I would like to hear peoples thoughts and/or suggestions. Thanks
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Lukerettie
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by Lukerettie »

Some extra info. Since i envision it being as much to be entertaining for my 2 wee boys to watch operate and maybe in the future learn to operate with equipment that i got with 5 bucks instead of my harder to replace OO things being in Canada, I'm thinking making it a loop but I don't like the limitations of a straight 4x8 board. Ideally the sections can be put together in a few configurations and as well as round and round have some operating intrest to keep myself amused too
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luckymucklebackit
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by luckymucklebackit »

Hi - welcome to the forum. As you are in North America, you may want to investigate the concept of modular layouts, this is very popular in the USA and Canada and there is a lot of on-line and written material about it. Search for modular and ntrack (the "N" gauge version) for more info on this concept

Jim
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Emettman
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by Emettman »

Lukerettie wrote:...starting with an 8ft x 4ft board is it better to cut it...[?]
Well, yes to that bit, almost certainly.
Unless some other limitations apply a much better railway is likely to result by redistributing 32sq ft into a different shape.

32' x 1' ?
More probably as 15' x 17' L shelf layout. Or, say 10' by 12' with 18"wide boards allowing for more scenic depth,
Or anything between these two,

If one or more oval tracks are wanted for continuous running, the above won't work, but a 4-piece dissection of an 8x4 board, moving the operating area inside the layout can become quite impressive.
Lots of varieties, but as a starting thought: 2 of 5ft 6" by 2ft plus 2 of 4ft by 15" will produce 8' x 5' 6" with a 4' x3' central operating area,
That extra width makes a massive difference as to the track radii that can be used.


Chris
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Lukerettie
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by Lukerettie »

Thank you for the replies.
I think there would be a definite requirement for continuous running as this would be as much to entertain wee boys for a while as for me to play. Also the ability to set up and take apart easily since the space I could use it in is fairly large but not suitable for a permanent layout being a combined kitchen/living area.
Don't know why I was just thinking in measurements in exact feet since 5ft 6" x 2ft and 4ft x 15" would provide a bit more width to play with in the smaller sections.
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RAF96
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by RAF96 »

Most people would cut an 8' x 4' into either four pieces at 4' x 2' or 8' x 1' boards but if you reduce/increase the board cut width by say 3" - 4" increments then you can use that strip as your board upstand to help prevent trains going overboard, especially with little ones on the throttle.

So try 8' x 15" or 4' x 18" and use the offcut strips as fascia/up-stand.

A single 8' x 4' board when populated with track and scenery will be heavy and cumbersome to move and it will require for most of the time all round access in case of derailment, etc.

Narrower boards allow around the room walls track with as stated above an operators well in the middle, but this may not suit your room.

What best suits your room is up to you with full domestic management approval of course.

Rob
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Emettman
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by Emettman »

If mainly for the kiddies, or the kiddie minded, smaller layouts are possible chiefly by accepting tighter radii, and selecting short locos and stock to suit.

This was a test-the-limits design for a layout to keep up to four kids happy (or fighting with each other) using Hornby points and 10" radius curves,
for Hornby 0-4-0's, four wheel coaches and short goods wagons.

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Yes there are two ovals, one with a passing loop, but with nine places to hold trains I saw this as more of a "sliding block" puzzle with trains (probably 4) moving from one stop to another, freeing up locations for other trains to move to.
Storage? It's small enough to go under a bed, if put inside a big plastic "blanket bag/box" or it could even hang on a wall with a big picture in front of it.
(A version using Hornby R1 curves comes out at 5ft by 3ft 3in.)

Chris
"It's his madness that keeps him sane."
Bigmet
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by Bigmet »

One approach to a 'two locations' layout is to model them both, one each side of a roundy-roundy track. Then you only run one set of stock at a time, using the 'foreign side' as the storage sidings/fiddle yard while operating the side that matches the stock.
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Bufferstop
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Re: Thought exercise.

Post by Bufferstop »

Not long after DCC started to become popular I saw the ultimate roundy roundy at one of the smaller exhibitions. It was a circular 009 layout about a metre in diameter and split into 3 scenes. It was operated like this:-
The loco would do some shunting in one of the scenes getting the train ready to depart. Then when it departed the whole layout started to rotate at a similar speed so that, the train remained centre stage for the audience. As the train came through into the next section and if it was due to stop there the train and base board both slowed to a stop, before any shunting there took place. It certainly held the audience's attention, there being a lot of discussion how it was done. Simple really two, sliprings on the centre shaft connected the DCC bus to the layout. A separate speed controller regulated the motor which rotated the board.
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