8x4 Layout with shunting potential

[Someone]

After a change of plans i am moving my layout from the garage to the Bedroom which means no more 6x6 metal board

I now have space for an 8x4, it's not a whole lot better but it's the space available.

I have been looking at 8x4 Layouts but most trackplans focus on the running lines and while I want main running lines I want a place where I can do some interesting shunting.

it doesn't need to be prototypical but fun.

Does anyone have any track plans or track planning tips that support what I'm after.

[pete12345]

An 8x4 board needs a space of 8x10 or thereabouts, in order to access both long sides and one end. Otherwise you'll have areas of the layout out of reach. If you have 8x10 available, you can build something much better than an 8x4 table. Just about anything is better!

I'd go for an end-to-end L-shape built in to the corner of the room, with an industrial terminal or goods yard spread out along the length of the layout. Perhaps a hinged or removable fiddle yard section could be attached to one end to extend the scenic length. I had a plan somewhere for this sort of layout- it was an American setting but the plan itself could be adapted.

For the industrial setting, have a respectable main line loco bring a goods train into a reception siding, where a couple of company shunters pounce on it and distribute the wagons to various loading areas around the site. Meanwhile the main line engine picks up an outbound train which has been previously assembled.

For a complex track layout in a small space, and with several locos moving around in the yard, DCC makes the wiring and operation a lot easier.

[Someone]

An 8x4 board needs a space of 8x10 or thereabouts, in order to access both long sides and one end. Otherwise you'll have areas of the layout out of reach. If you have 8x10 available, you can build something much better than an 8x4 table. Just about anything is better!

I'd go for an end-to-end L-shape built in to the corner of the room, with an industrial terminal or goods yard spread out along the length of the layout. Perhaps a hinged or removable fiddle yard section could be attached to one end to extend the scenic length. I had a plan somewhere for this sort of layout- it was an American setting but the plan itself could be adapted.

For the industrial setting, have a respectable main line loco bring a goods train into a reception siding, where a couple of company shunters pounce on it and distribute the wagons to various loading areas around the site. Meanwhile the main line engine picks up an outbound train which has been previously assembled.

For a complex track layout in a small space, and with several locos moving around in the yard, DCC makes the wiring and operation a lot easier.

I can access both sides easily, I have long arms and it's not against a wall, there are places I can't reach but I just have to move myself a bit to get there. The problem with going bigger is that I'm in a shared bedroom with no where else to but the trains.

[pete12345]

It doesn't need to be bigger, but something other than a big table plays nicer in the available space. A L-shaped layout of the same overall area takes up less of the room for the same or longer run, and the space beneath can be used by a set of shelves as part of the support framework. Particularly if you are interested in shunting, not having a (short) continuous run gives more room for the goods yard and operational interest.