Designing My HO-Scale Room Layout

[pgandw]

Then it hit me, What I really need is a small, focused, and fun layout. One that I can focus on now, and then add to a bigger layout later in life.

I can't really figure out how to put a small layout like this in my room though, The only place I can put a 4x6(or 4x8) is against the wall, and that causes reach problems, i may have to put an access hole in the middle If I am to do that.

Here is another Wants and Needs list:

Needs:
Continuous running
18" radius
Lots of scenery
Southern Pacific Branchline setting
Transition Era

Wants:
Turntable
Some decent switching operation
A decent sized town
some hills and tunnels
Have at least a 2x1 removable access
small yard

So if you have decided that you want to stay in HO, and want to have most of what you have listed - follow the master, and if your result is half as good as his, feel very proud! This is the original layout of the G&D, and Mighty Oaks grow from very small acorns!


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Having been a student and builder of small layouts all my model railroading life, I would caution you to think very carefully about the road you seem to be headed down. But first, a discussion of the original G&D.

I have been tempted to build a copy of the G&D #1 for my layout in the small bedroom that has been turned into a combination office and train room, so I have studied the plan(s) quite a bit.

John Allen never finished the layout as originally planned. Before he finished the layout, he added some additional space to the left front corner and moved the turntable and engine facility there. The right center area became a 2 spur stockyard facility - stockyard moved from its original plan location at left front corner. I don't know the actual reasons for the changes, but I suspect the "bowl" effect of the elevated outer tracks blocking the view of the planned turntable and facilities may have been one of them. This is a problem with any over/under twice around or figure 8 small layout. The interior where any yards, industries, or the like end up going is partially blocked from view by the raised outer tracks on the grade. The bowl effect is worse if the layout is built higher than normal.

The G&D #1 uses 14" radius curves. The version in 101 Track Plans was expanded to 4x7ft so 15" minimum radius curves could be used. This is not too bad a problem for me with 19th Century rolling stock and locomotives, but it is an issue for many others. About the only usable passenger cars are Overton 34ft cars, and possibly some slightly larger other plastic models of open platform passenger cars. Interestingly enough, the Daphitid "branch" has larger radius curves (about 20+") than the main line. When John Allen incorporated the G&D into layouts #2 and #3, he had to use very small engines on what became the local to Daphitid. The grades are also very steep, which was not so much of a problem in the days of cast boilers on model locomotives. Today's plastic boilers and electronics don't have nearly the weight or the pulling power of the old classics, especially up steep grades. Most of the photos I have seen of this section of the G&D show a Varney Docksider pulling a train across the viaduct or up the grade to Daphitid.

Expansion of the Daphitid branch - the logical expansion point from an operations point of view - is not as simple as if the branch exited the layout going north in the corner instead of west. Length to expand a 4x layout is always difficult to come by. If the space to increase length is available, it is almost always used from the beginning. The typical expansion of an island layout is by adding a shelf piece coming off the side at one end. The shelf piece fits along the same wall where the end is butted. The G&D can be modified by having the Daphitid branch swing out much further into the middle and then curving north at the corner instead of west. 15" radius curves would probably be needed. There are quite a few MR project layouts that used this form of expansion from a basic 4x8 - Portage Hill on the PH&C, the harbor on the Jerome & Southwestern, and the mine on the Turtle Creek come to mind as examples.

Operationally, I not sure how much "fun" a stand-alone G&D #1 is (again, the same applies to any 4x in HO). The branch line is strictly a push-pull affair. Push a couple of cars up to Daphitid, spot them, and pull a couple of cars back to Gorre. The other operations are 1) to circulate a train on the twice-around, and 2) make up and break up a 2-4 car train at Gorre.

The G&D does meet Justin's preference for continuous running through decent scenery, but not much else. Most 4x layouts are going to be similarly limited to meeting just some of the preferences. And no 4x layout is going to be very compatible with using the bedroom as both a bedroom and a layout room. Finally, for a 4x layout, the G&D is relatively complex and time-consuming to build.

What bothers me much more than Justin's vacillation over layout theme is his grand layout plans in light of his age and coming life circumstances. I sure didn't have any idea of a layout theme or constant vision of what I wanted to model when I was in high school. Every attractive layout that came along in Model Railroader (my parents gave me a subscription to MR for my 8th birthday) changed my vision and ideas and inspiration. But as my son, who is currently a high school junior, just told me, "I never expected I would have so little time in high school when I was in the 8th grade." Granted, he is in a challenging academic curriculuum, but he has had to strictly prioritize what little time is left over from studies. From my past, college is even more demanding of the time, especially if you intend your college experience to be more than just studying.

What I am recommending (it's your choice) is that you keep any home layout plans very simple, and take advantage of the nearby club for your train running fix like you are already doing. Build a very simple home layout because of your time limitations and possible impending move. One layout I like for it's simplicity, and will be compatible with your bedroom being a bedroom is Wye River City.



A shelf layout does not give you continuous run. But it will fit in your bedroom much better than any island style layout. You can try out switching to see how much you do or don't enjoy switching. Scenery on a shelf can be quite simple, or very highly detailed. In either case, you get to build a few structures and try your hand at vegetation. All without overwhelming your time, your finances, your room, or your future. When you need to run a long train continuously through scenery, you go to the club instead of having to build it all at home.

A 1x2 access hole won't work - even for a thin teenager. Don't ask me how I know this. Absolute minimum is going to be 18" x 2ft. And the fun quickly disappears when you use one. The best solution I have seen to putting a 4x8 against the wall - other than don't! - is Iain Rice's cockpit design for the 1st layout in his Smart and Friendly Small Layout Book.

Right now I am building a very simple, 4ft x 70in portable "test" layout to test out my preferences and ideas.



The outer loop is HO, the inner red track is HOn3, laid out with Atlas track in RTS software. For the time being, the inner portion will be just an HOn3 loop with a single spur to the transfer platform and shed (bottom center spur on the standard gauge). Whether I will ever rebuild the HOn3 into anything resembling the shown configuration remains to be seen.

The point of this portable layout is to provide a test track for my locomotives and cars. The locomotives are either built from kits, or are extensive bashes which include remotoring and/or regearing. Because I model 1900, the cars are either wood or resin kits, or are bashes from RTR "Old Time" train set plastic cars.

The layout is also serving as a test bed for new ideas and techniques, before I build the "big one." I am using Homasote on top of foam for roadbed, and will be trying carved foam for terrain. I want to compare my handlaid track against Atlas sectional, Atlas and ME flex, and Shinohara turnouts. I haven't built a structure since my Campbell freight station in the late '70s, so I have a couple of kits to build to get my touch back.

Just the model building and layout construction consumes plenty of my hobby time - I haven't started basic operations yet. I will use the operating phase to experiment with throttle, turnout control, and uncoupling preferences. And I will also once again determine my preferences regarding display running vs switching operations.

Moving the portable layout around on 60" legs will let me experiment with minimum acceptable aisle width (for me!) and the practicality of a very high layout.

When I have decided I am ready for the big layout, the portable layout will be stored against the wall so it can be used when needed for locomotive tuning and testing. In the meantime, I am having a blast, even though things are on a much smaller scale than for most of the others on this board.

just my thoughts, your choices

Fred W
builder of small layouts