Ocalicreek's Garage Layout Planning Thread

[ocalicreek]

Givens

Room area - 19' x 19'
Area available for layout - 19' x 6', with an additional 2' x 2' along the N wall.

To the North and West are walls, 8' and 19' respectively, unobstructed. To the South is the Garage door, and only 6' into the room is available here, and for 17' or so of the East boundary. The East boundary is 19' from the garage door to the N wall (or 17' if an additional 2' is allowed on the N wall, that 2' by 2' bump. The rest of the garage will be relatively open most of the year, so consider the 6' width for the layout, not including an aisle along the E boundary.

Other obstructions - I have a 2' x 4' workbench. Bench height, 36". Back panel above the work surface, about 12" (let's call it 48" from the floor). In addition I have several modular metal shelving units, broken down into 4, 3' high units and 4, 4' high units OR 8 units similar to the workbench, 36" at the front, 48" at the back. These are 18" deep by 48" wide. Ideally they will live under the layout...there's really no other good place for them in the garage (or house, for that matter). They have been trusty and useful shelves and I'd really like to utilize them - but NOT for benchwork. Too much trouble leveling them all together on the sloping garage floor.

Ideally I do not want any duckunders, unless the plan is just too good to pass up and worth the trouble.

Ruling Rolling Stock - I have an N&W Class J 4-8-4 with 70' passenger cars, roughly an 8' train altogether that I'd like to run from time to time. It does not have to fit into any operating scheme, but that'd be nice if it did. Likewise I want to run my 6-axle trainmasters with 10-12 car hopper trains, and a couple other freights with a variety of rolling stock that may not ever serve any industry on the layout (or even fit the era), I'd just like to see them run. This is primarily a hang-up from my modular days, when I collected all sorts of equipment because I had a little disposable income from time to time and no home layout. Train length mattered little, along with era, locale, etc.

That leads to some druthers. Most of the time I'd like to run locals out of a small yard, up a branch line to serve a few little communities or industries along the way. Locale, Appalachia. Era, steam with perhaps an early diesel occasionally. Suffice it to say I'd rather have steam engine facilities than diesel fuel racks if the choice must be forced.

Trains don't need to be that long as grades can be steep. Small steam and short equipment would be the norm on the branch.

I'd like a provision for continuous running. Staging isn't a necessity. Minimize hidden track, please.

I'm sure I've left something out but it's late. A sketch of the space will follow.

Galen

[shortliner]

Galen - Might be worth a look at Iain Rices new book from MR " Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads" which may give you some ideas

[ocalicreek]

Thanks, shortliner! I've got his other two (Small, Smart & Practical, and, Midsized and Managable) so picking up this one should give me the trifecta of planning ideas from Mr. Rice! I have really admired his plans and his ideas in his books and published in MR.

I neglected to mention in my G&D's that I'd like a continuous run for those longer trains.

I have plenty of preliminary sketch ideas, but I want to see what this list can come up with first before sharing any of my possibilities. I want your fresh eyes for the space before I corrupt them with my own twisted ideas. Literally, twisted, as I wrap a main line and other tracks around and over and inbetween each other.

Galen

[nomad]

I have been waiting for this thread. This should be real interesting.

Loren

[ocalicreek]

I don't want to sound like a broken record, or cry wolf, or sound like wolf crying on a broken record or something like that, but I did more work on the garage tonight, sorting and shifting boxes and stuff. I'm encouraged to know that a considerable amount will be taken to the church rummage sale in August. I'm challenged, dare I say discouraged to realize just how much lawn equipment will be living there...being as we don't have a shed to store it in, nor much room in the yard to put a shed. Maybe one of those little plastic lean-to jobs.

Anyway, I've also hit upon a plan that, by the squares, seems to work. A few rough detail sketches of the yard and interchange look promising. We'll see. I'm all too familiar with that frustrating feeling you get when what you thought might work, just isn't going to work no matter what, well, at least not without seriously compromising minimum radius or some other important design consideration. Like John Armstrong has said, it's a process of controlled pessimism.

Glad to have you aboard, Loren.

Galen

[ocalicreek]

Here is the VERY rough sketch I made of the garage, back before we had even begun moving out of our old place, let alone moved into this one.

Disregard the note about the cabinet on the N wall. It will be removed and burned as an example to the others.

   

The question, "Include M.L. ?" refers to Murdock's Landing, the timesaver. I have since decided it will live on its own on a high shelf across the garage, to be taken down and run occasionally. For now it is set up over on the W side of the room.

Galen

Oh, and that beam across the middle is high up in the 'rafters' so to speak, and is not a concern except that for now, it blocks light to the garage door half of the room. Layout lighting is going to be a challenge.

[nomad]

First off, put in a tankless water heater .

Loren

[ocalicreek]

Looking at a possible yard arrangement on the N wall, I would be able to extend a shelf above and behind the freezer. I measured and checked this morning, and at about 48" up the wall, I could easily place a 6-8" wide, 2' long shelf. If there are three tracks, that'd increase yard capacity by about 12, 40' cars.

But that end may not be a yard...it all depends on what y'all can come up with. Do not let my skills and talents as a planner deter you or intimidate you from offering a sketch...

C'mon, guys, jump in here!

Galen

[ocalicreek]

First off, put in a tankless water heater

But Loren, I kinda like the "WHOOMPF" sound it makes when the gas kicks in...

Also, normally the car will live outside unless we have a bad winter storm. The garage will need to be opened for kid's bikes & toys during the summer, along with lawn equipment.

Galen

[nomad]

Galen, I am having trouble figuring out your usable space. How about a better drawing of the area?

Loren

[ocalicreek]

What, you mean that chicken scrawl aint legible? Alright, I'll sketch up a better one...may be a little while before I can get it uploaded.

Galen

[ocalicreek]

Work has kept me busy, and I haven't been able to make a new dimensional drawing for the layout space. But surely somebody has been able to come up with something! Just draw an HO layout plan to fit a 6' x 19' space. Anything.

Only 75 views? I have willingly given hours of my time to contribute and share ideas on this forum and the previous incarnation...and this kind of lackluster response is the sort of thing that makes a person just drop off a forum and go even more lone wolf. Not like anybody would notice.

Maybe I'll just lurk like the rest.

[doctorwayne]

Work has kept me busy, and I haven't been able to make a new dimensional drawing for the layout space. But surely somebody has been able to come up with something! Just draw an HO layout plan to fit a 6' x 19' space. Anything.

Honestly, Galen, a clearer sketch of the room, particularly along the north wall, would give us something more useful to work with. Saying that the north wall is unobstructed makes your existing sketch confusing. Also, you don't want a duck-under, yet your access from the house appears to be on this wall - a lift-out may be a possibility, though. Is that water heater gas or electric? An electric one could be moved fairly easily. The freezer - upright or chest-type? And what's that "H.P." in the north-east corner?
Also, how much length do you need for the car? Any layout sharing space with cars, work benches, toys and tools, and other day-to-day activities is going to be a bugger to keep clean, so my first consideration would be to separate the layout from the rest of the area. You could possibly do this on the north and west walls, if you're able to shorten the area required for the car. You could store "seasonal" or seldom-used stuff under the layout, but the rest should stay in the garage area. This would probably result in a folded dogbone style layout, with a lift-up or lift-out at the new doorway. This would allow continuous running, simplify your lighting requirements, and even give you the possibility of a two-level layout (the two levels wouldn't be connected, but it would allow you to create both a mainline area for your longer trains and a branchline area for switching and more laid-back operations.)
As for an actual trackplan, we need to first determine the space that is actually available.

Here's a rough sketch, based on how I understand the parameters of the allowable space. I'd forget about using the east wall altogether: use it for the workbench, storage, etc. The new walls are shown in red, which should have included the section along the south end, by the garage door.


The 6' width of the new "room" will allow a 32" radius for continuous running, and if you use the "dogbone" idea, you'll have ample aisle space along the new internal wall. If the bump-out from the north wall isn't practical at 6', I'd eliminate it completely, simply making the new north/south partition straight, with the new door the same distance from the north wall as shown in my sketch. This should give you about 50' of continuous running (almost a mile, in HO), with fairly broad curves for your passenger equipment. Because the bulk of the layout will be along the external west wall, layout lighting (strip fluorescents) will be cheap and easy. If you go to a two-level design, simply hang lighting for the lower level on the underside of the upper.

Only 75 views? I have willingly given hours of my time to contribute and share ideas on this forum and the previous incarnation...and this kind of lackluster response is the sort of thing that makes a person just drop off a forum and go even more lone wolf. Not like anybody would notice.

Maybe I'll just lurk like the rest

Let's hope not.

Not everybody is interested in making trackplans - we see lots of requests for folks who are stumped, though. Personally, other than a very rough sketch, I didn't have one for my layout, and it got tossed when part of the available space was lost to "family considerations". In my opinion, preparing the space for the layout is at least as important as the plan - after all, a great plan will quickly lose its attraction if you spend most of your time cleaning or repairing it, and aren't in a comfortable environment while you're working on, or operating, it.

Wayne

[ocalicreek]

Alright, alright, I'll get a new sketch up soon. I'm on vacation next week which will mostly be spent around the house so there should be plenty of time to get one posted. Wayne & Loren, you are correct, my existing rough sketch is at best confusing. I'll see what I can do. Wayne, your sketch is very close.

The car is a Toyota Corolla, 4 door. It barely fits in the garage bumper-to-bumper when parked in the right hand stall, thanks to the steps into the house and other appliances. A preliminary test before all the stuff got shoved in there by the movers showed that the E wall is really even useless for anything other than a 6-12" shelf and even then up high above 6' to minimize door dings and collateral damage from elbows, backpacks, etc.

The H.P. is for heat pump, although it's actually a gas furnace.

Part of the desire to get the best plan possible is my emphasis on having SOME sort of operating scheme. If I went all Malcolm Furlow I could just start building scenery and eventually lay some track...

Alrighty...thanks for the reply.

[Squidbait]

A better sketch of the space would definitely help. Also, is this a separate room, or just available space in the garage? Are you building a partition wall (like Wayne sketched), or is it going to be open?

Where do you live? What's the weather like? Is this a 4-season space, or are you going to be freezing your bits off in the winter? Are you going to operate with the garage door open?

Do you want a realistic looking/operating layout? If so, it'll be hard to do in this space without some hidden trackage.

I'm assuming we're talking HO scale here? Track preferences? Are you going/willing to handlay turnouts, or do you want everything prefab? Code 100? 83? 70?