Designing My HO-Scale Room Layout

[Justinmiller171]

Thanks a ton Bil !!!!

[steinjr]

Some more tips on finding foam, from the web page of California Model Railroad layout designer Byron Henderson:

http://www.layoutvision.com/id44.html

Plan looks good, btw.

Smile,
Stein

[ocalicreek]

The plan looks great and your reasoning is sound. I say go for it!!!

Oh, and any foam, pink, blue or even the beady white stuff will work if it's well supported. The advantage of the extruded foam types (pink & blue) over the expanded bead types is rigidity all by itself. Perhaps a little dumpster diving behind your local appliance store can yield enough for roadbed and scenery?

Galen

[Justinmiller171]

Ok so I am going to be getting the Foam in a few days and I was wondering what the best way to mount it to the walls would be, Should I use some Shelf Holders, or do I have to make benchwork for the whole thing?

[ak-milw]

Either glue it to plywood or make a box grid frame. Then attach it to the walls with shelf brackets, either bought or homemade.


8-)

[Gary S]

I use 2" foam myself because it allows carving down to make ditches and undulations. For my shelves, I built rectangular frames from 1 by material, then added 1/4" luan plywood as a top to the frames, then use water based contact cement to attach the foam to the plywood. Obviously this isn't the only way to do it, and maybe not the best way if it is meant to be portable, but for me, the system is working wonderfully.

Back to the layout... why does the curve at the lower edge look weird? I think it is better with the curve. That design gives another place for trains to come from and go to, and also allows the layout to be easily expanded if you ever move to larger surroundings.

[Justinmiller171]

I think I have finally decided what I am going to do, I will rebuild my Miami Layout in my bedroom using a modified version of Lance Mindheim's East-Rail track-plan. I have added a runaround, changed some of the siding's directions, and changed the minimum radius to 30".

[BR60103]

Justin:
I made a 4x8 Lionel train board for my wife using 2" foam with an inverted L-girder border and 1x2 braces across it every foot.
The extruded foam has the advantage of cutting rather than shredding -- the beady type tends to tear along the beads. However, cutting with a toothed blade makes plastic dust by the cubic foot. I like to use knives (long blades) and hot wire (beware fumes).
Worst permanent problem is that it doesn't hold screws well and nails are worse.

[Justinmiller171]

Thanks David, my first 4x8 layout was built using the beady type of foam, and when I tried to build a lake I ended up ruining the entire layout

[FCIN]

Justin;

Since you're going with modeling the Miami area - be sure to look at this area of Miami - part of Lance's Downtown Spur - for inspiration on your layout. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.79...7&t=h&z=18 It includes the runaround track as on your layout and the spur branching off it that goes past Florida Bottling and to the produce center would fit well with your plan as I see it. Also note that this portion of the prototype also includes the Trujillo & Sons food processing plant. Lot's of potential industry within this small area.

You're more or less doing what I'm doing - prototype/freelance modeling - basing it on a prototype, but including features that you like from various locations rather than trying to model an exact location. My freelance switching layout will be located in the midwest and in the 1978-1984 period in order to include the types of industry I prefer and have worked in the past when I was working for the railroad.

Keep up the good work!

[Justinmiller171]

Thanks for the link! I love browsing Miami in streetview, there are so many good places for industrial switching.

I am not certain I will be modeling Miami, I really want to model Southern Pacific in Northern California too, It will be a tough choice deciding between the two.

[FCIN]

I am not certain I will be modeling Miami, I really want to model Southern Pacific in Northern California too

Well just place your track plan in that area and go with what feels right to you. You have a good plan with lots of operating potential. Start building it and you can decide on the prototype and the locale as you go. Use Google or Bing maps and explore the areas you may be interested in, to get a feel for what industries are in the area, the terrain, etc. Just don't do like me and waste months looking for that perfect area to model - you may never find it!

I've wasted several months now trying to come up with the "perfect" plan and all it's done is keep me from actually working on a layout. I tend to get hung up on trying to duplicate the track arrangements of a particular railroad or area that interests me and of course you have to make a lot of concessions to make it fit the available area and that bugs me. The next thing I know - I find something else that interests me and the cycle starts again. My layout plans have changed several times over the past few months since I've retired for one reason or another and I have nothing to show for it.

It's time for me to get this show on the road and do something, so I'm just going with a freelance track plan, loosely based on a prototype location, but with industries that appeal to me and support the types of freight cars I have acquired or the past few years.

Although I have room to build a large layout, I'm sticking with doing something small that I can get to a reasonably finished state in a reasonable amount of time. Since I'm in what you'd call the fourth quarter of my life, I'd like to score a touchdown before the game ends!

You've got plenty of time ahead of you and your interests will no doubt change several times over the coming years. There are so many themes in railroading it is hard to settle on one thing, but in my opinion, you're off to a good start with a good plan designed for realistic operation. If a year or two years from now, you decide this wasn't what you wanted, then try something new. Main thing is - enjoy the hobby.

[Justinmiller171]

UGH!!!

I am having one of those "Hateful Hobby Moments". I can't come up with a track-plan that excites me enough to build it

( and worse yet right after I wrote my rant below my computer deleted everything I wrote, so I had to write everything twice )

The one track-plan I am exited about is still MRR's Beer-line track-plan, I did a quick sketch in Xtrkcad for you guys to see:


There are a few things about it that I don't like, mainly the use of atlas snap-track, These are unreliable at best, and if I were to use another type of track it would cost alot of money to do.

There are however, alot of things I do like about it such as the fact that Urban railroading in the 1940's is one of my favorite themes, and that the Milwaukee Road is one of my favorite railroads. I also like how immersive the layout feels, from the picture I have seen, it makes me feel like I am really there.
Most importantly, they were able to fit a small yard into the layout, to me this makes it feel like more of a complete layout, rather than just part of a layout like many switching layouts feel like.

If any of you know(or can come up with) a track-plan that accomplishes both of the things I wrote above Please share!!!

[MasonJar]

Hi Justin,

I think that any of your (several) latest plans would make fine layouts. The Beer Line has the added advantage that it is modular/domino construction, so is easily transportable, and configurable to a number of different rooms should that be required.

I think now what you are struggling with is not the plan - they are all more or less the same in terms of operation - but finding the locale that appeals. In your latest two plans you put modern Miami warehouse against retro Milwukee industrial. You've also included SoCal transition (I think) just for good measure.

My advice (worth $0.02) is that you should take a break from the track planning, and do a little digging into the types of buildings, scenery, rolling stock, locomotives, etc, etc, that might go with each of these. Try building a kit of two and see what you think of the results. Look for photos of the area(s) in the era(s) you are interested in. Try looking up historical societies for the railroad(s) you think might serve these areas.

That might help you to refine your layout as a whole and not simply reduce it to a choice between track plans.

My own track plan for my modules did not come together until I did what I am recommending above, and I have been happy with it (and very, very, slowly building it) ever since.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

[Justinmiller171]

Thanks Andrew!

I agree that the track-plans aren't whats bothering me, its just that the Beer-line track-plan gives me that feeling that I get whenever I am around trains, I don't know why only this track-plan appeals to me, I think it is the excitement about the layout, most switching layout boring since they usually focus only on operation.