Ideas for a future college layout

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Personally, i also agree with tom. Build up your collection. While i suppose its not impractical to build a short under-bed layout, ask yourself-

Do you know the exact size of your dorm, and who else will be in there with you? how much space you really have under the bed?

If it were me personally, I would just lay down a stick of track with a stub siding or two, with an interesting industry, and a "main line", so that what ever trains you have, they look at home either switching or passing by in photos. You don't even need it to really be operating (although powering for tests is a good idea).

I would make a collapsible back drop out of cardboard or something, so that your trains have a background as well, making it look like a small diorama box.

that's just me though.

****Editted to go with Ralph's Comment below*****

If you DO have another person in there with you, they may very well NEED all the spare space just to store their own belongings. While it may be possible to place a layout in there, You have to be mindful of other people's needs if you share a dorm, and a small layout is not necessary.

[Ralph]

I echo the concerns about how much space you might have. In one dorm room I had years ago the beds were on pedestals with no space under them. You might also end up with a bunk bed arrangement and find your roommate claimed the bottom one! I'm guessing you might be lucky to claim a shelf on the wall for a diorama or a back and forth switching move for one industry. I don't mean to be discouraging but maybe focusing on the occasional kit at your desk might be the sway to go until you're sure you actually have some space to build in.

Ralph.

[tomustang]

Since you also said you're going to go to schooling within a half hour of you home, why waste money on room??

[Justinmiller171]

A few things I need to clear up:

1.I will not be living in a dorm, but I will be renting a place with some friends. Of course I Could live with my parents while I am in college, but I will have to talk to the "Secretary of the Interior" about that.

2. IF I do build a timesaver, it will be an expanded versions, about 1x6, this will allow spurs long enough for comfortable switching.

3. I want to have a layout, I don't think I can live with just building a collection.

4. I am still looking for ideas, if anyone has any ideas PLEASE post, I really appreciate everyone helping me.

[Justinmiller171]

and if I'm not mistaken, isn't most of your equipment from the modern era (1970's on)?

I have a few pieces of modern day rolling stock, but most of it is transition era, I only have 2 boxcars, a hopper, and a reefer that are modern day.

However, my favourite loco of all time is the Southern Pacific SD45T-2, That is one of the only Pros I see to building a modern era layout.

[Brakie]

However, my favourite loco of all time is the Southern Pacific SD45T-2, That is one of the only Pros I see to building a modern era layout.
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Here's some free advice based on my experience to mull over..

If that is the only reason to model modern I would rethink my choice of eras long and hard..

I wish now I went with my first choice PRR in 64-65 instead of chosing the mid 70s for my C&HV and modern for my NS/CSX for my ISL.

[FCIN]

... I would rethink my choice of eras long and hard..

I would certainly agree with statement! Since you don't seem to really know what you want to model at this point; stop worrying about that for now and spend time off and on comparing different eras and their merits and just try and do something simple to keep up your interest.

As for a 1x6 foot layout let's look at a couple of plans that would fit that space. Here's John Allen's original plan (more or less) fitted to that space:     The plan uses No. 4 turnouts and I'm not really sure what you could do with something like this other than its intended purpose as a game or puzzle.

Here's a simple plan I threw together that in my opinion is a lot more realistic and practical for that space:     This plan uses No. 6 turnouts, but does give you some room to switch a couple of cars from the interchange track, and be able to switch cars at the industry. It could represent a very small short line operation. Your NW-2 would be great for such an operation as would a GE 44, 45 or 70 ton locomotive.

[Mike Kieran]

Justin, when choosing the era that you want to model, one thing to consider is the equipment used. A 40 foot box car is 6.5 inches long, a 2 bay hopper or covered hopper is 5 inches long, a 50 foot box car and a cylindrical covered hopper are 8 inches long. This affects how your layout functions in relation to your capacities. You have to figure that no more than 50% of your track capacities should be used.

With that in mind, I have two layout designs that could fold under your bed with room to spare. The first one is a 56x38 inch loop that folds in half (28x38 inches) while the second one is 81x12 inches and folds into 3 27x12 sections.

[Justinmiller171]

However, my favourite loco of all time is the Southern Pacific SD45T-2, That is one of the only Pros I see to building a modern era layout.
----------------------------
Here's some free advice based on my experience to mull over..

If that is the only reason to model modern I would rethink my choice of eras long and hard..

I wish now I went with my first choice PRR in 64-65 instead of chosing the mid 70s for my C&HV and modern for my NS/CSX for my ISL.

Well that's not the only reason, it's just that the transition era has better scratch-building opportunities, shorter cars, and is more historical.

But modern-day has my favorite loco, Has more interesting freight cars, and bring back memories.

I won't really be able to decide which era I like more until I get my current layout to "Good Enough"

[Justinmiller171]

IF I did build a timesaver I would use this plan

[Russ Bellinis]

Justin, what ever design you come up with, I don't think you can use a large locomotive to switch it. In 6 feet you are going to need to limit yourself to something small and use shorter rail cars. If you use an Sd40-2t and 3 80 foot boxcars as an example, you will probably not be able to do more than just run them back and forth on a straight track, and then you will probably only be able to move a foot or two. I just measured one of my 64 foot Trinity reefers and it looks to be 10 inches long over the couplers. 85 foot passenger cars are 12 inches long. I don't have a tunnel motor since the Santa Fe didn't have them, but I suspect they are 12 inches long. A tunnel motor and three Trinity reefers would take up somewhere around 3 1/2 feet of space on the layout. You can't even clear a switch if you are taking up that much space on a 6 foot layout!

[Justinmiller171]

Justin, what ever design you come up with, I don't think you can use a large locomotive to switch it. In 6 feet you are going to need to limit yourself to something small and use shorter rail cars. If you use an Sd40-2t and 3 80 foot boxcars as an example, you will probably not be able to do more than just run them back and forth on a straight track, and then you will probably only be able to move a foot or two. I just measured one of my 64 foot Trinity reefers and it looks to be 10 inches long over the couplers. 85 foot passenger cars are 12 inches long. I don't have a tunnel motor since the Santa Fe didn't have them, but I suspect they are 12 inches long. A tunnel motor and three Trinity reefers would take up somewhere around 3 1/2 feet of space on the layout. You can't even clear a switch if you are taking up that much space on a 6 foot layout!

IF I build a timesaver I would use a short switching engine, Maybe a f-unit or a small steam engine, I was just using a large engine in Xtrkcad for testing.

I'm not going to decide on anything soon, I will start doing some actual track-planning in a few months.

[Russ Bellinis]

Wait until you are in college and in your new living situation before you "cast it in concrete." You may find that the work load in college does not allow enough time to do much model railroading.

[Justinmiller171]

Wait until you are in college and in your new living situation before you "cast it in concrete." You may find that the work load in college does not allow enough time to do much model railroading.

Yep that's what I was thinking, Although I may at least lay track and wiring before I move out, that way I can at least operate it.

[Justinmiller171]

I was also thinking of doing a version of alcanman's Palmetto Spur layout, It would be alot more prototypical than a Timesaver.