A New Year... A New Project

[Len Turner]

I don't know how many "new layout" threads I've seen in the various model railroad forums since New Years Day. Well, here's another one...

Hopefully this will be the first of many posts following the planning and construction of my new HO scale layout. Unlike my previous project, this time we are going to try to have a plan. We'll see how that works out...

So, what are we planning? First, a little history... my last project was more of a diorama than an layout. It didn't take me long to figure out building something to look at wasn't going to be near as much fun as something that actually operated. Since we live in an apartment, space is limited - an office (or study as the floor plan labels it) that I share with the wife. What's more, I wanted to be able to disassemble the layout without destroying it if we needed to move. As I searched the web for ideas, I began looking at the industrial switching layout concept.

Lance Mindheim to the rescue...

So the basic concept for the new layout is a shelf mounted industrial switching layout with a heavy emphasis on switching operations. The benchwork will be in sections so the layout can be disassembled and moved if need be without destroying it. Several of the sections will be hollow-core doors wall-mounted on shelf brackets and two others - box girder - will be removable. The two removable sections are the result of an agreement between management - the wife - and labor - me... No duck-unders...

Room size and section dimensions

The sub-roadbed will be foam sheeting and the track level will be about 50" above floor level. The two removable sections will be stowed under the 24" wall-mounted sections when not in use. Most of the construction techniques come from Lance Mindheim's book, How to Build a Switching Layout.

As for actual progress, I'm still in the planning stage. I'm really going to try to do this one right... A basic track plan will be forthcoming. I still have some cleaning and re-arranging to do in the train room/office but I'll soon be putting together a shopping list for Lowes.

Stay tuned...

[Tyson Rayles]

A worthy project, looking forward to following along.

[faraway]

Looks good. Did you consider to please the management with a hatch or swing in front of the bath and closet? The access for the executive would be even more comfortable (the executive deserves it ) and the operating disruption would be shorter.

[Len Turner]

Tyson, Reinhard, thanks for the comments!
The train room/office is actually our home office. I closed out my business a couple of years ago but the wife still needs office space for hers. So she's in and out a lot during the week, but the evenings and weekends are mine. The door to the living area is a 5' wide bifold door and the closet is a 4' wide sliding door. All the wife's business stuff and office supplies are in the closet. All of my train stuff is on shelving under the layout area. As for the layout, the future track plan will be point-to-point so I can operate it with the two sections removed. With the sections in place, I'll have the luxury of a staging yard, run around and a full loop of track. But that's a ways off. I learned from my previous experience that I need to have all the benchwork in place before laying any track, and I still have a good bit of stuff to do before starting that. I'll get some pictures up when we get started with things.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

[Fluesheet]

Hey Len,

I like how you've decided to handle the Living Room / Closet corner to allow usage of the rooms AND the layout when the removable sections are out.

The 18 x 84 section seems to be on the long end for easy handling. Even if lightweight. I could see myself sweeping off all the scenery on the back wall as I lift the section out and turn it to store it under the 24" section. Have you thought about splitting that section for easy handling (understanding that it would make trackwork more challenging)

Also, I'm curious how you will be supporting the Living Room / Closet corner. A temporary leg, and / or a cleat on the wall in that corner?

[Len Turner]

Matt, Thanks for the reply! You're layout is coming along quite nicely. I've been following it for some time.

The 18x84 section may be a problem, but its going to be 1x2 grid work and foam topping, no plywood. I've used this before and it works out OK if you don't put a lot of stuff on it. It'll probably just have a couple of sidings and some low profile buildings. We'll see how that goes... About the corner, there's just enough room between the door moldings to put a wall-mounted shelf bracket, the ones with slots in them ala' Mindheim :mrgreen: It should support the end of the 12" section OK and have the other section clamped to it. Again, we'll see how that works, too. The 12" section is for the staging yard and run-around. Even with the shorter part of that section out, I'll still have some staging yard to work with. Its all just still on paper, so I have room to make changes, which I'm sure I will...

Thanks again for looking and commenting!

[Ralph]

Hi Len,

Your plan seems like a great way to adapt to your space and needs. I support your "no duck unders" policy. I had one and hated it so I changed my layout several years ago. Looking forward to progress notes!
Ralph

[Len Turner]

Ralph, Thanks for the comments!

This week we took the sawmill diorama to storage and began rearranging the shelving units, desk/workbench, and PC setup, cleaning as we go. I also received the two Lance Mindheim books I ordered, 8 Realistic Track Plans for Small Switching Layouts and How to Operate a Modern Era Switching Layout. I already have How to Design a Small Switching Layout and How to Build a Switching Layout. The How to Design... and How to Build... books have a lot of good info. The How to Operate... book is also very helpful as it has given me a little more insight into the design aspect. I can't say much for the 8 Realistic Track Plans... though. This book was quite disappointing from my point of view. Although the other three books are very informative, at least for the neophyte, I would not recommend this one; IMHO it is lacking in both substance and content. Sorry, Lance...

For now the plan is to get the room situated and begin installing the wall mounted shelf brackets. I'm going to use some of the 12' wide box-grid frame from a previous project for the staging yard sections so that should be going up soon. Any sign of a track plan is still well in the future.

That's about it for this week. As always,
Thanks for looking and commenting!
Len

[Len Turner]

I began putting up the wall-mounted shelf brackets for the benchwork this weekend. This is the 12" wide section over the workbench area. The top of the shelf bracket is 48" above the floor so the layout height should be about 50" or so. The shelf brackets can be raised if need be.

First set of wall brackets


Still doing the "eBay - Goodwill - trash" thing, so not too much more progress this weekend. I'll pick up the rest of the wall-mount brackets and HCD's later this week. Hopefully next weekend we can make some serious progress.

That's about it for this week. As always...
Thanks for looking & commenting!

[Len Turner]

Updating a bit...
I've made a couple of changes in the basic layout, mainly to simplify construction of the bench work a bit. The single 24" section on the right side of the layout is going to be reduced to 18" wide. I'm also going to use HCD's for the two 12" sections. I bought two assembled bi-fold closet door sets - one 24" and one 36" wide. If you disassembled them by removing the hinges, you get 2 - 12" and 2 - 18" HCD's. Perfect for what I was wanting to do. Secondly, I won't have to fool with the box-grid framework I was planning on using - HCD's all the way around. I've also settled on a name - Texas Southeast Belt. Its still going to be a switching layout, based on Lance Mindheim's guidelines, but I'm going to back date it a bit to the post-World War II era, with an East Texas timber-industry related theme. As for a track plan, I'm still considering a lot of options. I've done several "cut-and-paste" composites of LM's several switching plans plus going through a bunch of track plans I've downloaded from the web. The idea is to keep it simple while keeping it interesting. Since I have actually started building the new layout, I'm going to start a layout construction thread.

Thanks for looking & commenting!