Designing My HO-Scale Room Layout

[Justinmiller171]

The Construction of my Ho-scale East-Rail Miami layout is nearing completion and I Began thinking of what I would do when the weather gets too bad to go out to my trainroom to work on my layout, I live in the California Foothills and During Winter and Spring the weather can get pretty bad, Heavy Rain( And Even Snow) During winter, and Rain and Hail during spring. I Decided to build an around the walls shelf layout in my bedroom.

My Main Inspiration for this layout is once again Lance Mindheim. I was reading through the December 1996 Issue of MRR and it featured his Ho-scale Monon Layout, He had to build it in a bedroom so he built it 70" off the ground, I will be doing the same, I will be using a stool to work on the layout.

Here is a list of Needs and Wants for those who would like to help me Design the Layout.

Needs:
Shelf Layout with shelves no deeper than 24"
Continuous Operation
High scenery to track ratio
Uses Atlas track with Minimum Radius of 22" and #4 Turnouts

Wants:
Small Freight Yard
A good amount of Switching
an Interchange Track
Easy to take apart (built in 2x6 or 2x8 pieces)
Ability to have 2 Operators

I have Included a Xtrckcad file of my room and basic Benchwork, I will be posting some of my Ideas later but if anybody is bored and feels like designing a layout please do so!

Edit: Another Inspiration for this project was some of Steinjr's Wonderful Designs he made for me back when I was too stubborn to realize I needed a smaller layout, http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/show...p?t=118794

[Justinmiller171]

Here is my First Idea for the Layout, it is based on one of Steinjr's Designs

[Gary S]

Seventy inches!!! Woah, that is up there! And I sometimes think my layout is too high at 58 inches and I'm 6 foot 4 inches. But, putting it up high will certainly keep it out of the way!

[Justinmiller171]

The only concern I have with it being up that high is that it will be easy for one track to block the view of the trakc behind it if there are cars on it, I hope usign a stepping stool will solve that problem.

[Gary S]

Justin, how tall are you?

[Justinmiller171]

I'm about 6 feet tall so...... oh! I guess I will need to lower the benchwork a little bit

Maybe 67 inches or something it that area will do.

Thanks Gary! Without you asking me that I might of built a layout I wouldn't be able to see

[P5se Camelback]

Get a tape measure ...

Pull it out to 67 inches ...

Stand at arm's length from the wall ...

Hold the tape measure out at arm's length, up against the wall, with the end touching the floor ...

Now ...

... ask yourself this question ...

How high should the layout be?

... Think about workin on the layout ...
... think about operating the layout ...
... think about rerailing the car that
derailed on the rearmost track ...

Now ...

... ask yourself this question ... again ...

How high do I really want the layout be?

[Justinmiller171]

Alright, I measured and the correct height for an Eye-level layout for me is 62 inches, it isn't not about what height I want it to be because it NEEDS to be high so that I can still use my bedroom.

[ocalicreek]

Most layouts that high I've seen aren't that deep...more like 6" to 18" max, under 12" the norm. My own layout is 24" deep (deeper at the corners, naturally) but the layout is just high enough that it rests right under my arm if I extend it straight out from my shoulder.

Like you, I need it to be high to clear obstacles in the room as it is a shared space. This has ramifications on the rest of the design that should be planned out in advance, like uncoupling and throwing turnouts. Neither is easy to do on a high layout without track magnets and turnout machines. I have not installed magnets on my layout yet (nor am I planning to) but I may have to after operating a while. In my case I can use a stool because what's beneath the layout isn't much deeper than the layout itself. If there's a wider obstacle like a desk or a bed you may have to stand on that. hock:

None of what you're planning is impossible, but you may want to go narrower for comfort's sake. And it was the weather that brought me indoors from my garage layout plans. The garage was not heated and during the summer is open alot of the time for my kiddos to get their bikes & toys, creating alot of dust. Plus, spiders. Not widows, mind you, but even so they're not fun to deal with, whatever they may be. I had to really downsize my plans for a grand empire, but so far I'm very happy building a smaller layout and looking forward to getting trains running sooner (I don't count tooling back and forth in and out of staging 3' as 'running')

Good luck,

Galen

[Justinmiller171]

I tried planning a skinnier version, but the shelves were much too short to have much on them. Uncoupling shouldn't be a problem since at eye level I could easily use an uncoupling tool to twist the coupler pins. Switching a turnout would be a problem though, maybe using an under-the table switch machine would work.

Anyways, I am thinking of building a layout more based on Lance Mindheim's layout, with much less track and more scenery.

[MasonJar]

I would think you'd be able to get that track plan onto an 18" shelf quite easily. In most cases you seem to have almost 12" on the "room side".

With respect to modular construction, anything over 4 feet long, while still light enough if built properly, will likely require two people to move it just because of the "bulkiness".

Andrew

[Justinmiller171]

I just took another look at the track from the layout I bought and realized how oversized the ties are, I always assumed code 100 ties were only a little bit bigger than the code 83 ones, but they are about twice as big

I am thinking of making an ON30 layout, that way the ties won't look so oversized.

[ocalicreek]

On30? really?

While Miami layouts are trendy right now, thanks to the fine modeling of Lance M., our very own Kurt, et al, is that really what YOU want to model? If so, stick with that. If you're discovering that modern, industrial urban south florida is not for you, then switch to something else. Otherwise, stick with it long enough to find out!

There is a real, tangible benefit to taking something to completion before moving on to something else. (Yes, I know, this from the guy with too many irons in the fire...but at least they're all in the same fire!)

Sounds like you're really not sure what you want.

You're in the right place to try out new ideas and get fresh perspectives and share your modeling dreams, but many folks around here (myself included, if you haven't figured that out yet) are more about modeling than dreaming so don't be too disappointed if you hear more posts like this one, urging you to build more and dream less. There's always room for dreaming, especially when you've got a layout or model built as a jumping-off point.

Let me encourage you to keep building your current layout and carry it through a while longer. If something is not right, tear it out and fix it, but keep moving forward.

Galen

[Justinmiller171]

I will still finish my Current Miami Layout, I am just talking about designing a layout to build when the weather gets too bad to go out to my train room to work on my Miami Layout. I will not be starting this layout until I at least finish the basic scenery on my Miami Layout.

I am still looking for ideas, I am drawn to ON30 because I will be using code 100 track and it is very oversized for Ho-scale, I will also be able to use the turntable I got, I like scratch-building with wood, and most importantly, I will be able to build it modular

[Justinmiller171]

I just visited my local model-railroad club's layout and they use code 100 for most of their layout and it still looks great, I may still go with ho-scale after all...