All this on a 4x8?

[ocalicreek]

Another great track plan from Byron Henderson. The guy knows his stuff when it comes to planning. I spent quite a bit of time reading through his ideas when planning my own 4x8.

The reason I ended up with a 4x8 in my space was due to the arrangement of 3 walls of windows. Around the walls was just not an option when I needed to open the walls for a breeze on a hot day. And the windows began about 30" off the floor...I much prefer eye level viewing.

Glad I'm not in that house any more! The conditions for building a layout were far from ideal. Now that I can go around the walls in a heated/air conditioned space I'm much happier!

Galen

[Bob C]

Stein...I looked again...I think the inner loop disappears (underground) on the back side (Ed. :oops: OOPS! Sorry Galen, maybe I'll read 'em ALL next time)....more room for scenery, less track congestion, a siding for the outer loop, but must be a stiff grade on a sharp curve at both ends ! Still, a wonderful use of a space and beautifully detailed modeling. Bob C...Now, gotta go look again!

[ocalicreek]

Galen posted earlier...

It's definately a railfan's layout as the operating potential seems pretty limited. I thought perhaps the lowered track went to some kind of staging, but alas, it is only an inner loop. Check out some of the other videos of the same layout to see the neat river crossing and bridge scene on the other side where the outer loop zigs in over the inner loop then back again.

Galen

[nachoman]

Galen, I was faced with the same constraints. I have a window along one wall, an entry door and a closet door along another, and I didn't want to block the window, nor do I like duckunders or lift-outs. Once I figured in adequate access, a 4x8 was all that was left. In hindsight, I wished I had squeezed another 6" into the width, that way I could have broadened the curves just a tad. But, I think I've done the best I could with the space I have.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Well, it is possible to set up a two sided 4x8 for some operational possibilities.

This is how I originally planned my layout, though i used tall city buildings and Highway overpasses to block or obscure different ends of the layout. This works out pretty good. While there are definitely some "holes" where one can see through, the overall "flow" of the layout at one time would direct your eyes to the action in front of you.

I've changed some of the buildings since the below picture (taken in 2007), but this way i could avoid using "scenic dividers" like fascia that were obvious. This way, the layout seems to flow around from scene to scene.

Even though i have an unrealistic amount of engines crammed onto it, you can see there isn't much space on a 4x8 though. If i had started from scratch today, i would have changed some things, but there isn't a whole lot more that can be squeezed in without looking weird.