Shelf Layouts

[railroader9731]

I have questions for all kinds of input I have a spare room into what i can put a shelf layout in and id like to keep it under 2ft wide and like to go double deck. So what id like to know are some good ideas/tips ( i know i sound demanding ) also ive seen some good shelf layout drawins here for 2x8 ft layouts or round about and some look like something id like to barrow if thats ok with the artists of them. Thanks Harry

[MountainMan]

Kalmbach has published a lot of shelf layouts, and the internet has a bunch of them, too.

[Fluesheet]

Hello Harry,

Double deck - do you want the trains to go from the lower to the upper with out having to move them?
How big is your space?
Do you like scenery, mainline run, switching, or something else?

My shelf layout journey (8' x 10ish") is here - I learned a lot from this project on my own and from the guys on this site:

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[railroader9731]

Thanks for the responses and i have a 9ft 8 inch along one wall and 13ft 2 inch on the other wall, and yes id like to move then with out hands on them so to speak. What i have in mind is perhaps on one wall a town or city and same on the other as it will be dated 1950s to give an idea of the sprawl of freight and buildings to be used.

[teejay]

Take a look at the famous " Gumstump and Snowshoe " two level shelf layout . There are some variations listed as well but it is a neat little layout on two levels .

Terry

[Mike Kieran]

Check out the Tenderfoot Industrial Railroad http://www.shenware.com/layouts/tenderfoot.html. It's my favorite shelf layout design.

[Russ Bellinis]

How do you intend to get from one level to another? How long are the trains to be? If the intention is to make it an industrial switching layout with trains limited to 10 cars or so, a train elevator might be what you need. The problem with a helix to move the trains from one level up to the next is that a decent helix will take up a lot of real estate.

[railroader9731]

Well Russ thats the problem im facing is transfering from 1 level to the 2nd.I can try and do a helix in one corner of the layout but at 22 deg radius wellllll you know lol. As for locos i own 4-8-2s a 2-10-2, 3 FT A&B 1 F3 A unit and a 44 tonner. All rolling stock will be 98% 40ft cars perhaps a stray 50ft car or 2. Also trains will be no more than 6 cars max along wich caboose.

[Herc Driver]

This may or may not give you an idea...this is my shelf layout, approximately 16 feet long by 24 inches wide at the ends and narrowing down to just over 14 inches wide in the middle. It's certainly possible for one of the rear tracks to drop to a lower area or even a middle track, reaching down to another level. The layout is basically a compressed dog bone concept, with a yard in the middle. The long mainlines have passing tracks, long enough for most passenger or freight pulls on our layout. There's a meandering local line that links the various industries together, then connects to the mainline at one end, while the other deposits engines or cars to a repair facility. The yard allows for access to the mainline and yard operations with additional access to the fueling station and another repair facility. Granted, the layout is chocked full of buildings, roadways, and other details...but that's the way my boys and I wanted it. Our goal was to make the absolute most of the limited space we had, with long mainlines for long trains, and a yard for shorter operations.

[railroader9731]

Nice layout you have there but i dont think i can do that in ho scale with out chewing up alot of realestate. But all in all i think i can do it in one corner and create one heck of an incline for a round about 16" spaceing between decks. Hmmmmm perhaps a call for helper locos??????

[Herc Driver]

My apologies...I didn't realize you were doing HO.

[railroader9731]

No that be me forgot to mention scale

[railroader9731]

Well i just tried the 2-10-2 on 18 degree radius and it looks odd but works so i can cram a loop going to the next lvl in a 3ft 2inch area.

[teejay]

Nice layout Mark ...looks like there is lots of action .

Terry

[Tyson Rayles]

I don't recall seeing Mark's layout before, most excellent!

Back on the two decks, I would agree that an incline would probably be best. With 20 plus feet to work with it really shouldn't be too steep.