Ok another new guy

[WPGguy]

So after ridicule from friends I have decided to go ahead and convert the "cat's room" to my hobby room. The cats can do without their own room I'm sure.

(My friends didn't seem to bother me much when i spent $650 each on my nitro r/c cars.....though they can hit about 45-50 mph... guess its too "geeky" for them... what I find interesting, is I'm the one with a girlfriend of 3 years

)

Anyhow here is the cat room er uhm hobby room:

And here are 2 plans i kinda just did up:

Legend:
Blue - Water
Green - Trees/forest ect
Grey - Town/city/buildings ect
Brown - Mountains/hills ect
Orange - Tunnel

With limited room, I'm going N scale. That and I think I have a small case of Micromania. If anyone else has any ideas/suggestions please come out with them!

And if your really bored use the top image as reference and maybe throw in a cool layout of your own to help give me some ideas to help out!

I was thinking either going bullet train or semi modern, I'd like to have newer buildings ect... I've also got an exellent hobby shop just up the streat dedicated to trains. Amazing. I was hooked the second I walked in. This has been a plan now for about 4 months. I've got about $500 to get started...not much but I can get wood for free.

Anyhow this is a crazy long post!

EDIT: Incase anyone didn't notice... thats a door bottom right

 

[GeorgeHO]

Welcome to the gauge, your first layout looks promising, lots of room for expansion and adding to it. Your second layout has too many reverse loops and would be a nightmare starting out. In either event, you will need to build access hatches in the corners so that no track is more than 2.5' or 3.0' away from where you can stand. Not a problem, just something to consider.

 

[3railguy]

You are off to a good start. I agree that your second plan is too crowded. It geometrically impossible for N scale's minimum radius of 8 3/4". You really want a mininum radius of 12" in N scale. If you plan to run full length passenger coaches, you want a mininum radius of 16"

If I were you, I would get a circle template and drafting scale from a graphics art store and do a scale drawing. 3/4" = 1 ft is a nice scale to work with. In this scale, you would draw the walls 6 3/4" long for the 9 ft side and 4 1/2" long for the 7 ft side. Once you draw the walls, you can xerox a bunch of copies so you can draw a bunch of different versions. When doing the layout work, a 1 1/2" dia circle would give you a 12" rad curve and a 2" dia circle would give you a 16" radius curve.

I would also widen the isle in the middle of the room. Physically, it is too tight. You might consider an around the walls shelf layout with reverse loops at each end. A 16" or 24" wide shelf works nice for N scale. It also utilizes 4 ft wide sheets of plywood to its fullest (4ft/2= 24" or 4ft/3 = 16")

Have fun.

 

[WPGguy]

Thanks for the scaled down dimensions, I think I'll do that tommorow.

 

[WPGguy]

Also, Thought about doing some kind of side mountain secret military base/military cargo setup , anyone done this? This ... "too out there"?

 

[3railguy]

Bachmann makes a depressed center flat car with a missle. I have one and it is sharp. You could easily paint it in military colors. Micro Trains makes two US Army sets. One comes with flats with military vehicles and the other comes with troop cars.
http://www.micro-trains.com/army%20sets.htm

 

[shortliner]

WPGguy - re your ??? about a railfed Military secret base - go here http://www.all-model-railroading.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2274.0.html This is the first page of a currently a-building N-scale layout, here in UK. You will find a link to the previous layout, that was also a Military one, on that first page. Be warned, it'll take you a while to work your way through them both , so make sure you've mucho time to sit and read !<VBG> Have fun!
Shortliner(Jack)away up here in the Highlands

 

[ezdays]

Welcome to the Gauge, you'll get lots of good advice, just keep asking questions.

I agree that your second layout is too complex with too many reverse loops. As far as your first one, the one comment I have is that reaching to the corner is going to be difficult at best. Your radius there is a bit tight, but even if you increase it, you're going to have trouble reaching the track there.

 

[shaygetz]

Welcome to The Gauge

Uh...your cats have hired the services of my cat "Mr. Fluffy". Seems they want their room back....

 

[WPGguy]

Welcome to The Gauge

Uh...your cats have hired the services of my cat "Mr. Fluffy". Seems they want their room back....

Wow.. I guess George (King George the 1st) and Princess have called the royal guard haha.... <3 my cats


Anyhow, I think I'm going to just take the door right off. That'll give me a full
7x9 room. Too bad I'm in an apt... but at least I've still got 2000sq ft. Back to the drawing boards... ahh well, I''m only 26 plenty of time to figure out a track layout/theme

Thanks for the area 51 post btw. I'm glad I came to this forum. Thanks everyone! I'm gonna head to the train shop tommorow or the next day, see what kinda trouble I can't get myself into

 

[3railguy]

Thanks for the area 51 post btw. I'm glad I came to this forum. Thanks everyone! I'm gonna head to the train shop tommorow or the next day, see what kinda trouble I can't get myself into

You will spend twice as much as you anticipate and wake up the next morning with buyer's remorse which will soon vanish. Then you go out and do it all over again. Train stores that are well stocked with N scale are a big rush and you can't stop making trips there.

I want to caution you about removing the door. You don't want kitty in the train room. This is because N scale engine gears are magnetic to airborne cat hair. I say this from experience. The hair gets sucked into the gearboxes wrapping itself around the gear pins and engines come to a grinding hault. You have to completely dissasemble the gear boxes to get the hair out. It's an unpleasant task.

 

[cidchase]

Truth is Revealed!!

That fateful day in Dallas, that mysterious second shot came from--

The Fluffy Knoll!!

 

[Triplex]

7x9... not the easiest room size to work with. But maybe I can help.

What country/region is this layout going to represent? What exactly do you want to include?

Be conservative about dimensions. Aisles should be 24" wide and preferably 30", even for the one-operator layout this will have to be. Don't assume you can reach more than 30" from an aisle. Allow 9-3/4" radius for four-axle diesels and smaller freight cars, 12" for some six-axle diesels and modern freight cars of comparable length, and 15" (preferably more) for large six-axle engines and passenger cars.

 

[skipgear]

Here is a quick drawing for you to consider. Not fully thought out but something to get you on the right track I hope.

It was drawn fairly loose to use flex track with a min 12" radius. You can expand a few of the turns larger to smooth them out. The hidden section in the back corner would need access from below incase of derailments which would also help solve the reach issue to getting to the back corner on top.

 

[TrainsWinnipeg]

You from winnipeg? or am i mis-reading your name?

 

[cidchase]

He's a-goin' up the river, Bob :cry: :cry: