small O layout

Drizzt

New Member
Howdy. i posted about this over in the o section but it was suggested i also post it here. Ive already got some lionel o gauge stuff(few cars an alaskan GP-9 and a 4-4-2(at least i think gotta get out of storage) ive also got some pretty general measurments of the space im gonna be workin with now. theres aprox. a 4x6(8?)then ill be able to run down a wall thats aprox. 10 foot(sorry for inexactnes all i had was a short tape and not totaly shure. then i can turn and i have a wall about 15 foot then can wrap the rest of the way around again for 4-5 foot. ill have at least 2 foot of room out from the wall. as i said i also have no problems adding some extra space with modules that can be stored later on. Am i spinning my wheels tryin to build a layout in o in this space? im not wanting anything real fancy i just wanna have something to run my trains on. anybody have a layout plan similar to this? i was realy think maybe a dissasembelable(sp?) penninsula might be an option. I might also could work out some staging and the return to a loop underneath the tables. I would prefer the loop but i could work on a point to point im shure
 

Drizzt

New Member
BTW my major goal with the layout is to have a basic yard(maybe one at each end) and some room for the trains to run. Something that will be enjoyable to mess with
 

Drizzt

New Member
had a very good idea for getting a loop.....i could drop a helix type structure down below the track and use under layout track for the loopback. i could also probably get away with some higher grades by using helper locos to get it trains back up a pretty steep upgrade........just a thought i was having
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Hi Drizzt...

Any chance of a sketch of the space? It sounds big enough... at least for HO, which is what I model.

If I understand correctly, it is a "G" shape with about 6-8 feet across the top, 10 feet down the side, 15 feet across the bottom, and 4-5 feet up the opposite side. This is all about 2 feet wide,. except at the top, which is 4 feet wide, and the "tail" of the G, which might be big enough for a return loop?

Do you have a theme in mind? It sounds as if you might like the mountain/wilderness scenery to go with that Alaskan GP-9, so you can watch the train rolling through the landscape...?

A yard in O scale will eat up quite a lot of that real estate - probably the entire 15' wall to be anything near functional. You might want to reconsider -having some staging underneath with your proposed return loop might work.

Any other thoughts to industries, scenes, other trains, themes, time/era?

Andrew
 

Drizzt

New Member
ill try to get you a sketch but im living in a dormer and the ceelings come down pretty low so mountains to scale arent realy an option right now :(. i think most of my straight im gonna use and ag theme with some concentrated industry were i might be able have bigger setups. the yard i have in mind is a small switching setup.....................nothin mayor, my main yard will be underdeck(i believe still plannin but thats the idea) i plan on basing scenery off our local are. i live in SE texas so we have centers of highly concentrated petroleum(and in previous years grain processing), then the tracks split off crosscountry and pass through miles and miles of rice farms and cow ranches, til they hit another major industry center. What ive actualy got in mind is a run between Port Arthur and Galveston. it wil give me a very large industry area in PA a nice long run that wont deviate in elevation enough to interfere with the dum sloping walls(there killin my otpions), and then some more industry and switching stuff at Galveston. I'm realy not shure on era yet. I'm thinking more transitional period because i love steam engines and diesels:). i also enjoy seeing roundhouses in operation and would enjoy trying to incorporate that somewhere(even undertable). comments or suggestions?
 
Drizzt,

I built a small O27 layout on a hollow core door for my boys. I used a couple of O27 manual switches and made a small two track yard. They would rearrange the train and run it around the loop a few times and then use the yard to spot as an industry. It had a log loader. They ran Lionel General type engines and GP-7's from Lionel. I used O27 track for the curves. While it was tight, they did have fun. With your space you are talking about, you could get a nice little railroad up and running. It could also be more than a circle. Down the road, if you get a bigger area for a layout, then you could go to bigger curves.

Greg
 

Drizzt

New Member
Greg- used to have almost an identical setup(still have most of it but its in lionel track) and woudl amuse myself for hours as a little kid. mine just wasnt nailed down
screwysquirrel- thnks for the link the portside operation actual gave me some real cool ideas for industry since most of our freight come out of a port around here anyway..............hmmm wheels have started turning time to go find the trains.....................
 
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