Help Me With A Dilemma

[Gil Finn]

I would not get ride of anything at thos point and go ahead with ypu plans for N gauge.

Later you might wish you had kept it or deciding N scale is for you, then sale off you other stuff.

Never be in a hurry to sell of stuff.

 

[stripes]

Running 2 trains

This is a HO Scale layout that you could run 2 trains on in a 4`x6` area.

I will be setting this up in my new store. A passenger train constantly running on the outside and a small switch operation inside.

David

 

[RobertInOntario]

First, if I were to considering changing scales and if money were an issue, I personally would sell off most of the O gauge stuff and just keep what is sentimental, etc. If money is an issue, you almost have no choice otherwise you'd have to make the change so gradually it would be frustrating.

I inherited a large train collection from my Dad. Most of it was HO (or British OO which is similar) but there was also quite a bit of O, S, TT and N !! I've now sold off all of these other scales which gave me more money to use for my HO (and OO) layout. Again, I sold these because of limited space and cash.

My 4x6' HO/OO layout is limited as well and I'm getting restless to expand it. This fall, I'm gaining access to a bedroom in our basement, :mrgreen: so I plan to turn this into my train room. I can either put my HO layout in there -- or -- possibly create a shelf layout. I also have limited storage so mounted wall display cases would also be great for me!

I'm going to reread/study this thread more because, in a round about way, your situation is similar to mine, sort of!

Rob

 

[RobertInOntario]

This is a HO Scale layout that you could run 2 trains on in a 4`x6` area.

I will be setting this up in my new store. A passenger train constantly running on the outside and a small switch operation inside.

David

Hey, that layout is almost identical to my 4x6 HO layout! except I have only one crossover track and I've managed (instead) to fit a few extra sidings onto it. I also have a passing siding on the outer loop which works well.

Overall, it's a good layout.

Rob

 

[riverotter]

My 4x6' HO/OO layout is limited as well and I'm getting restless to expand it. This fall, I'm gaining access to a bedroom in our basement, :mrgreen: so I plan to turn this into my train room. I can either put my HO layout in there -- or -- possibly create a shelf layout. Rob

Based on my experience, "island" layouts like your 4' x 6' (and most of my early Plywood Pacific RR's) need about 30" access space all around to comfortably be able to walk around the layout to access areas from every edge, so you're looking at a minimum of 9' x 11' (unless you put the 4x6 on wheels :mrgreen. And you want something bigger, so the space requirements would be bigger still...

When I got a dedicated space for a layout, I immediately started looking at shelf-style layout plans. To go back to that hypothetical 9' x 11' room you'd need to house your 4x6 table, if you built a shelf-style layout in that space instead, assuming 2' wide shelves, you'd end up with 64 square feet of layout space and a mainline run something like 32', whereas with the 4x6 you've only got 24 square feet of layout space and a max. mainline run of 16'.

When I got a dedicated space for a layout, I immediately started looking at shelf-style layout plans. I had 8' x 16' to work with. If I had built an "island" style layout I could have maybe squeezed (and I do mean "squeezed"!) in a 4' wide table (giving me only 24" on each of the long sides), 11 long. Instead, I built a shelf-style arrangement with 48 square ft of layout area, and a mainline run of 44' (~3/4 of an HO scale mile!). I could have made the shelves 30" wide and still had a comfortable area inside, but I'm from the "Less Is More" school -- I still fit a double mainline with passing tracks on one long side and a nice-sized yard on the other.:thumb:

 

[RobertInOntario]

Based on my experience, "island" layouts like your 4' x 6' (and most of my early Plywood Pacific RR's) need about 30" access space all around to comfortably be able to walk around the layout ... I could have made the shelves 30" wide and still had a comfortable area inside, but I'm from the "Less Is More" school -- I still fit a double mainline with passing tracks on one long side and a nice-sized yard on the other.:thumb:

Thanks, riverotter. You've really got me thinking now!

I should clarify a couple things first. A friend currently uses this room off & on during the week and he will not need it after this October. So this frees up the room for my use -- almost -- because we still want to have it available as a guest room. So it won't be completely dedicated for my use!

So, when I put my 4x6 in there, it will have to be temporarily stowed away when guests come. Now, if I were to build a shelf layout, it just might be able to function as a guest room and train room at the same time?

I think there's some potential here, but I obviously have some measuring to do and need to check with my wife! I can't remember the exact size of the room, but we do have a double-size bed in there along with night tables, bookcases, etc.

I'll look into this more tonight! :smile:

Thanks,
Rob

 

[stripes]

Guests

"So, when I put my 4x6 in there, it will have to be temporarily stowed away when guests come. Now, if I were to build a shelf layout, it just might be able to function as a guest room and train room at the same time? "

Rob, Can you use a sleep sofa? If it`s to comfortable guests might not leave
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David

 

[RobertInOntario]

"So, when I put my 4x6 in there, it will have to be temporarily stowed away when guests come. Now, if I were to build a shelf layout, it just might be able to function as a guest room and train room at the same time? "

Rob, Can you use a sleep sofa? If it`s to comfortable guests might not leave
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David

That's another good idea -- a sleep sofa or something like that. Anything to free up more room and make the space more usable. ... But I'd still hope the guests would leave at some point!

Rob