I am building a HO Layout in my office. It will be all four walls of a 13' by 10' office. It will have a break by the door. So a train will not be able to run all the way around. Basically I plan to have an enlarged platform in 2 corners for the loop for a mainline. With 18" track (I'm using bachmann easy track) this platform needs to be about 38" or so square. With 15" track it can be smaller. I plan to have most of the loop hidden so I am not concerned about it looking realistic. I want to have trains that are 2 locos and about 20 cars or as many cars as the 18" or 15" curves will support. So, if I am not concerned about looks, will 15" track work just as well as 18" track? I am only going to have 4 axle locos and freight cars like box cars and hoppers. This is modeled after the conrail track that went through my backyard in Bethlehem where I grew up. It is called the Concrete Line or something like that.
Hi Yachtjim, Welcome to Trainboard! 15" is very tight but if you are only using 4 axle diesels you should be fine. I built a layout once on a 36" wide door and used 15" radius curves and had no problems. My 2-8-0 didn't like it, but the 4 axle diesels were fine.
Welcome to TrainBoard!!!!!!! My "gut" tells me that given your Engine/Freight roster plan that 15" should work fine. One way to quickly test it is to just make a track circle on the floor with the 15" and see how well the train runs in a continues curve. If that is to short, toss in a few straight sections to make an oval. Look forward to seeing images of the layout and maybe start a TrainBlog here of the design and construction too. You can upload images of your design and construction here too using our RailImages and/or Album options that you have FREE access to now as a member.
Firstly, WELCOME to TB! I have to say that I didn't even know they made 15" radius in HO scale. 18" is really the functional minimal radius for HO scale. Even with 4 axle power, you will find many of today's better looking and running equipment isn't designed for 18" much less 15". If you have the room, stick with 18". If you can go 20" you'd be amazed at the difference. Personally I consider 24" to be the minimal functional radius since just about anything on the market will run through it. Good luck and keep us updated with your layout build! Oh, and we LOVE PICTURES! EDIT: I guess I type way to slowly! As you can see, you'll get quick replies to questions from our great group of folks here. Even if those answers oppose one another.
One thing to consider is a removable bridge where your office door is. That way you can have continuous running trains and not have to worry about track radius. When not in use, remove the bridge. You never know when the steam bug will bite! That PRR M1 or SP Cab Forward may be your next love!
Layout in the office I had to solve the same problem. For a long time it was a point to point layout. Some high cabinets and the door opening into the room blocked a run around. First step was to replace the high cabinet by cabinets hanging at the wall like in the kitchen. Second step was to install the door opening to the other side. The bridge over the two doors (balcony and entrance) were easy to do. That was the status after the bench work was done and the first temporary run around happened.
Although a 15" minimum radius will work (I think Atlas still offers 15" radius Snap-Track in HO), you will be much happier with a larger minimum radius. There have been several articles in Model Railroader magazine over the years about building a removable or swinging or lift-up or drop-down section of railroad to span the area by a door. Any one of these would work, and be a lot better than a duck-under or 15" radius balloon curves at each end of your railroad.
yachtjim, Welcome to TrainBoard. You are going to like it here. Your question qualifies as one of the most frequently asked questions. It looks like you've already started on the project and my advise will be all but useless here. Still it's worth a read and giving some thought to. I used to have a album in RailImages that illustrated the difference a curve makes. It would of helped you decide whether or not you want to use the tightest HO curve made or choose something else. Unfortunately I've removed it. Nobody paid much attention to it anyway. Besides... I was going against the majority of modelers that want to play with the tight radius curves. Youngsters at the bottom of a learning curve. Give them time...I was there once. Since we are talking HO scale...a quick answer on my part would be NO, I wouldn't use a 15" radius curves...too tight. No more then I would use 9 3/4 inch radius curves in N scale. You can get away with using 15" radius curves but after awhile you'll tire of it. It will limit the variety of equipment you can run on your railroad. You'll learn this as time goes on. However, a small layout with tight radius curves is better then no layout at all. Space limitations sometimes prompt the need for tighter radius curves. Now if we were talking N scale I'd say have at it. A 15" radius curve makes for a nice graceful curve that makes your trains look great and you can run almost anything you want. Push those same curves out to 24" radius or the HO, approximate equivalent, of 48" radius curves and gosh does that look good. The best of luck.
I run in and out of my office non-stop. The bridge or swing thing by the door isn't an option for me. I made a nice layout in RR-Track with 18" loops but with 15" curves it will allow me to have some additional flexibility. I bought some parts and made an 18" oval and it is very gradual for the kind of equipment I am running. That is what prompted me to think 15" would be just fine. I'll never have steam or 3 axle diesels on this track. It is a prototype of what ran behind my house. GP35's, cabooses, hoppers, box cars and tank cars. I am really trying to hide the return track so all I see behind my desk is the single track that used to run behind my house. I have it figured out in my head, just need to get to building to see if it will work. I am going to have Bethlehem Steel at one end with a switcher and a concrete factory and either lumber yard or steel fabricator at the other end. Probably a switcher up there too. I want to have one big train that I can turn on and circle the track, then a smaller train that I can run back and forth between Bethlehem Steel's yard and the facilities at the other end. Thanks for all the help!
15" will work decently. Hopefully you won't need to be any tighter. Welcome to TrainBoard! Boxcab E50
Radius depends on roster. If you go with H0n3 15'' will go for many engines. I've built a Pizza layout with 8.7'' radius. And it works: But - like I wrote - only with special roster. Wolfgang
I would avoid 15" if you can. If you can't avoid it, then just be sure you make your trackwork perfect. completely level
Here is a layout I have been working on as time permits over the last week. The 15" curves are in the loops on each end. I have a Bachmann Dynamis system to run everything. My office is 13'2" by 10'. My desk is drawn at its actual dimensions and current location in the middle. This layout does not get into any of the space I use right now in my office. Just takes up the dead space and any bookshelves I have will go under it. The straight track at the bottom of the image will mostly be hidden. I will probably have it drop down behind the scenery, or just build the scenery up enough to hide it. It will re-appear going up the right side of the image. Perhaps from a road overpass. On the bottom left of the screen it will be hidden by buildings and idustry stuff. What do you all think?
.......Little Engines... Some of you may want to look at these prototype engines: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1105109 This picture is part of album: Black River & Western html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1105109
You would only lose 6 inches if you went with 18" radius instead. Looks like you could pull that off if you only moved your desk a couple inches. Of course, there might be other things in the room (constraints) not depicted in this drawing that we're unaware of.
Well, after 2.5 months here is where I am. Pics below. I had a blast putting this thing together. My wallet went up in flames a while ago. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All worth it though. Just some basic info on how it evolved. Started out with all Bachmann Stuff. EZ Track and Dynamis. Tossed the Dynamis system after about 3 days. Got a Digitrax Empire Builder and just upgraded that to a Super Chief. Most turnouts are Bachmann DCC turnouts but 5 of them are Peco with Tortoise machines. All track is soldered. There are feeds every 6' or so. I built it on 2" foam, particle board and 2X4's. All of the benchwork is finished in nice ply and trim and the trim painted satin black. I have about 7 Atlas Gold Locos and a Silver/Soundtraxx unit, a Bachmann Switcher, and a Proto2000 on the way. Everything is NS, CR, and LV with a few assorted rolling stock from before the CR merger like Penn Central. I'm not much into actually modelling buildings and scenery, I'm more into making things work. So I'll still be playing with signalling and such, probably next winter once work slows down. Considering my impatience with doing the scenery right I think I did a decent job and now I can spruce up areas as time permits. I just wanted to get everything covered. I have my Digitrax system connected to a PC with JRMI. So I do most of the controlling of my layout from the PC. Its pretty fun to hook up to a train in the morning, run it around the track all day, maybe spot a few cars or switch things around a bit while on a long phone call, then in the evening park everything. I highlly recommend it :thumbs_up: I could write a book with everything I have learned putting this together. Of course I probably only know a fraction of what most of you all know, but I can't wait to put what I've learned towards a big layout someday. I think if I would have read more and built less this would have cost me half as much. But the alternative is reading too much and never building. So I'm glad I got this much done. In the next few weeks I'll be finishing up the scenery. I have all the trains piled into a corner right now while I do some track cleaning with my new Cornerstone cleaning car.
