I am a Newbie to N Scale. I have owned my N Gauge stuff for over 6 years but, have never started a layout. I have an area in the basement that will allow me to run along two walls and end up with a U shaped layout. I have looked at some videos on Youtube and the narrow runs along the wall appeal to me. I want to scratch build some buildings (I have done some of that in S Gauge) and I have quite a bit of landscaping material available. Scratch building is probably my main interest. Having said that, I am looking forward to operating the trains. I have done very limited modeling with my American Flyer Steam Engines. I am going to have many questions as the layout progresses but, the first I have may seem elementary but, how wide should the benchwork be for the runs along the wall. The legs of the U will be about 12' and the run between them could be up 8'-10'. I was thinking that I would make the legs of the U 2' x 12' but, before I do that, should they be a little wider (30"??) or, more narrow (15"-18")? I have a turn-table and I would like to incorporate it in the layout. I thought that might be a good starting point with my train yard, turn-out, and roundhouse. Those along with a staging area modeled on one of the legs of the U. Please give me your thoughts. Is the width really that big of a deal. Other than radius, would the wider area be a big advantage?
I'm thoroughly confused over some things you're stating : " the legs will be 12' " . Either you don't know what legs are including the ones which allow you to walk, or you mean your layout will stand twelve feet high "and the run between them could be up to 8'...." ! Legs are vertical. 'stringers' run horizontally between them..You don't actually state what scale you will be employing because you scratch build in S..Since you are going shelf type you'd do well to obtain a back copy of Model Railroader Mag. which features Bill Darnaby's " Maumee Route ". He's a great modeler, and is entirely shelf type with very prototype running and excellent scratch built structures and explanations of it all. I've gone back to this, my favorite expose', many many times. Two more: In my opinion you'd be better off skipping huge end areas filled with 180 Deg. return curves and instead builld a 'point to point' layout. Real RRs don't go in a circle returning to whence they came. They are basically long squiggles with wyes, turntables, or balloon tracks at the ends of the line to reverse direction. Especially steam. Again, for me, and many others this extra work of reversing adds realistic, time consuming RR duties equaling extra fun and realism to your sessions. A looped MRR or 'continual ' is easier as you can sit back and watch the trains go by. But after a while it can become boring and seem silly seeing the same train go by over and over. Point to point gives (again, me), a real sense of railroading, having to do the real moves. Lastly, make sure your RR has an interchange or junction with 'another' RR; where you spot cars for them to pick up and vise versa. Otherwise, how does a C&O hopper or SP reefer get on your tracks without a connection to the outside world ? Work slowly and methodically. Don't rush to buy everything at one time or build the the layout lickedy split or you wind up with hastily made areas needing to be redone later. Remember, " There's no crying in baseball " and there's no anger in model railroading...... Have fun, Mark
One of the beauties of n-scale is that a narrow 'leg' along the wall still allows for a high scenery content and track area available. That said using narrow runs between blobs on each end allows for long main runs and still room for everything else. So, a narrow bench along the 'leg' of abour 12" ought to be a good idea for you as a start. I agree with Mark that having those blobs on each end allowing for trains to just go around n around does get boring if that is all you can do. And yet, after a stress filled day, it can also be very relaxing to just sit back, set a train or two to going around, and just enjoy watching and listening to them roll! The Maumee layout he mentions is an awesome one and does a good job showing off the shelf arrangement. There are many others in the 'Great Model RR' and 'Model RR Planning' issues as well as all over trainboard here! Keep on looking and then plan then start building!!
Mark, Thanks for replying to my post. It is funny how we can write something and mistakenly suggest that others know exactly what we are talking about. The "legs" are literally the waferboard top of the benchwork. The benchwork will eventually be U shape. The layout will be N Scale. Yes, I own some American Flyer but it takes up so much room to build a layout in S Gauge. I apologize for not being more clear on what I am building and the scale. All the measurements I mentioned were for the bench work top. I will be building two sections of the benchwork tomorrow. I hope to start laying track this next week. I will be posting some photos as I progress. If I glue the styrofoam to the waferboard, what would be the best way to lay the track. I have plenty of cork roadbed but, should it be glued to the foam or is there a better way to hold it in place? How is the track held to the cork road base? Will small nails hold the track to the cork or will that work it's way loose over time.
The 2'x12' measurement is literally the waferboard surface of the layout. 2' wide and 12' long (running along one wall). I am thinking that 30" wide would be better.
Although there are many who do it differently, I always draw up a track plan to fit my available space first (using Cadrail), then,I start drawing up my benchwork. Designing layouts to fit a space is always a matter of give a little here, take a little there until it "fits" and functions like you want it to. Although you've got a pretty good idea of what space you have, just like I do in my entertainment room, I suggest putting together a precise track plan before you even start to worry about building a "table top". Remember, you can always build benchwork to fit your trackplan, but you can't always make a track plan fit pre-built benchwork. Here are some general guidlines: (1) One scale mile in N-scale is exactly 33 feet, so no matter what, in your available space you're not going to have much scale distance, which is generally the case with 99% of home layouts. (2) The bigger the curves, the better. An 18" radius curve is considered to be "generous" in N-scale and just about everything will run on it without too much hanging over. This doesn't mean you can fit an 18" radius curve on benchwork that's 36" wide since the radius is taken in the middle of the track. You should have at least a couple of inches between the outer rail and the edge of your benchwork so add 4" to the rail nearest you to easily calculate where the layout edge will be. My minimum radius on my layout is 24", but I attempt to make larger radii most of the time, because I run Big Boys, Turbines and other long engines as well as a lot of passenger trains. If you're interested in smaller prototype trains and engines, a 15" radius will let them run okay and look halfway decent too. But, put a long engine and long cars on a 15" curve or smaller and it starts to look odd. (3) What is most pleasing to the human eye is track that is not parallel to the layout's edge. Although there inevitably is trackwork that runs parallel to a layout's fascia on every layout, long stretches of ruler straight layout fascia OR track makes it look like the least amount of either. Add a curve here and there on both straight tracks and your layout fascia for the best, most pleasing results. (4) The "best" layout railhead to floor height for standing operation, viewing and working on the railroad is between 50" and 56". My layout's "base" railhead to floor height is exactly 52" and is much better than my previous layout's height of 46". If you are going to roll around in an office chair to operate your layout or to watch trains or something similar, then this does not apply. (5) It is well-accepted that the longest functional reach on any layout should be right at 24". Even though you may have scenery that extends further than that, 24" is about IT for doing such things as putting a car or engine back on the track. (6) One of the main advantages of N-scale is its scenery-to-track-ratio, and although really narrow shelves can make for layouts that operate okay, if you want your layout to have the visual impact of looking like trains running through mountains, hills, over gorges, washes and canyons, then position your track so you've got some space between it and the edge of the layout, and even more space between it and the back edge where the skyboard starts. If you've got a return track on the same side of the layout which is what is sounds like you're going to have, then having some space between the tracks will add to their virtual separation and what you can do to visually separate them from each other. Well...that's about it for now. Gonna go hit the sack. Have fun! Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
Also, I'll venture to say, most of us would hope, if you haven't already,you'll go DCC and not old, silent, analog DC power pack throttle control. This is not poo pooing DC. We all had it too once upon a time and some still do. It's just that digital control has broken the silence barrier..Also, its actually much easier to hook up and begin running because one doesn't need to add blocks (train length track sections insulated from one another ) for segregating locos from one another throughout the RR. Command control (or command center) and decoders in the engines now do all that plus horn, whistle, exhaust , bell, headlight other sounds, programs really make it realistic ....I like NCE. But there are others as well received. A Little more expensive but look what you get.. Ad for loco must say 'sound' or 'sound on board ' or else it's DCC, but no sound (yet)......
Is your. U shape layout going to be point to point, or will you have a loop at each end? Like stated in another reply a N scale mile is not a very long run at 33 feet. I am building basically a u shape but with a peninsula. At one end and one in rhe middle of the other. My "legs" are 2ft wide this gives me plenty of seperation between both main lines. Peninsulas are 4 ft giving me 20in radius curves. . The good thing with N scale is you can be creative in breaking up the train with view blocks like terrain, tall buildings and even removable backdrops. A loop may not be "prototypical" but neither is a 2 or 3 mile point to point. You do what will make you happy and enjoy the hobby. I like having a train run on a continuous loop while i run a local switching industries. Keep us posted Joe
