This is my first ever O Scale loco. Started in HO Scale in 1978, switched to N Scale in 1999, switched back to HO scale in 2009. Hobby was paused from 2013 until I started building my roster again in May 2020. Now I am multi-scale between O Scale and HO. It is my wife's fault and all started with us deciding if we wanted the HO Scale, S Scale, or O Scale Polar Express for Christmas. We loved the O scale....which got my juices going...and next thing you know.......BOOM, my 1st O scale loco. My O scale shelf layout will really be mainline railfanning with the old Hill Lines (Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Burlington). The detail on this thing blew me away.
I posted the O Scale Track Plan in the Layout Discussion thread, but thought I would post it here as well. The purpose of the O Scale layout is really for railfanning mainline trains set loosely in the 1940's with some overlap into the 1960's mainly so that I can have the option to run some the later Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and CB&Q locos. But mostly the era will focus on Steam with the same roads. The shelf layout will consist of two mainline tracks with a third passing siding track. I am planning on Legacy Control and will probably not venture into MTH world (with MTH closing). I have however thought about using the MTH TCU (Track Control Unit) with Lionel Power House units and then Legacy tied into the the respective track blocks from the TCU......But, since I am just starting, I keep trying to apply the KISS principle and just stick with Lionel locos and Legacy. If I get the fancy to do something more advanced down the line, well then that will be an option. Right now, I only have my beast loco posted at the start of this thread (a great start) and that's it. The O-Scale Polar Express is enroute but that is the property of my wife....she wanted the O scale and as stated got my bug started in O scale.....plus how cool is it that my wife wanted a train of her own . The basement train room will host my son's starter HO Layout (currently he has an 4x8 plywood table with a loop of HO and a Pixar slot car track) and the O Scale Layout around the walls. In the far future, this space will host my second HO layout along with the O scale layout (I am hoping my son stays train bitten and we build something together). The O scale layout will be 65" from the floor which for me is a little below eye level with narrow shelves allowing very basic scenery and a few building flats on the backdrop. The first picture is the overall train room with my son's layout in the upper right corner (and partly beneath the O scale layout): The Second Picture is the planned O Scale Shelf Layout:
Been forever and a day since I have posted anything on Trainboard. I find myself much more of a passive reader online compared to years past. I am still working on building the train room for the the basement layout. The design has changed greatly with two O scale layouts and 1 HO layout, stacked. A O-36 layout running small scale sized equipment and Traditional O size equipment (think Lionchief and MPC sizing). Layout height will be 27" off floor. Middle level will be HO at a height of 45". The Upper level will be a O Scale 1/48 layout with mostly O-72 and larger curves and O-54 section on a peninsula. I am still tweaking the plan. Layout construction has been delayed years and I am not expecting to have the O scale layouts operational until sometime in 2028 based on current project timelines. There is other remodeling and projects ahead of this. In the meantime, I am building a O scale shelf loop track in my office to run mostly a modernish BNSF coal train (and of course can run my other equipment that are currently shelf queens). I will be able to operate conventionally and with Legacy. I have a Lionel Base 3 on order for the basement O scale layouts and will move the Lionel Base 2 to my office. There are also two 4x8 no frills layouts in the uncomplete train room now. One for HO and one for O scale with O-36 curves. Both layouts can run two trains at a time. HO is DCC and DC while the O scale 4x8 is conventional and Legacy. I have not created a HO layout plan yet that I am happy with. Being that the HO layout will be the last one built, I have lots of time to come up with something Since 2001 we also have setting up a 4x8 O guage Christmas layout in the living room. I rebuilt the one for this year starting in May 2023. The layout comes apart in four sections which makes moving it to it's storage home in garage much easer.
