As per request, I'm starting another thread with the discussion of my layout design. The HO scale O&NE fits in an 11-by-15-foot room, which is our bedroom (the wife and I). The maximum width of the benchwork is 24 inches, with 18 inches being typical. Minimum radius for the O&NE trackage is 22 inches, while I'm keeping the Frisco track to no less than 24 inches. Here's the link to my layout:Oklahoma & North Eastern trackplan All the benchwork except for the portable shelf is up, and all the Frisco mainline is laid. I have most of the yard trackage down, as well as about half of the O&NE spurs. I did have a trackplan drawn out using Atlas' Realtrack software, but couldn't get the darned thing linked to my webpage; thus, the crudity of my drawing. The biggest cars I use are the 54-foot covered hoppers, and I only use 4-axle power on the O&NE- Frisco staged trains may see 6-axle road power (SD45s). ANy suggestions for improvement? I'm open to changes
One of my pet areas for staging is underneath the layout. Thus it can be both hidden, or not, depending on desire. It also opens up the layout for far more staging. If I was to do one change on this layout, it would be to do away with the hidden staging on the right, and make it visible and part of an industry; but instead, have track going down to a lower level atleast 5 inches lower than the table bottom, so you can get at the trains. You are going to be running shorter trains on this layout, so having a grade around 2.5 to 3 might work, especially if you are into the diesel era, if I remember correctly. So a 3 % grade would require around 16 feet of track down. I don't know what you used for construction technique. I am hoping not L girder, as it eats a lot of vertical space making it difficult on some peoples layouts to access underneath the table. You might want to recess the legs in the front so that the track - which would be accessible for staging at the front - underneath the layout, would not have any obstacle. If you have used a flat bench top, you can make L shaped brackets out of plywood or MDF that you would glue and screw to the underneath of the table top, and these could hold your staging track. [ 12 June 2001: Message edited by: rsn48 ]
Wow - you got trackage rights in the bedroom! Amazing My first thought was "He needs yard leads" but then you are modeling a low traffic branch line and can probably get away without them. The only suggestion (and I can't believe I am making this) is that you may want to shorten your yard and staging tracks. I say "may" because the drawing is not to scale - what I am trying to avoid is trains half in the yard and half in staging - see if you can give them a little bit of a run and also you won't be using a staging track as a yard lead Other than that it looks like fun to operate
Thanks for the feedback! The Frisco tracks serve mostly for swapping cars with the O&NE, and since I'm running a short train (the Frisco's Columbus [KS] Switcher), this is not an issue- it'll fit behind the backdrop just fine. This is also where my code 100 track is, so this cuts down on costs (I have plenty of code 100). All the visible track is or will be code 83, and I'm debating whether or not to install code 70 on a spur or two. I'm reluctant to shrink the yard tracks, as I envision one for setout, and one for pickup. Believe me, it wasn't easy getting trackage rights in the bedroom, as the local Bureau of Land Management (my wife) is a tough cookie. The benchwork construction is similar to David Barrow's domino construction- that is, tabletop with bracing. I had considered lowering the staging, but the right side of the layout butts up against the wall, and it's right next to the door. If I had my way there would be a liftout section, but the resulting divorce would be costly I envision this as an urban-type switching layout, with flat walls, half-buildings and painted backdrops, with some stand-alone structures- such as the Co-op.
