Good evening. I am looking at adding an upper level to my railroad design. Is there a normal or recomended hieght above the first level? My current table is 45" above the floor. I am having to change because of lose of more of my railroad space.
I find 12" comfortable for my N scale layout, if the lower scene isn't too deep. I'm starting to work on my upper level right now and some places are more like 10", but that's fine with me because the lower level will be nothing more than traintracks running alongside the beach. If you envision a deeper scene it might be best to go for more separation.
With a deeper scene, or depending on the interacting dynamics of the geometry of the upper and lower deck (eg, two reversing loops over and under creating an almost tunnel effect if the separation isn't too broad), will determine the amount of separation. My personal preference is more separation that less, as the upper level doesn't compete as much for attention. On my N scale layout, I have 20 inches of separation at 38 inches and 58 inches. On your layout, unless you are 6 foot 4 or something, 20 inches of separation at 45 and 65 inches might be too much. But 15 inches of separation might work very well. Find a book case or refrigerator shelf that is close to 60 inches high and see how you like it. I think you'll find you like looking at the engines at or near this height.
Welcome to Trainboard, oldscout50! As Rick pointed out, the depth of the scene and other geometries will determine what works best. What's most important is the depth of the top deck(s). I used 15 inches vertical separation for one three-deck side of my layout. The first deck is at 34 inches high, and is 28 inches deep. The second deck is at 49 inches high, and started out as 12 inches deep. I later added 3 inches in width. The top deck is at 64 inches, and also was expanded from 12 to 15 inches wide. I'm 6'-3" tall, so the height was not a problem for me, although my 5'-3" wife needs a stool. I discussed this at length on this thread: http://www.trainboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/9/t/004090/p/1.html?
