Benchwork size question

[flatbedcowboy]

Hey guys its been a long time since I posted last, but I have recently had time to return to designing and dreaming of my new layout.

I have decided that i want to build a prototype railroad of the little line that I drive passed every day, its called the Boise Valley Railroad, this section is 11 miles (I only want to model 2 or 3 miles) and serves a few medium size industries like Simplots (potatoes), Simplot Soil Builders (fertilizers), DairyGold (milk), and a few small industries.

My main question is Im not sure how to figure out how long and wide of a layout I need.

The dementions from a map I have measures out to 13,714.3 feet by 1,714.3 feet. (The map is like 24" long and 3" wide). Im trying to figure out how wide and long my table top needs to be.

I am modeling in HO scale


Thanks

 

[Cjcrescent]

Hey guys its been a long time since I posted last, but I have recently had time to return to designing and dreaming of my new layout.

I have decided that i want to build a prototype railroad of the little line that I drive passed every day, its called the Boise Valley Railroad, this section is 11 miles (I only want to model 2 or 3 miles) and serves a few medium size industries like Simplots (potatoes), Simplot Soil Builders (fertilizers), DairyGold (milk), and a few small industries.

My main question is Im not sure how to figure out how long and wide of a layout I need.

The dementions from a map I have measures out to 13,714.3 feet by 1,714.3 feet. (The map is like 24" long and 3" wide). Im trying to figure out how wide and long my table top needs to be.

I am modeling in HO scale


Thanks

First off, its difficult to help someone via forums without much more information. We need things like room size, available space for the layout. Then we need things like what you want. A point 2 point layout, continuous running, island layout, around the walls, switching layout, how many trains, one operator , 2, or more, etc.

Obviously there is no way to fit that area the map depicts without massive compression, omissions of scenery, maybe even loss of some industries, track etc.

Also we won't design the layout for you. You will do that! But we will do everything short of that! Your job is first to deliver the information in the top paragraph.

Then once we have the info, we'll make suggestions of what you can do. It then becomes your job to "filter" out from what we say and then you decide what will work best for you, not us, and place it in the design.

 

[waltr]

Well HO scale is 87.1 to 1, so 1 mile (5280 feet) in the prototype is 60.6 feet in HO.

measures out to 13,714.3 feet by 1,714.3 feet.

To do this fully to scale your layout needs to be 157.5 by 20 feet.
Most of us never have that amount of space so we must compress the prototype as Carey said. Even sidings to service industries are shorter than the prototype.
Start by sketching the track layout and buildings of the industrial areas you wish to model to scale. Then see what will fit into the room (space) you have available. Shorten any sidings to hold the number of cars you think would be enough to service that industry.
Draw it all to scale to get an idea of how it will fit together and into the space you have.
Lastly, download and learn to use one of the Track layout programs so you can draw (and easily change) the track layout. Then post here for opinions.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[cuyama]

Im trying to figure out how wide and long my table top needs to be.

A monolithic rectangular table is rarely the best way to build a larger layout.

Unless you have a spare gymnasium at hand, you won't be able to model this area to scale (let alone the staging that would represent the unseen railroads and distant yards that feed the modeled scene). That's when understanding some basic principles of layout design become important.

As others have noted, starting with your room dimensions, obstructions, entrances, etc. is the best way to begin.

Also, this book is a must for anyone designing their own layout:
John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation

Good luck.

 

[flatbedcowboy]

Well HO scale is 87.1 to 1, so 1 mile (5280 feet) in the prototype is 60.6 feet in HO.

To do this fully to scale your layout needs to be 157.5 by 20 feet.

Good luck and have fun.

I think this is more or less what I was looking for. My first post makes me sound dumb, but I was mostly looking for an exact answer and then I can guesstimate sizes and compressions from there.

On my original map, I definitly know that compression is key as who would want to see 40 feet of corn fields?!

What my main plan is, is to model all the industries on the short line, and where it meets the UP main with a few right-of-way industries and then compress the fields inbetween, and cut out the city. Also there are several warehouses that are 1200 feet long in real life that are going to be cut down and several that I am going to omitt. The layout is going to depict a 2 mile stretch of mostly daily service switching, on a point-to-point along the wall sectional (moveable) layout.

Sorry if it made me sound crazy but I always have to do my math the long way.

 

[Cjcrescent]

I think this is more or less what I was looking for. My first post makes me sound dumb, but I was mostly looking for an exact answer and then I can guesstimate sizes and compressions from there.

... The layout is going to depict a 2 mile stretch of mostly daily service switching, on a point-to-point along the wall sectional (moveable) layout.

Sorry if it made me sound crazy but I always have to do my math the long way.

That's OK. And a 2 mile stretch doesn't have to be big. On my layout, I'm modeling a "T", that is roughly 30 miles by 30 miles. This is being done in a 17 x 23 ft area.

So, how big is your area?

 

[flatbedcowboy]

Right now I am moving all the time, but I have my eyes set on a place with a shop where the top floor is about 30x30. For this layout I was more or less hoping to condense everything into a 20x4 foot space along a wall, as the prototype is exactly straight and meets the mainline at an angle. The rest of the shop space one day hopefully will be filled with a freelance Ive been planning for years but for now a nice flat straight squareish one is what I want.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Right now I am moving all the time, but I have my eyes set on a place with a shop where the top floor is about 30x30. For this layout I was more or less hoping to condense everything into a 20x4 foot space along a wall, as the prototype is exactly straight and meets the mainline at an angle. The rest of the shop space one day hopefully will be filled with a freelance Ive been planning for years but for now a nice flat straight squareish one is what I want.

Excellent plan for the future. Just be sure to in whatever you do have fun with it like I do mine.

 

[flatbedcowboy]

Thanks! I find sitting and pondering more fun than anything but one day I will be able to get it done.

My biggest problem is getting my ideas from my head to paper, as I dont know how to draw track plans accurate enough to call them a plan, and I have started to resort to track planing software but i get more confused everytime i try to use them. thats the main reason I wanted to know how big it actually would be so all I have to do is condense and scale down and I can cut an paste it the way I need it to be

 

[Cjcrescent]

Which track planning software are you looking at. Several on here like the Freeware SCARM. There is a long thread about it in this section. Some, (like me) use Xtrackcad. It is another on-line freebie. It has a steep learning curve, but if you follow the demos that are in the program and use the on-line tutorials, it turns out to be fairly easy to use.