Hopeless newbie


S

SeanPta

New Member
Quick intro and request for help.

Sean from sunny South Africa here.
Been interested in rr modeling for a while and browsed the forum for a few months.
Finally decided that it is time to stop fantasizing and actually get started.

I've been involved in wargame modeling for a few years and have a fair hand at general woodwork, electronics and landscaping.
What I am completely hopeless at is layout design.
I have a spare room available where I can setup a permanent stand, sizes as per the attached drawing.
Clubs and resources are few and far between down here and I would appreciated it if someone could maybe suggest (read - give me) a suitable N scale layout that would fit here.

Sean

Benchwork.jpg
 
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Hey Sean, welcome to our strange little world!
That's a pretty good space for a layout in N scale. The first thing that comes to mind is the old stand by "folded dog bone" style track plan. You have enough room for an elevated line in the back as well.
I'm sure someone will jump in with some plans, have you dug thru the threads here?
Until then try googling small layouts.
 
prepared layouts are IMO not as usefull. yes you can just copy one. however i really liked the Track Planning for Realistic Operation book. instead of giving you fish they teach you fishing - explain how things really worked and how to implement specific trackwork elements on your layout given all the limitations.
 
Nice space there!

I'd be thinking of a variation on the ol' folded dogbone via the point to point method myself---

The website mentioned PLUS the Track Planning for Realistic Operations book would just get the creative juices going for sure.:):)
 
What scale? Era? Type of operation? I would go with N in that area, but HO might be more to your liking. Narrow it down a little.
 
Thank you for all your suggestions and links so far.
Was most helpful.

As for Scale and operations - Will definitely stick to N scale, was thinking of something along the line of a trainyard at one end, a mine/logging operation along the line with maybe a small town and refinery/lumbermill somewhere at the other end.

Era wise I leaning towards steam. Not to concerned about getting everything historically accurate at this stage of the game.
 
You could always download xTrakCad (it's free!!!) from here

Then just ahave a play. You can define the area then throw down some track and push it about. It does flex track too.

Once you've got an idea, come back to the forum and post what you got then some descerning RR modellers will give you advice on whether it's feasible, prototypical, practical and other hints n tips to make it better. Then you can decide what you want to do with the advice.

Angie
 
XTrakCad is the way to go. You can layout your space, configure a layout, even run trains and operate turnouts. It's a very cool (and free) application.

I've decided that my working reach is 18" with 24" being my maximum. Given that, you may have some issues especially in the corners (not sure where your walls are or how long your arms are).

You can do a lot with N scale in that area. Read as much as you can and take your time planning. The temptation is to start buying what you think you'll need. Be careful, many people buy early and waste money.

Be sure to post your designs as you plan. You'll get a lot of feedback. Take it all in and make the decisions that work for you.

Doug
 
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