Small bedroom layout


VTRailway

VTRailway

Active Member
Hey all. New guy here looking for some friendly feedback for a layout I've started to design. I've attached two images. The first is the room I have to work with. The second is a quick version of what I envision this to look like. I apologize for the rambling.

Specifics of what I want in the model I'm building:
Loosely model certain sections of Vermont
Have the ability to perform some switching operations by myself or two to three people.
Uncoupling to be done by hand
Bench work to be fixed to the exterior walls without the use of legs touching the floor. The exception is the center peninsula.
Hidden or disguised return loops for continuous running
Model era is loosely based on 1950-1960's. Far before I was born. Reason for this time: shorter length cars and transition of steam to diesel. This allows me to run either or both steam and diesel.
I will be modeling N scale
Layout is DCC operated with electro frog turnouts
I'd like to have two levels. Lower level being more industry switching. Upper level minor switching with more scenic railfanning. Inspired by Ron's trains layout from YouTube.

I'm looking to do model protofreelance. I envision a single track mainline. I'd like to run a small amfleet train along with freight trains of roughly 15-20 (flexible on length) cars. The helix to access to move from upper to lower levels would be at the end of the 180° turn. Then run around the room about shoulder height with a duck under. Shouldn't be hard to duck under if it's roughly 52" off the ground.

I need to have some access to the windows. More or less for the ability to open and close. The closets have to stay as the walls are structural and must remain. SWMBO (wife) wants to use the small closet but I have the use of the larger closet. I see the larger closet as many things. A hidden return loop and staging yard. A small work area that can be used to support the work of this model. I envision a small table top on cabinet sliders sliding under the staging track area. Minor storage of model stuff above and below.
 

Attachments

  • Exterior walls of room.jpg
    Exterior walls of room.jpg
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  • Floor plan 1.2.jpg
    Floor plan 1.2.jpg
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Looks like a good track to build and run 👍 Got lucky with that door where it is, not having to worry about building benchwork to accommodate it, nice 😉 Will be following along, though I am the wrong person to expect an intelligent answer from lol
 
Looks interesting, I'll be following this build, lot's of photo's please, we'd all like to see your progress, and at least you get a bedroom layout, without the bed, unlike some.(me) 🤣
 
He stated N scale…. If I were in a better financial spot would seriously have considered switching to N scale, would love the smaller area needed. Then again, all I have known is HO, would I have enjoyed the change to a smaller scale?
 
Worked on this some more tonight. I have some tweaks to make to the helix. I had the thought after of making it double track. I have a question. The helix currently is 17.5 radius. Would it work to add another inner track? The radius of the inner ring would be16.5. In my head the outer ring of 17.5 would be for going up and the inner of 16.5 for coming down.

I also need to do some work on the staging area/return loop. More tweaks to this are coming.
 

Attachments

  • Floor plan 1.2 helix to lower staging from burlington.jpg
    Floor plan 1.2 helix to lower staging from burlington.jpg
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VTRailway said:
Worked on this some more tonight. I have some tweaks to make to the helix. I had the thought after of making it double track.
Click to expand...
Making the Helix double track or main line? Not a whole lot of double track up here in VT.

Is that the Burlington yard and turn table in the upper left corner?
Pretty cool, I think, that northwestern Vermont still has two actively used turntables. :)
 
Making the Helix double track or main line? Not a whole lot of double track up here in VT.

Is that the Burlington yard and turn table in the upper left corner?
Pretty cool, I think, that northwestern Vermont still has two actively used turntables.
Click to expand...

Just the helix. Most of VT where I'm at is single track. I'm thinking of doing double helix to allow trains to pass each other as needed. It will be in the helix for awhile.
This is a small piece of the Burlington yard. I condensed it down some and added the industry branch that used to cross Pine St. The plan is to make the industry branch look overgrown but useable.
I know the turntable in Burlington is still in use. Not sure if there is one in St. Albans or not anymore.
I like the way you are using the closet for staging but curves are difficult when coupling and railing. If you can incorporate a straight section, it might be a little easier to use.
Click to expand...
The staging area will be reworked to incorporate more pass through sidings or in the least straight tracks to make things work smoother. In front of the staging yard will be a work bench that I plan to assemble on drawer sliders. This way it rolls away when not in use and the doors should still be able to close hiding off all the mess of the staging yard and supplies.
 
Vermont has mountains, it would be cool if only part of your Helix was offset with a parade route partially going along the side of the mountain.
 
I plan to make the helix into a mountain. I've had thoughts of having trains come out in one or two places and pass through a snow shed. While nothing like this exists in VT that I'm aware of, there are some snow sheds in the mountain passes of Canada.

The closet has a single shelf currently with a rod for hanging clothes. The plan is to remove this single shelf and rod. Then add in vertical tracks for adjustable shelves. At least 2 or 3. Larger supplies can be in totes hidden under the layout nearby. As smudge said, the workbench will be on slides so it can be stowed under the staging area when not in use. The goal is to have a clean model free of visible clutter. I'm in hopes that as someone walks in they see the model and not the supplies that make the model possible.
 
Nice plan!

1. Personally I would simplify the track in the closet. It looks tight, and as mentioned, the curves make coupling and re-railing more challenging. Plus it is N-Scale (I.E. small) which adds to the challenge. How is the light in there, and how is your eyesight?

2. Be careful of what looks to be an S curve going into the helix. That, in conjuntion with any grade could bring on surpise uncouplings with strings of cars running away down the helix.

3. I would also reduce the number of sidings/turnouts in the yard top left. Every layout Ive done gets simpler and it increases reliability, reduces complexity/cost and speeds up construction. Less is more!
 
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Curious what the thoughts are on modeling a specific prototypical area but yet doing so in free lance form. What I mean is this; towns not in geographical area of where they are in real life. I'm not sure given my layout that I will be able to align the towns in proper order. I had a thought today about making the area under the window a lake crossing. There is a large lake crossing between Alburgh and Swanton. So in a nut shell the yard is Burlington VT. As it leaves the yard and turns east to pass the windows I would add the water crossing in Alburgh/Swanton then have the tracks head south along the wall. The first industry I have in the north east corner is the old creamy in Milton. I plan to also add Oliver's seed nearby as these two are pretty much within sight of each other. Heading south the lumber yard is Richmond building supply. Then heading west to the peninsula is a passenger station for Amtrak. I was thinking Essex here but not sure of this yet. The industry I've added near the passenger station is to be determined. I was looking to fill in the what seems like a large void in this area of the room. From here the tracks head north to the mountain area/helix.
The upper shelf portion is yet to be determined as far as towns and such. I do have a thought about adding the Georgia high bridge as a duck under. In my head I will have a turning wye that will allow trains to run around the room in a more or less square pattern or head back down the helix and around the lower section.
Looking for feedback on my thoughts so far. Pretty scrambled still but in the last 10 days I've been able to more or less plan the lower section.
 
Howdy!
It is YOUR railroad. For instance, if you want San Fransisco in the mountain passes, so be it. You can always connect the dots between the different towns or stations with artistic text or reasons. Since all of our railroads locations and operations have to be somewhat imaginary, you can justify anything.

As to snow sheds - take a google maps look at Marias Pass - East of West Glacier and West of East Glacier - whoa, that was a mouthful. Anyway there are 5 or 6 of them going Eastbound toward East Glacier before the pass. I probably have pix of them somewhere. If I figure out where that somewhere is, I will post.

Helix - if you have room, try to fold in additional tracks ( 4 track vs 2 track ) as you can use those for storage or staging. Helix I am planning a 20 inch difference top to bottom ( I am HO Scale ) with 5 tracks. 2 for up storage/staging, 2 for down storage/staging - 1 for run-through. I can store more than 20 22ft trains in it with not that much additional space taken up. Also, my helix is deemed to be a crew change location so operators do not have to wait for *hours* for the train to re-appear. Note that I have 1.2% grade ( theoretically ) and still use down storage on the 2 inside tracks, up on 2 outside tracks with run-through in the middle.

Enjoy!
 
Thanks Todd. It was kind of what I was thinking already but there are some forums that shall remain nameless that will bash people for such preposterous thoughts.

As the Beetles song states; "I need a little help from my friends!"

It's occurred to me that I have the bones to the lower level track plan in place. I'm fairly happy with the staging yard and Burlington yard. Both could use some tweaks but the basic premise is there. The rest of the benchwork shape is pretty close to what I think I'll end up with. Where I need the help is placing industries, elevation changes and towns. My goal is to have a railroad that isn't just flat but has elevation changes and depth to the scenes. I lack quick creative thinking. Given enough years, I'd come up with something that I like. Hoping some the members can chime in with some ideas on this. I should have some free time to work on any suggestions tonight. SWMBO will not be home giving me some free time.

Something I had a thought on was a shipping port in front of the window instead of a bridge. I'd think this would allow me to keep the layout fairly narrow for the necessary reach to the windows while adding some interest and depth to the model. While there is no longer a shipping port in Burlington anymore, I think there was one at some point. There is a small barge canal not far from Burlington yard. I haven't done any research into this but at the same point, one doesn't have to try to hard to connect the dots from what remains.

I could really use the distraction of building some of this layout. My personal/work life has me pulling my hair out. A distraction I can focus on for an hour or two when time allows would be wonderful right now.
 
You have potential for a very nice layout and some of the details will show up as you proceed. For instance, I have added about 7 different sidings on my layout that were not planned but made sense in the total function of the layout. After you construct the main line and operate on it a little, many of these solutions will pop up and you can easily adapt. Once the scenery begins, making changes might not be as easy, but still possible.
 
VTRailway said:
Curious what the thoughts are on modeling a specific prototypical area but yet doing so in free lance form. What I mean is this; towns not in geographical area of where they are in real life. I'm not sure given my layout that I will be able to align the towns in proper order. I had a thought today about making the area under the window a lake crossing. There is a large lake crossing between Alburgh and Swanton. So in a nut shell the yard is Burlington VT. As it leaves the yard and turns east to pass the windows I would add the water crossing in Alburgh/Swanton then have the tracks head south along the wall. The first industry I have in the north east corner is the old creamy in Milton. I plan to also add Oliver's seed nearby as these two are pretty much within sight of each other. Heading south the lumber yard is Richmond building supply. Then heading west to the peninsula is a passenger station for Amtrak. I was thinking Essex here but not sure of this yet. The industry I've added near the passenger station is to be determined. I was looking to fill in the what seems like a large void in this area of the room. From here the tracks head north to the mountain area/helix.
The upper shelf portion is yet to be determined as far as towns and such. I do have a thought about adding the Georgia high bridge as a duck under. In my head I will have a turning wye that will allow trains to run around the room in a more or less square pattern or head back down the helix and around the lower section.
Looking for feedback on my thoughts so far. Pretty scrambled still but in the last 10 days I've been able to more or less plan the lower section.
Click to expand...

I am following the idea of modeling real towns along the layout route. It greatly simplifies track planning, however requires some artistic compression.

Also, you may want a specific time frame in mind. If you gather some photos, it will help you choose the most appealing scenes to model and include.

I thought I was going to do 4 towns, but cut it back to 2 when I realized I needed space for scenery, since I did not want wall to wall buildings.

Dave LASM
 
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