Dudepants
Member
Well, I did have a 4'x6.5' layout with a main line and a few spurs but like everyone said, I got bored with it rather quickly. What I found is the mainline wasn't a long enough run for what I was looking for. Running trains on it was fun, but once I evaluated the space I was working in, I found a shelf style set up would give a pretty big gain to the amount of track I could layout while still leaving good amount of space for scenery, etc. In fact, once I re-planned the layout (using SCARM, still making changes etc) I was able to increase the track laid by 3 times what I had, modeling a little over a scale mile.
Funny thing about this hobby; I just started at 36 years of age and I'm really enjoying it, even though I don't have a layout to run trains, ha! Like my other hobby, restoring small motor bikes (currently rebuilding a 1964 Honda C110, 50cc) I'm taking my time this go around. Every step I'm just enjoying using my brain and dreaming up the possibilities. It's really quite a blast.
Anyway, here's the area I've got to work with:
It's not much, but it's what the wife will let me get away with in our small house, ha! Basically, this is the back corner of our basement bar. I'm getting rid of the old pinball sitting in the lower left of the pic, so that should open things up a bit. What you're looking at is a 9 ft x 6.5 ft area where I'll be putting a doughnut shaped layout. Each side of the doughnut will be about 16" to 18" wide which should give me enough room to duck under and get in the middle to operate or operate from the outside. Minimum radii goal is 22 - 24". I'm not modeling a specific era or line, basically totally freelance, so we'll see how that goes. I'm really looking forward to the whole process and will be constructing the bench work next weekend (hopefully). Definitely will take pics along the way.
If anyone has any preliminary suggestions, I'm all ears.
Cheers!
Funny thing about this hobby; I just started at 36 years of age and I'm really enjoying it, even though I don't have a layout to run trains, ha! Like my other hobby, restoring small motor bikes (currently rebuilding a 1964 Honda C110, 50cc) I'm taking my time this go around. Every step I'm just enjoying using my brain and dreaming up the possibilities. It's really quite a blast.
Anyway, here's the area I've got to work with:
It's not much, but it's what the wife will let me get away with in our small house, ha! Basically, this is the back corner of our basement bar. I'm getting rid of the old pinball sitting in the lower left of the pic, so that should open things up a bit. What you're looking at is a 9 ft x 6.5 ft area where I'll be putting a doughnut shaped layout. Each side of the doughnut will be about 16" to 18" wide which should give me enough room to duck under and get in the middle to operate or operate from the outside. Minimum radii goal is 22 - 24". I'm not modeling a specific era or line, basically totally freelance, so we'll see how that goes. I'm really looking forward to the whole process and will be constructing the bench work next weekend (hopefully). Definitely will take pics along the way.
If anyone has any preliminary suggestions, I'm all ears.
Cheers!