Advice..

I have measured the space i have to construct my first model railway track and it works out i have a 4ft width 8ft 6"" length (4 X 8FT 6"") … square to work with..

So apologies first for all the questions as this will be my first ever set up..

So then first question i was considering OO gauge but after some reading with regards to the space i have would i be better off dropping to a N Gauge setup ?…

Second question. With that space in mind i was considering constructing the base board off the wall, For example, 2 X 1 battens then either a MDF as baseboard or ply 6mm thick, Then supported with a middle spar for support and two supporting legs at the front.
Does that sound right or does anyone have a better suggestion ?

Third question. I notice that some layouts have a section cut out for access to work on the board do you think this would be needed for the size mentioned ? Might seem a silly question but it's been rather annoying me thinking about it ..

Fourth question. I was considering a train set to start off with but not sure now whether or not i should just buy the track and trains and accessories separate, what do you think ? . I am not sure there are many N gauge sets that you can buy with the theme i have in mind such as the GWR.

Fifth question. Does this size affect my theme or would i still be able to do the theme i have in mind ?

Last question. Is this size baseboard a good size for a model track or do you think it is a little small ? Also could this size baseboard have an elevated Track in addition to a bottom line ?

Once again apologies for all the questions it's all a learning curve at the moment…Thanks for your advice and patience …

Tom..

Tom. I will answer one part.
While the 4'x 8'6" is a good size to start with, attaching it to a wall with one long side is not ideal as it is VERY hard to reach the back wall side to lay track, etc.
That size would be better as a stand alone table that once the far side has been tracked, wired & sceniced, it can then be lifted back to the wall.

Quite right, Ron.
I've been painting two 4'x8' flats for our village panto.
Reaching across 4' and doing anything creative is impossible.

Tom: Others will be along but meanwhile:
The size is OK for either N or OO.
Obviously much more can be included in an N layout.
In any case, you have plenty of space for a continuous track.

Unless you see a bargain, I would buy the running stock individually.
I don't know the extent of your budget but whatever you decide to do won't be cheap.

Keep it simple to start with and allow for more complex trackwork and operation in the future.

BUT - it is your layout and you must be the final arbiter of what happens.
Good luck with it - keep us posted (pics where possible).
GWR is probably the most popular so no difficulty getting your stock.

A 'standard' baseboard unit - if there really is such a thing - is usually considered to be 4ft long and 2 ft wide. This is for reasons of portability and ease of access. If you happen to be fairly tall, you may be able to reach across a baseboard 3 ft wide, but it's not easy to work on anything at this distance. The length is not critical as long as you are not building a portable layout.

If you really must use the whole of your 8'6" x 4'0" then it is absolutely essential that you can get to both of the long sides of it. Otherwise you won't be able to re-rail anything that comes off the track at the back of the layout.

With regards to to gauge, don't forget that you can fit four times as much railway into a given space in 'N' than you can in 'OO'. This also means that it is likely to cost a lot more to build. The difference in the cost of locos and stock in the two gauges isn't that different.

2" x 1" battens for the framing and ply or MDF tops will be fine.

I don't know what your carpentry skill levels are like, but would advise you to think carefully before adding an extra level. You will need to take into account such problems as providing access to the track(s) beneath the upper level - again because of failures and derailments, not to mention maintenance and rail cleaning.

I think you might be better settling for a space 8'6" x 2'0" and building a small end-to-end railway to start with. This will only need a couple of small locos, a couple of suburban-type coaches and/or a handful of goods trucks and vans at most. The cost of track would be much less and the scope means that you stand some chance of finishing it. Too large a scheme for your first railway can be very off-putting as the cost mounts up and it takes so long to get anywhere near finished.

Don't worry about not having enough space. I have seen a superb railway built on an ironing board!

Take a look here: http://ingletonsidings.com/exhibition-detail/

Perry

Hi Tom

Q 1.  As Perry said, you get 4 times the "stuff" into the space with "N" than with "OO", however, the stock etc. is half the size !!  Do you have steady hands and good eyesight ?  Also, the larger the scale, the more detail you can incorporate.  If you want to run long trains then you'd probably look at "N", if not, then I'd go for "OO" but hten my eyes aren't what they used to be .

Q2.  Perry's answered that and he knows - his baseboards are legendary !!

Q3.  As both Sol and DD pointed out, you can't reach across a 4ft wide baseboard.  I'd go around the walls with a single or double track (assuming you want a "roundy-roundy") on a narrow board and make the "main" bit down 1 side of the room on an 18" or 2ft wide board.  That would allow you around 18" for a "working" space in the centre.

If you want an end to end, then you could make it a 2ft deep "L" shape on 2 walls.

Q4.  I'd almost always go for separate units rather than a train set.  With the train set, you'll get a simple controller and you'll almost certainly want to upgrade that very quickly so why waste the money buying something you won't use for long.  You may not want to be tied to set track formations so the included track may be wasted.

Q5. Your GWR theme isn't size sensitive.  As I said earlier, your theme would have to allow for the available space.  Modelling the London - Penzance main line wouldn't be feasible - even in "N" !!  GWR was very well known for it's sleepy branchlines and there are many excellent examples of small space masterpieces on here.  Have a look at some of the "Memebers Layouts" before you start building Bristol Temple Meads ………………….

Hope that helps. :cheers

Many thanks for all of your replies and sound advice which i have read with great interest..

I still have to decide what to do with regards to distance and working and Perry offers some excellent advice which i will take and do some workings out.

I will go back to the drawing board and see what i come up with.. Happy new year to all by the way…

Thanks again for the advice and tips..

Tom..

Tom,

If you come up with a plan or drawing you think might work for you, we would be happy to look at it on here for you before you start cutting timber, etc. Perhaps we can save you from a few of the common mistakes that sometimes befall folk in their early days of railway modelling.

Don't hesitate to ask about anything. There's no such thing as a stupid question; we all had to start somewhere.

Good luck.

Perry

A baseboard 3ft deep is a bit far to reach to the back Thomas.  I'd be inclined to limit it to 2' 6" maximum.  Also, remember you have to get into the room so will need a lift up (or removable) section.  That bit ought to be as narrow as possible otherwise it's going to be difficult to manhandle.

You can get quite a lot into a 2' 6" deep board. :roll:

Thanks Peter i will take a closer look whilst constructing and take what you have said on board..

Thanks..

Tom..

I fully agree with Petermac's comments.

Bear in mind that you need to allow room at the corners for the track to turn the 90 degrees or so - assuming you are planning a continuous track plan layout ( a 'roundy-roundy' or 'tail-chaser'). Try not to go down to minimum radius curves, especially in OO gauge. They almost always look 'wrong', and a lot of modern locos won't negotiate them anyway. Siting the curves close to the edge of the baseboard isn't a good idea as it leaves little room for scenic work on the outside of the track. Moving the track away from the baseboard edge then throws up problems with being able to fit in the radius curves that you want. It's all a bit of a compromise, so spend plenty of time trying out various track schemes before you commit yourself. Be aware that (in OO gauge) you need to allow about 1ft (30cms) for each point (turnout). Therefore, a simple crossover is 2ft (60cms) long without the approaching trackwork. It's harder to fit in what you want to a given area than you might think.

There's lots to think about before you actually start building anything, but the planning is all part of the fun. (Many layouts never get beyond the planning stage! :roll: )

Obviously N-gauge would allow the use of larger radius curves, but you need to decide which gauge you are going to use fairly early on in the planning stage.

If this is your first layout, don't be too ambitious or you may quickly get disheartened.

Perry

I'd also thought about the corners Perry and was going to suggest a triangular "fillet" to ease the curves.  Then I thought it was all becoming a little complicated before the more important decisions had been made……………:roll:

As Perry said Thomas, the very first thing you need to decide upon is the scale.  That will dictate what is possible and what isn't.  However, don't let track design dictate what you choose.  Scale will be decided by how well you can work in whichever you choose.  Nowadays, there's little difference in either cost or detail between RTR "N" and "OO" but there's a huge difference in dexterity and eyesight requirements.  With the space I have at my disposal, I could have a huge network in "N".  The problem is, I wouldn't be able to see it or to handle the tiny detail.  "OO" is the smallest I can sensibly manage.

Any chance of your room plan in a larger size, Thomas?
Perhaps you could also mark in the door too.

To be honest i never gave a door a thought i was just going to gain access to the allocated space by crawling underneath..

[user=17]Perry[/user] wrote:

I fully agree with Petermac's comments.

Bear in mind that you need to allow room at the corners for the track to turn the 90 degrees or so - assuming you are planning a continuous track plan layout ( a 'roundy-roundy' or 'tail-chaser'). Try not to go down to minimum radius curves, especially in OO gauge. They almost always look 'wrong', and a lot of modern locos won't negotiate them anyway. Siting the curves close to the edge of the baseboard isn't a good idea as it leaves little room for scenic work on the outside of the track. Moving the track away from the baseboard edge then throws up problems with being able to fit in the radius curves that you want. It's all a bit of a compromise, so spend plenty of time trying out various track schemes before you commit yourself. Be aware that (in OO gauge) you need to allow about 1ft (30cms) for each point (turnout). Therefore, a simple crossover is 2ft (60cms) long without the approaching trackwork. It's harder to fit in what you want to a given area than you might think.

There's lots to think about before you actually start building anything, but the planning is all part of the fun. (Many layouts never get beyond the planning stage! :roll: )

Obviously N-gauge would allow the use of larger radius curves, but you need to decide which gauge you are going to use fairly early on in the planning stage.

If this is your first layout, don't be too ambitious or you may quickly get disheartened.

Perry

This is my first layout perhaps i should consider N gauge with my given space might make life a little easier..

If you had this space what plan would you do ? And what would your preference of scale be ?

Thanks..

Tom..

Tom,
Unless I'm reading it incorrectly, your plan is not to scale.
To save reaching and crawling about on the floor I suggest the following L shaped baseboard suitable for N.

Wherever the door is on your room, alter the plan accordingly.
This could then, at a later stage, be expanded into a bigger layout.

Yes DD - it's much clearer when it's to scale - the width is half the length so your 3ft deep boards won't fit on two walls anyway Thomas - if that's what the 3ft means ………….:roll:   Thinking about it, the 3ft must mean board length but then you could get 2 x 3ft lengths into the longer side :???::???:

IMHO, with a width of only 4' 3 ", it would be very difficult to get a 180 degree turn in.  I'd say virtually impossible in "OO" gauge and remain anything like realistic unless it was hidden behind/under scenery.

An out and back "L" shape as suggested by DD would be my choice and probably in "N" gauge ……………..:roll::roll:

Hi Thomas

I hope these following images put things into scale for you a bit.  What you see in the pics is 4mm scale in an area 8ft by 3ft6 inches. (3ft 11inches including the shelf in the second image)

HTH

Jim

Back to the drawing board i think many thanks for your advice though it's much appreciated…


I have done some thinking and decided on this round the wall lay out.. Drawing is not the best so i will explain the dimensions..

The longest length which is the back wall is 8ft 6 "" and the both side walls i have to play with are 4 ft…

So was thinking of placing the battens on the wall in a U shape 2 x 1 battens then having a platform baseboard of 2 ft 6 "" all the way round this makes working comfortable and with plenty of work space in the middle…

This would be in N gauge and i think would be a good size model railway to enjoy…

Any suggestions would be appreciated …

Thanks..

Tom…

Hi Tom,
Just a small suggestion.
Fit a small triangle section of baseboard too the two inside corners of your baseboard plan.Rather than having abrupt right angles.
This should give a better track planning option.
Good luck with the build.
Derek.

Hoping the door is in the working area.
If so, that is a good use of space.
Watch those back corners though - still a bit of a reach for detailed work.