Layout ideas wanted

[Mogga]

Two years ago we moved into a house that has a loft conversion. My wife kindly agreed that I could have the loft as my hobby space. As a lifelong model railway fan it was always my intention to put a layout up there. I’ve just started the planning and researching stage of said layout. 

 

I’ve decided on n gauge modern image. I plan to have the layout go round the full perimeter of the room. The stairs up to the loft and the door emerge in the centre of the floor space so I don’t need to worry about making arrangements for the door to open. 

 

The layout will have two reasonably large scenic areas at the party wall and gable end of the loft. These will be connected by two long thin sections that will traverse the long sides of the room. I’ve always been a fan of just letting trains run whilst I watch them or crack on with one of my other hobbies. The layout will therefore be a continuous run with no hidden sections or fiddle yard. The nature of the room means that you won’t be able to see the whole layout at once anyway which should hopefully help to give a sense of the trains departing and returning. 

 

To add add a bit of operating interest I plan on adding a couple of features to what will essentially be a big two track loop. My limited imagination means I can only think of the obvious (motive power depot, goods yard etc...). Has anyone got any ideas for more unusual features I could add that would provide some scope for shunting and also provide some visual interest?

[Zomboid]

There's not a lot in the present scene really. Nuclear flask loading facility?

[melmoth]

Freightliner depot?

[mdvle]

On 24/06/2020 at 11:24, Mogga said:

Two years ago we moved into a house that has a loft conversion. My wife kindly agreed that I could have the loft as my hobby space. As a lifelong model railway fan it was always my intention to put a layout up there. I’ve just started the planning and researching stage of said layout. 

 

I’ve decided on n gauge modern image. I plan to have the layout go round the full perimeter of the room. The stairs up to the loft and the door emerge in the centre of the floor space so I don’t need to worry about making arrangements for the door to open. 

 

The layout will have two reasonably large scenic areas at the party wall and gable end of the loft. These will be connected by two long thin sections that will traverse the long sides of the room. I’ve always been a fan of just letting trains run whilst I watch them or crack on with one of my other hobbies. The layout will therefore be a continuous run with no hidden sections or fiddle yard. The nature of the room means that you won’t be able to see the whole layout at once anyway which should hopefully help to give a sense of the trains departing and returning. 

 

To add add a bit of operating interest I plan on adding a couple of features to what will essentially be a big two track loop. My limited imagination means I can only think of the obvious (motive power depot, goods yard etc...). Has anyone got any ideas for more unusual features I could add that would provide some scope for shunting and also provide some visual interest?

 

Nothing wrong with simply wanting a large loop.

 

What are the dimensions of the room? 

 

What other hobbies does the room need to share with (as in do they influence in any way how much space the layout can take)?

 

Do you have a preference for a specific region, or do you simply want something generic?

[Aire Head]

Scrapyard perhaps? Maybe with its own private shunter similar to Crossley Evans at Shipley.

 

A quarry, cement terminal or another lineside industry aswell?

[DCB]

You need some form of sidings to ring the changes on stock or taking the stuff off the tracks each time gets tedious. A goods Marshalling yard, Carriage sidings and an MPD would be good places to store spare stock, after all its where the full size railway stores surplus stock.  More realistic than stations stuffed with immobile stock.

[TonyMay]

If not a fiddle yard, some kind of cassette system to get stock onto and off the layout.

 

As for something with unusual stock - a preservation centre.

[Sturminster_Newton]

If it's a large space why consider eye-strain and N gauge for any reason other than T-gauge being so difficult to source?

 

Big Room BIG Trains modelled small. The rule being Less is More

 

O gauge is as affordable as N or OO has loads more presence can be persuaded around a 40" radius corner it also won't need lots of track.

 

With the ever increasing amount of Motive Power and Rolling Stock you can Cheque Book Model as easily as those in smaller scales

 

What's not to like?

 

Take a close look at Arun Quay and see what can be done in a small space with sensible sized models.

 

Most basic track plans can be upscaled by substitution of 21" as the key dimension on those plans using the 12" scaling grid.

 

Reimagine Chris Nevard's Brew Street into a 1:43 layout in fact anyof Chris' micro layouts would provide the bare bones for an O-gauge project add some some linking scenery to allow the favoured roundy roundy tail chaser to travel between the micro derived point of interest.

 

Build a light railway,  or an old passenger line retained for freight only, even an out post of the London Underground system.

 

All are options for muddling all are interesting. But if you are wedded to an N-gauge twin loop race track...

Edited June 27, 2020 by Sturminster_Newton

[Sturminster_Newton]

6 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

You need some form of sidings to ring the changes on stock or taking the stuff off the tracks each time gets tedious. A goods Marshalling yard, Carriage sidings and an MPD would be good places to store spare stock, after all its where the full size railway stores surplus stock.  More realistic than stations stuffed with immobile stock.

 

You could use the old tram modeller work round of using the arriving train to trigger a train at the next station into operation. With the controller set at a sensible speed the current drawn by both locomotives will keep them from making an abrupt start, a refinement would be to trigger a controlled stop start for each station then you can sit back and watch the trains go round and round and round.

 

With all the latest developments in electronics even the colour light signalling can respond to passing trains to run a sequence of red to green.

 

As the operator you can get on with shunting the yard whilst the mainline does it's own thing

[CKPR]

For a modern freight facility, you could worse than the railway-connected harbour at Workington, which has handled a variety of goods over the past few years including railway rails, chemicals, timber, inter-modal and china clay.

[mdvle]

14 hours ago, Sturminster_Newton said:

If it's a large space why consider eye-strain and N gauge for any reason other than T-gauge being so difficult to source?

 

Big Room BIG Trains modelled small. The rule being Less is More

 

The reason people with large spaces choose N is for the ability of trains to really fit into the scenery - you can run prototypically accurate length trains with really nice broad curves.

 

Thus if your really into modern Pendolino's, Class 80x units, etc. and can accept the small size N can offer a lot even in a large space.

 

It's not for everyone - just as O scale is for everyone.

[The Johnster]

As for operating interest, how about an oil terminal, or steelworks reception sidings.  

[Mogga]

Thanks for the input everyone. There is some great food for thought. 

 

A few more details re the room... I don’t have the exact measurements to hand but if you imagine a typical 50s semi the loft covers the entire footprint. There are some issues though. The stairs emerge in the centre of the room which means the spaces down the long sides of the room are quite narrow. Secondly the the pitch of the roof of in these parts is quite low so the baseboards will have to be quite low to the floor. I’ll just have to accept that as there is nothing I can do about it. 

 

Ive decided on n because I would like to run full length (or as near as full length as possible) trains. 

[Mogga]

On 26/06/2020 at 19:30, mdvle said:

 

Nothing wrong with simply wanting a large loop.

 

What are the dimensions of the room? 

 

What other hobbies does the room need to share with (as in do they influence in any way how much space the layout can take)?

 

Do you have a preference for a specific region, or do you simply want something generic?

The layout will be loosely based here in my native North East England. Having read people’s suggestions  I’m going to take my inspiration from the Durham coastal line. This features several of the ideas that people have kindly suggested in the above responses to my post. 

 

There is the (sadly now defunct) steel works at Redcar, a siding leading to goods handling facilities at Seaham docks and a nuclear flask transfer facility at Hartlepool nuclear power station. The plan at the moment is to model one or two of these features. Who knows though. Perhaps I will do all three. 

 

As suggested by TonyMay, Im leaning towards featuring a preservation centre/ preserved branch element on the layout. This will allow me to run more unusual stock. I’m thinking of a station where the main line and preserved branch meet - something like Grosmont where the preserved North York Moors Railway meets the network rail Esk Valley line. 

[Godders]

As you mentioned the Steel works how about this.
Middlesbrough to Saltburn section, passing the following Dorman Long Steel works with it's myriad of sidings for input of raw materials and output of finished steel rolls for example. 
Behind Dorman Long the reversing sidings for the Potash trains that go from the Mine down steep hill with hoppers, where it reversed at Dorman Long sidings and then to the dock where it reversed again. It did the same on the return journey. The line from Saltburn also carries Trans Pennine Trains and class 153 and 14x trains. 

 

[Mogga]

After more than a year of planning, evaluating, ripping up all the plans and starting again the baseboards for the layout are in place. 
 

In the end the layout had to be reduced in size as I wanted to keep one end of the loft free as my workspace for my modelling projects. Also the space down the two long sides of the loft is just too limited for it be practical for track runs. 
 

What I have is a rectangular set up with a central operating well accessed by a duck under. The two long sides are 10’ x 2’ and the short sides are 7’ x 3’. I got a joiner friend of mine to make them to an open frame design. 

[33C]

N gauge? Airport! 

[Mogga]

37 minutes ago, 33C said:

N gauge? Airport! 

The plan was always n gauge but in the last few weeks I have started to think maybe 00. Will probably now spend another year trying to make my mind up...

[AndrueC]

1 hour ago, 33C said:

N gauge? Airport! 

Probably still takes a lot of space. It's amazing how large things are when you try and model them When I started planning my layout I wanted a golf course. Then I realised my house wasn't big enough. Literally. Even if the layout/course occupied the entire floor space there wasn't enough room.

 

My current layout is 2.1m by 1.5m. It has two loops (an outer and an inner figure of 8). It has two staging yards with four sidings in each. It is just about long enough to incorporate a single par 3 golf hole..except that it would have two lines running through it, lol.

 

So my two favourite hobbies have to remain apart

[33C]

2 hours ago, AndrueC said:

Probably still takes a lot of space. It's amazing how large things are when you try and model them When I started planning my layout I wanted a golf course. Then I realised my house wasn't big enough. Literally. Even if the layout/course occupied the entire floor space there wasn't enough room.

 

My current layout is 2.1m by 1.5m. It has two loops (an outer and an inner figure of 8). It has two staging yards with four sidings in each. It is just about long enough to incorporate a single par 3 golf hole..except that it would have two lines running through it, lol.

 

So my two favourite hobbies have to remain apart

CRAZY golf course! 

[DCB]

15 hours ago, Mogga said:

After more than a year of planning, evaluating, ripping up all the plans and starting again the baseboards for the layout are in place. 

What I have is a rectangular set up with a central operating well accessed by a duck under. The two long sides are 10’ x 2’ and the short sides are 7’ x 3’. I got a joiner friend of mine to make them to an open frame design. 

 That is a very different set up to the one you originally suggested.   The roof  slope is quite shallow as well which means the full width can't be used.  As with my loft layout the higher it got the narrower I reckon 9 X 7 is usable at your height.  The radiator is in the way of an Nelevator, train lift or a vertical traverser, as is a duck under.  I think it has to be N gauge but you have scope for a fiddle yard or set of storage sidings on the side away from the wall behind a backscene.   Station boards in the 10X7 and double track round the rest of the room basically on a 6" wide shelf would have been my preference.

[njee20]

Your musings from a year ago sound like you’re falling into the trap of trying to include everything. Why not choose one element and do it well? I know you said one or two, but then you also mentioned the preserved line. Particularly now you have less space than planned. I’d also reconsider whether you want a fiddleyard or something; otherwise you’ll continually be taking stock on and off. 
 

If you want modern image and close to scale length trains it definitely has to be N IMO. 

[Mogga]

On 02/01/2022 at 01:17, DCB said:

 That is a very different set up to the one you originally suggested.   The roof  slope is quite shallow as well which means the full width can't be used.  As with my loft layout the higher it got the narrower I reckon 9 X 7 is usable at your height.  The radiator is in the way of an Nelevator, train lift or a vertical traverser, as is a duck under.  I think it has to be N gauge but you have scope for a fiddle yard or set of storage sidings on the side away from the wall behind a backscene.   Station boards in the 10X7 and double track round the rest of the room basically on a 6" wide shelf would have been my preference.

I should have mentioned that the era that is going to be modelled has changed. I’ve decided to go for the mid eighties. I was a young lad at the time and some of my earliest and best memories of the railways are from that time. I remember standing in awe on station platforms as BR blue locos thundered past. And who can forget the sound of a hst starting up? 
 

The layout will still be a double track loop for continuous running. I’m a big fan of just watching trains go by. I still plan not to bother with a fiddle yard or sidings in order to maximise the scenic area. I know this will result in what many perceive as a train set like appearance but it doesn’t bother me at all.
 

The way I envisage it the layout will be a series of dioramas linked by the track with trains moving through. It’s a cliche but I’ve decided I want a tmd. Other than that I’m unsure what will be included. I’m thinking some kind of colliery scene. My primary interest is freight. As many people have said, there is no law that says a layout must include a station so I may forgo one. The preserved branch idea has been discarded due to lack of space.

 

At the edges of the two 3ft wide boards  (the two short sides of the rectangle) space is tight between the top of the board and the sloping ceiling. However as the roof rises the space opens up quickly so it is only the very edges of the board where height clearance will be an issue. I envisage the lines running near the middle of these boards with infrastructure towards the inside edge  The area between the track and the ceiling will be given scenic treatment as the height allows. The track bed will be on risers to allow for the land to both rise and fall below track level. 

[DCB]

You still need to imagine how you will change the trains running around the layout. It gets tedious just watching the same train go round and round, even I get bored after an hour or so.

I have a Fiddle Yard under a station but I usually change stock in a long siding alongside the operating well, however I try to minimise it as Modern RTR sheds bits and pieces as you pick it up.

Come to think of it so did 60 year old RTR like Kiitmaster coaches.  My loft layout, (it has been abandoned,) had an MPD and a Marshalling yard with a small wayside station more or less as an afterthought for local trains to stop at.   If doing 1980s Gloucester is worth a look.  Through station where Bristol Birmingham line passenger trains reversed and quite a lot of freight, most of it very long.  Active MPD adjacent with Turntable  and two walls of the demolished Horton Rd MPD.   I spent time there in the 1980s Gronks remarshalling speed link, not slow running but bang crash stopped or 20MPH. Cl 45 (46?) and 47 on the Cross country passenger trains. 

[Rivercider]

Gloucester is a decent suggestion for the 1980s. On one long side you could have a passenger station with two platform roads, two centre through roads, and perhaps a bay platform for a DMU or parcels, A small loco stabling area nearby would allow loco change/reversal.

 

On the other long side you could have a rationalised version of Gloucester New Yard, effectively a scenic fiddle yard for your freight traffic where you could also indulge in some shunting if you fancied it,

 

cheers