wirey33 Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 What a lucky boy I am. My new railway room is approx. 5m x 3m and I’m considering whether or not to go for an O gauge layout. It would have to be an end to end set-up against one wall, possibly with the fiddle yard set at 90 deg. to give me (almost) full use of the 5m. So I’m looking for existing layouts of a similar size, so I can see what I’ll be able to model in the space I have available. Any suggestions are welcome... TIA 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldgate Box Boy Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Hi TIA, that is a nice size. I have a room in which I have built a layout along the longest wall 10 foot 8 inches by 2 foot 8 inches I think - see my Green Leaf page. The early ones show what you get. I spent a lot of time looking at other strands to get (pinch) ideas as well as from the various 'starting out' magazines. As people often say less is more. Think about the different heights or variation you may want and things like buildings. I think spending lots of time planning will pay off. Best of luck Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Morgan Posted July 20, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 20, 2018 Freshwater, Isle of Wight, would just fit in O scale, if you leave off the station building and river Yar and squeeze the width to the minimum, but I don't know how you would get round the corner to the fiddle yard. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
daifly Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 It would have to be an end to end set-up against one wall, possibly with the fiddle yard set at 90 deg. to give me (almost) full use of the 5m. I think you will find that with a minimum radius of, say, 6ft, the FY entry curve will start at about 7ft from one end which means that an L-shape is much less efficient than you think as you then have only a 9ft straight portion with, potentially, lots of curved pointwork. The end of the FY entry curve would only allow about a 4ft-long traverser/sector plate or w.h.y. You can still do a lot with a straight 5m/16ft run without having to compromise by using tight radius curves or A5 turnouts on main lines. Less is more! Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted July 20, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 20, 2018 I note that your avatar is DB. That could be as in present UK freight or continental. I only mention it because you don't tell us what sort of layout you want. The most likely option in that sort of space would be a light railway or shunting layout (e.g. harbourside). But there is just about space for a small branch line terminus. But even a larger branch line terminus or mainline station might be possible with some "tricks". So tell us what sort of railway interests you, and we can find something to help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 My layout is pretty much the size you are talking about, link below. Curve and point radius is pretty much exactly the same as Peco set-track, so if you are content to use small locos and short vehicles, you can have a roundy-roundy. Don’t let the “you need six foot radius in finescale” advice deter you, because it doesn’t apply if you stick with the small and learn the simple tricks to prevent buffer-locking. Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 If I were you, before committing, I'd get hold of some layout design software such as AnyRail and start putting a few O gauge layout designs together scaled to fit your space. That way you can see what will fit your space depending on what type of layout you want eg end to end, roundy roundy. I did this when my 32 x 14ft shed was finished - big enough for O gauge I thought - but ultimately I decided against O gauge because I wanted a more complex layout than O gauge would allow. But that's just me - you might find what you want will fit fine. Cheers … Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 (edited) Or, if like me, you can't abide pithering about with software based systems during hobby time, a pencil, a ruler, a pair of school compasses, and a sheet of paper will do the job. Plan, plan, then plan again has to be good advice, and you will find any number of people on RMWeb ready to critique your drafts, usually constructively. Edited July 21, 2018 by Nearholmer 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted July 21, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 21, 2018 Or, if like me, you can't abide pithering about with software based systems during hobby time, a pencil, a ruler, a pair of school compasses, and a sheet of paper will do the job. Plan, plan, then plan again has to be good advice, and you will find any number of people on RMWeb ready to critique your drafts, usually constructively. The trouble with drafting plans in CAD is what looks fine on paper often looks awful in the flesh. As you say, a full sized sheet of paper (from a roll of lining paper and sellotaped together), with paper templates for the pointwork, cardboard boxes to represent buildings and putting down your rolling stock onto this, is a far better way of getting a 3D visualisation. Afterwards, by all means use the joys of Templot to build all your track so that it fits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Well, that bit comes later; I was thinking of the ancient art of drawing scale plans with a pencil. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 The trouble with drafting plans in CAD is what looks fine on paper often looks awful in the flesh. As you say, a full sized sheet of paper (from a roll of lining paper and sellotaped together), with paper templates for the pointwork, cardboard boxes to represent buildings and putting down your rolling stock onto this, is a far better way of getting a 3D visualisation. Afterwards, by all means use the joys of Templot to build all your track so that it fits. Amen to that. Lining paper is 22inches wide. If you then build to 60cms or two feet the design is suddenly spacious. If you are thinking small loco /light railway, a 36 inch turn table in one corner could access a second terminus. That said, small loco and short non bogie stock should have few issues with four foot curves. As said, less is more. If you are coming from 4mm, and have some old track and a little stock, try a few track layouts before you start. The choice of Lh/Rh/ Y point can make a big difference to how a 7mm design "works". The lining paper method allows you to shunt real wagons, first on pencil lines, then on loose track. This is particularly important if you opt for open top baseboards and real landscaping. Leave room for slightly larger locomotives when planning head shunts and run rounds. Be very wary about second hand homemade points, but Peco are pretty indestructible, just be careful not to pay too much and look at Trackshack prices. Plan carefully, but dont get trapped in a groundhog day of Templotting and dreaming. Welcome to 7mm. Final advice is to try and get to Telford and see just what is available. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 What a lucky boy I am. My new railway room is approx. 5m x 3m and I’m considering whether or not to go for an O gauge layout. It would have to be an end to end set-up against one wall, possibly with the fiddle yard set at 90 deg. to give me (almost) full use of the 5m. So I’m looking for existing layouts of a similar size, so I can see what I’ll be able to model in the space I have available. Any suggestions are welcome... TIA Follow the link below - Dock Green is 16 feet long and 2 feet wide. HTH Chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 My Cwm Bach layout is 15' x 2'. You can read about it on RMWeb here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/80426-cwm-bach-a-south-wales-branch-line/ or in the August 2018 edition of the Railway Modeller and Edition 264 of the Model Railway Journal, both of which are on newsagents' shelves now. Sketch plan of the layout attached. Regards, CK Cwm Bach layout sketchplan.pdf 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 I'm just thinking that Pecorama had a couple of O Gauge layouts that sort of size over the years but I can't remember much of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertc Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Why not draw up something curved that fits diagonally in the room? cheers Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
daifly Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Why not draw up something curved that fits diagonally in the room? cheers Bob Perhaps he is familiar with Pythagoras and has already calculated how little is to be gained - much less than a metre.Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 (edited) Why not think about a long layout down one side, with fairly generous pointwork, and an oval using set-track curves round the rest of the room to give circulation for small locos and wagons? You will find that being able to circulate greatly adds to the fun. Light railway or industrial theme, or maybe a ‘harbour branch’ on the circulatory bit? Edited July 22, 2018 by Nearholmer 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 IIRC one of the Pecorama layouts had an O gauge terminus with an O-16.5 line on a continuous run underneath. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
O-Gauge-Phil Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 As a rule of thumb I tend to half lt and then think of it as an oo layout. So think of what you would do with a 2500 x 300, 8 x 1 in feet. Not much space, I’ve a small terminus that’s five meters plus two more for the fiddle yard, if you’re using three link couplings and want some scenery then you can only go four, five in places tracks wide. Tend to go smaller as it always grows, particularly if you don’t want to put a point on a baseboard joint, you’ll probably only get four points on a 1200 baseboard. O gauge is so much fun. Good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 My Pen Y Bont (see link below) is 14ft 6 inches, inc Fiddle Yard. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 As a rule of thumb I tend to half lt and then think of it as an oo layout. So think of what you would do with a 2500 x 300, 8 x 1 in feet. Not much space, I’ve a small terminus that’s five meters plus two more for the fiddle yard, if you’re using three link couplings and want some scenery then you can only go four, five in places tracks wide. Tend to go smaller as it always grows, particularly if you don’t want to put a point on a baseboard joint, you’ll probably only get four points on a 1200 baseboard. O gauge is so much fun. Good luck Baseboards do not have to be 48" long. OK it might help economical cutting, easier to get in a reasonably priced car, easier to manage up stairs........ But, unless one of these is critical, consider making boards to enable your trackplan. Having finalised a full scale paper plan, decide the most convenient place for board joints and carefully draw up a cutting plan. At B&Q or a timber merchant you decide the cuts. You may well end up with odd sized boards, but unless you are aiming for a well travelled exhibition layout this is not an issue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 What a lucky boy I am. My new railway room is approx. 5m x 3m and I’m considering whether or not to go for an O gauge layout. It would have to be an end to end set-up against one wall, possibly with the fiddle yard set at 90 deg. to give me (almost) full use of the 5m. So I’m looking for existing layouts of a similar size, so I can see what I’ll be able to model in the space I have available. Any suggestions are welcome... TIA Hi, Just looking at ideas for you if it helps. A friend of mine is building a lovely O gauge layout broadly to the design in my outline diagramme below. One main thing I'd like to add here is that a layout doesn't necessarily have to be along a wall. In your 5 x 3m space it would be easy to build it so you have a gap around the back, this way you could add greater depth to the layout as you can access it from both sides. This design features an end to end built on a lovely sweeping curve with a fiddle yard or sector plate etc at each end. There's also an option to add a third fiddle yard if required as shown to give a good variety of interest. Hope this helps. Cheers … Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveloco1 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Hi All Time to up my hand and be countered. I am Alan's friend of said O Gauge layout design mentioned above. So far I have kept the planning of this layout to myself, except for some input from Alan. I'll try and attach plan. If anyone is interested I start my own thread re the layout and try and explain the theory behind the plan/area/era(s) and take the risk of being ridiculed! Dave Layout-No Frame shown.pdf 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveloco1 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Hi Sorry that's not what I intended to happen I had hoped it would put drawing so you didn't have to down load it. I'll speak to Alan tomorrow and ask him the way to do it. I am new to this posting lark! has you have probably quessed. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Kettlewell Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) Hi Sorry that's not what I intended to happen I had hoped it would put drawing so you didn't have to down load it. I'll speak to Alan tomorrow and ask him the way to do it. I am new to this posting lark! has you have probably quessed. Dave It still works Dave - albeit the detail is quite small to see but it can be magnified in a PDF viewer. BTW - hope you didn't mind me posting an outline sketch similar to your layout plan. I'd say go ahead and start a layout thread for the build as you're doing some good stuff and you're doing it right mate. Cheers .. Alan Edited July 23, 2018 by Alan Kettlewell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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