Liam_uk Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 (edited) Hi All, Ive just converted the loft for a layout space. I am now struggling to come up with an idea that I can settle on and am happy with. Ive considered a large end to end as well as a roundy roundy. You can see from the picture I have a space of 18ft6 x 11ft. It will be in 00 Gauge (the N scale will be on the lower deck). The boards cant be any wider than what they are shown as due to the roof structure being in the way. The Era I am modelling is from about 1995 - 2002, so I can fit in things like 37s on 4 coach trains, DMUs, Enterprise workings as well as block trains. With the region being mainly North Wales Coast/English Board, but I am opening to moving it. If it was to be a roundy I would like some train running but also something to shunt about and operate as well, as I dont just want to watch trains go by and thats it. Any thoughts, ideas or plans would be greatly appricated. Edited November 1, 2020 by Liam_uk adding more information Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 2, 2020 Probably better to put the N above the 00. It's always difficult for others to know what will work well for you although you have given us some detail to work with. The North Wales Coast gives some good scope for scenic work and some locations where four track goes to two track which adds to the operational interest. Given the space that you have, keep to large radius curves (minimum 3ft radius) and avoid too much straight track. If you can find articles/web content for the P4 Mostyn layout, that might give you some useful ideas. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said: Probably better to put the N above the 00. It's always difficult for others to know what will work well for you although you have given us some detail to work with. The North Wales Coast gives some good scope for scenic work and some locations where four track goes to two track which adds to the operational interest. Given the space that you have, keep to large radius curves (minimum 3ft radius) and avoid too much straight track. If you can find articles/web content for the P4 Mostyn layout, that might give you some useful ideas. Thank you for the feedback, ill have a look for the layout you mentioned. I had considered moving from 00 to N, however already have a decent amount of code 75 track work as well as the stock (for an exhibition layout as well). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chimer Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 2, 2020 I agree with Joseph about avoiding straight track (except in a FY, obviously). I wonder if there is an option for triangular fillets in some of the corners to allow really gentle curves round the visible 90 degree bends? I'm thinking .... The 90 degree turns on the main line in the bottom corners would be hidden and tighter, to maximise available length for the fiddle yard. The "wall" could be low relief buildings, or anything else which hides the fiddle yard from sight without making impossible to get at when you need to. Or of course the whole of that side could be a non-scenic FY. Regular followers of this area will recognise ideas and arguments from @pgcroc's thread .... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/155477-first-and-last-layout/ Any good to you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 10 minutes ago, Chimer said: I agree with Joseph about avoiding straight track (except in a FY, obviously). I wonder if there is an option for triangular fillets in some of the corners to allow really gentle curves round the visible 90 degree bends? I'm thinking .... The 90 degree turns on the main line in the bottom corners would be hidden and tighter, to maximise available length for the fiddle yard. The "wall" could be low relief buildings, or anything else which hides the fiddle yard from sight without making impossible to get at when you need to. Or of course the whole of that side could be a non-scenic FY. Regular followers of this area will recognise ideas and arguments from @pgcroc's thread .... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/155477-first-and-last-layout/ Any good to you? thanks for that seems a good frame work to look at. Unfortunately I cant add a triangular piece that would be any good for the frame work as there is a roof beam there, that is why the board is 22 inch as it fits between them. I like the long curve idea though and will look into that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 4 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said: Probably better to put the N above the 00. Or even to have it running round the outside of the 00 as a 'perspective' effect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 2, 2020 Can you share a photo of the space, please, so we can understand how the roof slopes and trusses will affect the layout? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 37 minutes ago, Harlequin said: Can you share a photo of the space, please, so we can understand how the roof slopes and trusses will affect the layout? Hope the pictures help. There will be 2 decks to the layout as you can see, so accessibility also has to play a part in the design Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chimer Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 2, 2020 Mmmmm ...... seeing that, and thinking only of the 00 design, I would be tempted to have the main scenic run inboard of the rafters and accept that would reduce the basic available area to 18'6" by 8' ish (and need legs). I don't think I could be doing with my view of the pretty side of my parallel universe being broken up into 2' chunks, though it wouldn't matter for a fiddle yard. It follows that I would make the other side, which would still be within Rafter Forest, non-scenic. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 2, 2020 (edited) It's as I feared. The roof trusses make a scenic model very difficult, unfortunately. (As do double-deck baseboards, actually - your view of the lower one is always going to be tightly framed by the upper board and the trusses.) Edited November 2, 2020 by Harlequin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chimer Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 2, 2020 Picture hopefully worth many words ..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 2, 2020 34 minutes ago, Chimer said: Mmmmm ...... seeing that, and thinking only of the 00 design, I would be tempted to have the main scenic run inboard of the rafters and accept that would reduce the basic available area to 18'6" by 8' ish (and need legs). I don't think I could be doing with my view of the pretty side of my parallel universe being broken up into 2' chunks, though it wouldn't matter for a fiddle yard. It follows that I would make the other side, which would still be within Rafter Forest, non-scenic. Legs a good idea anyway. The roof trusses are designed to take the weight of the roof and not any extra loads. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, Chimer said: Picture hopefully worth many words ..... Nice idea but is there enough room to stand up in the operating well because of the braces up to the roof apex...? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chimer Posted November 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, Harlequin said: Nice idea but is there enough room to stand up in the operating well because of the braces up to the roof apex...? The centre line of the roof is still in the well area, so don't think headroom's any more of an issue than in the original plan .... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, Harlequin said: Nice idea but is there enough room to stand up in the operating well because of the braces up to the roof apex...? I can fully stand in the middle of the loft, and sit quite comfortably on a stool close to the layout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhOh Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 15 minutes ago, Chimer said: Picture hopefully worth many words ..... I'd stick with the OP's original idea as the narrower operating well on this would to me, be more of an annoyance than having to build/view through the trusses. I recall that my father's loft layout didn't seem to suffer overly as a result of fitting similarly between the them. Having watched the linked YouTube video outlining his plans, it seems to me that while it's not to everyone's preference, @Liam_uk is already accepting of the fact that the trusses are where they are and has considered the impact they will have. Sorry I can't be of any help planning-wise, that's a far larger space than I could ever hope to have, but will follow with interest and wish you well with your plans. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 Assuming the picture shows the subject then I'm quite interested in the N Gauge... You might be able to run trains at about 5% maximum scale length! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 23 minutes ago, OhOh said: I'd stick with the OP's original idea as the narrower operating well on this would to me, be more of an annoyance than having to build/view through the trusses. I recall that my father's loft layout didn't seem to suffer overly as a result of fitting similarly between the them. Having watched the linked YouTube video outlining his plans, it seems to me that while it's not to everyone's preference, @Liam_uk is already accepting of the fact that the trusses are where they are and has considered the impact they will have. Sorry I can't be of any help planning-wise, that's a far larger space than I could ever hope to have, but will follow with interest and wish you well with your plans. Thank you for your input and thanks for watching my videos 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam_uk Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 17 minutes ago, Zomboid said: Assuming the picture shows the subject then I'm quite interested in the N Gauge... You might be able to run trains at about 5% maximum scale length! The N scale layout will be East coast, mainly CSX and NS in about 95 - 05 ish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 So in terms of dimensions you have a nice space, a lot of people can only dream of having almost 19' in length. To me the biggest issue is baseboard heights - the N layout looks like you will need to sit on the floor to view or operate. Perhaps a rethink, with one side being OO and the other side being N? You can then have the 2 scales switch levels at the end of the room so they both have a loop running under each other (which doesn't need much clearance) to allow for continuous running. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinofLoxley Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 This is an interesting project to me because I have a similar kind of loft, with the same space between the timbers to put boards, but less central open space, but a longer run. What I have elected to do is bring the track into the main loft space in order to be able to turn the track round to have a non-roundy track plan but still continuous run. The plans are outlined for criticism in the recent thread setrack vs streamline. Most of the responders on this have already seen it. AS far as running between the timbers goes, it does spoil some of the views but as has been suggested, some of the track can run in front of it, if you think of 90cm as being an easy stretch. Not sure how to integrate N and OO, if it was me I might be tempted to run the N around an elevated section at the back. It looks a very complicated thing. Run before someone mentions the word 'helix' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 Having the N gauge below would seem a good way to go, the image above has the feel of an American style multi level layout. What to put on top is another matter. And the subject of this thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now