Skinny Shelf Layout.

[Ray Von]

Quick question re: a small "shuttle" shelf layout currently in the planning stages. 

I just need to find out the minimum width shelf I would need for the attached N gauge setup - I'll probably go with a pair of Peco streamline points, and would keep the tracks correctly spaced in the scenic area (right hand side.) 

[Davexoc]

Depends on your scenery more than the tracks. You could run three straight and parallel tracks in as little as 3 inches....

[Ray Von]

44 minutes ago, Davexoc said:

Depends on your scenery more than the tracks. You could run three straight and parallel tracks in as little as 3 inches....

Cheers, it's the space that the sidings will take up I'm unsure of - without physically having any track pieces it's hard for me to tell.

[Davexoc]

I have 15 tracks in 16 inches on my fiddle yard. Not ideal for getting fingers between roads though.

I think the standard track spacing is only marginally more, so 2.5 inches for each two tracks is adequate.

[Dungrange]

You could always invest in a Peco track gauge SL336 - https://peco-uk.com/products/6-way-gauge?variant=7435677499426

 

The Amazon website (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peco-SL-336-6ft-Way-Gauge/dp/B002QVNAQC) gives the track centre to centre dimensions as 18+9=27mm for streamline and 26+9=37mm for set track spacing.

 

The absolute minimum you could probably get away with would therefore be ~135mm (~5.3'').

[DCB]

You need to measure your stock.  N gauge is notoriously over width, about 12 scale feet instead of 9 on some "Heritage" models  but you should be safe with 1" per track plus around 1/2" at one edge very much as @Dungrange suggests.

I can't really get my head around why the sidings are between tracks and the three running lines so widely spaced, I would have the sidings outside, actually I would have a train lift one or both ends based on a  Nellyvator but bodged with junk from a skip to suit my budget (Virtually non existant)

[Chris M]

I am building a skinny shelf layout in N. It is 12ft long but only 7 inches deep.

 

 

The station at the end doesn't allow for much scenic development but it fits and allows plenty of shunting. The track is all laid but I haven't really started scenic work on the terminus yet.

 

[Chris M]

The end of the line from the plan above. It is a current project so not much to see but it shows how things fit.

 

A single track line on a 7 inch board in N does allow reasonable scenic development. The single track boards are not complete but they are coming along.  I don’t think they look too bad considering the very restricted depth.

 

 

Edited April 15 by Chris M

[Ray Von]

Thanks for all the responses, really useful! 

I've attached a rough diagram by way of explaining the layout. 

There will be a Kestrel brand island platform at the far end, this will dictate the track spacing between the lower two lines - as will the sidings in the fiddle yard. 

Edited April 15 by Ray Von