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Howdy Y'all --

Just a note to let everyone know the list is still alive. I'm
working on some small layout ideas and hope to have some sketches put
together soon for sharing. I'm working on trying to fit a prototype
industry as illustrated on a fire insurance map into a shelf-type
layout.

There's a thread on LDSIG ( at )
starting about 4-by-8 and domino style layouts -- I think there's a
place for both, depending on one's requirements. It will be
interesting to see what that group has to say on the issue.

Thanks -- Jon

jonp@...
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Visit the Model Railroading Makes Me Grumpy Discussion
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From: "Dale Bowman" <dalebo53@...>
Subject: Hello
If anyone would be interested in helping me get started,
just let me know.

HI DALE!! Id be happy to help..where are you?? Ill drop by and show you
how to make all the mistakes!!
As has been said already..just jump in and give it try.. might come naturally..
may not,, but dont get discouraged..just try again!!! It WILL be fun..
DAVE



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Dale,
You might try buying one of those books on track plans like "Small, Smart & Practical Track Plans". You can adapt one or more of the plans
to fit your space.
Making a list of things you know you want on the layout might help too.
Hope that helps.
Ken

Dale Bowman wrote:

--- In small-layout-design@y..., "Dale Bowman" <dalebo53@y...> wrote:

Hello everyone. I am Dale Bowman and glad to be aboard.
I have been out of MRRing for about 15 years and boy have things
changed. I have had a 14 X 4 foot board up for about a year and
still haven't decided on my layout yet. I know what I want in it but
not how to start. If anyone would be interested in helping me get
started, just let meknow.

Hiya Dale, glad to have you aboard, my best advice as to how to get
started is to just do something, even if you later decide it's wrong
you can re-work it/rebuild it/replace it. Let us know how you get on!

Martyn Read
Exeter, England

--- In small-layout-design@y..., "Emrys Hopkins" <emrys@i...> wrote:

Is that a double slip in the centre of the layout, Jack? My

eyesight's not

good enough for a 12" screen!

My current layout, being built, is 57" x 7.5" in HO with a 6"
overhang on the sectorplate.

Jack

Certainly is! 2nd hand Fleischmann picked up at Glasgow 2001. The
other switch is a small radius Peco. Works fine together!
Jack

Hello everyone. I am Dale Bowman and glad to be aboard.
I have been
out of MRRing for about 15 years and boy have things
changed. I have
had a 14 X 4 foot board up for about a year and still
haven't decided
on my layout yet. I know what I want in it but not how to
start. If
anyone would be interested in helping me get started,
just let meknow.
Anyway, thanks for letting be a member and I'll see you
around.

Is that a double slip in the centre of the layout, Jack? My eyesight's not
good enough for a 12" screen!

Please ignore my plea for "How to....." I just found it in another
section and it's posted. Thanks anyway

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the small-layout-design
group.

File : /Boxstreet.jpg
Uploaded by : chacmool@...
Description : Box Street Yard HO

You can access this file at the URL



To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit



Regards,

chacmool@...

--- In small-layout-design@y..., cranton@i... wrote:

Question..How small is a "small" layout for the purpose of this

forum???

And thanks for the railroad builders link!!!
DAVE



Visit iWon today for a chance to win $25 Million!
Click here -

My current layout, being built, is 57" x 7.5" in HO with a 6"
overhang on the sectorplate. If somebody can tell ne how to upload
it to the files - I'll put a copy on there

Jack

Paul/Celine Kossart <kozys@...> wrote on 01/4/20 4:45 pm:

Note that this is simpler as



Dennis

From: dan_d_sparks@...

LOL Dan.. If we get a chance we can discuss it with the wife!!!LOL!
As far as the reason for my question.. I am looking at building a layout
room supported by a garage.. not sure of the dimensions untill town gives
approval..but hoping for the range of 24X32 or so.. Maybe 24X24 smallest???

Wanting the staircase outside to save a few square feet.. but being in Maine
I will build in an "air lock"!!!
I have been "planning" the layout for about 30 years.. but just have some
"i want to includes" in mind..
HO scale..New england area, city area..good sized yard, double track -entire
length so I can just let two trains run as I play, work switch whatever/but
double track does NOT have be parralell to each other!
A loads in-emptys out seems a good idea...
So, is anyone interested in discussing the development of this?? of course
you are all invited to help build the supporting structure,(garage) and
the layout!!!LOL!




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What ever is not BIG is considered small, unless its medium. Besides,
it's not size that matters, it's how you use it (or at least that's
what my wife says! (am I in the right forum?) No, but seriously,
another consideration is scale. What's small for G could be big for
N! So the unit of measurement shouldn't be square feet but something
more along the lines of confinements of space or obstacles that have
to be dodged or rolling stock / straight track ratio or track to
scenery ratio or… Model Railroader recently concluded a small layout
contest with the results being published now. I'll have to look up
that issue to see what sort of considerations they took into account
for establishing their idea of a small layout, all though they
measured it in square feet. And besides, what might be big for my
wife might, ah forget the whole thing!

--- In small-layout-design@y..., cranton@i... wrote:

Question..How small is a "small" layout for the purpose of this

forum???

And thanks for the railroad builders link!!!
DAVE



Visit iWon today for a chance to win $25 Million!
Click here -

I think it really depends on how much one is trying to cram
into the space available. I have just over 200 sq. ft. with
out-of-room staging available and I consider it to be a
small layout. This is considering that the average size of
model railroads reported in Model Railroaders survey is
about 600 sq. ft.

Brian in Prince George, BC,

Modelling CPR in Nelson, BC in 1963

Question..How small is a "small" layout for the purpose of this forum???
And thanks for the railroad builders link!!!
DAVE



Visit iWon today for a chance to win $25 Million!
Click here -

I've uploaded two track plans to the file area. One is called "Toy-
Factory", which is a switching layout in H-O scale. The dimensions
are 9 inches wide by 52 inches long, including transverser. The
second is labelled "Ivar-A-6" and an extension of the toy factory
layout. Both layouts were planned for an "Ivar" shelving unit from
IKEA. The IVAR is modular so there can be quite a lot of variation.
My particular shelving unit is L-shaped. "Ivar-A-6" is 72 inches long
by 40 inches, with a 9 inch depth except in the corner which is "cut"
by the Ivar, allowing maximum usage. The transverser for the toy
factory is 17 inches, but I'm making the one for the Ivar at 19
inches. I've gotten as far as building the baseboard (benchwork) and
tranverser for toy factory, but no track down. I'm using sheet cork
to simplify things. I've cut the wood for the next section of
baseboard for Ivar, but that's it. The curve in Ivar is tight, but I
may be able to adjust that once I get to track laying. I used Atlas'
Right Track software to plan it using H-O code 100 track and Number 4
switches. I've already got two variations on this and may modify it
further.
Hope this is helpful or thought provoking for someone.
Maurice Grimes
Kingston, PA, USA

Hey all,

Below is a site I came across which contains _old_ RR maps and also links to other mapping sites.

Check it out. Might be of help to some in their layout designing.





Paul Kossart - Peru, Illinois, USA
BRHS, TP&WHS, La Salle & Bureau County Model Railroad Club

Proto-Freelancing The CB&Q Illiniwek River Branch in HO in the 1960's...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"开云体育 Agriculture and Industry in the Illiniwek River Valley since 1904."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THEY DO THIS IN CANADA? Good God, if they tried that
here in the states people would be rioting in the
streets!

They do anyway. Checked out Cincinnati lately?


Paul Kossart - Peru, Illinois, USA
BRHS, TP&WHS, La Salle & Bureau County Model Railroad Club

Proto-Freelancing The CB&Q Illiniwek River Branch in HO in the 1960's...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"开云体育 Agriculture and Industry in the Illiniwek River Valley since 1904."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Ken and Jonathan for the kind words. The era of the layout
is the turn of the century (1900). The right side of the layout is
going to feature a town that used to be sort of a "wild west" town
that , with the arrival of the trolley, is making the transition to a
more respectable agricultural community. Sporting paved sidewalks and
electric street lamps! Trolleys here will be running in the streets.
Most of the buildings will be two stories tall with wood
construction. But a couple of "modern" buildings will be three
stories tall with masonry construction, a trolley terminal building
being one of them. The right side of the layout is going to be rugged
mountainous region that is typical of so. California. Trolleys will
travel though a pass here sort of P.E. Cahuanga pass style. The upper
viaduct level is a trestle that actually straddles one of the lower
tracks. Near its end will be the trolley terminal building, which
will serve tracks on the upper and lower level (again, P.E. terminal
building style, except it had a subway too!).
You nailed it on the head Jonathan when you said that the figure 8
could be an intersection (very observant of you)! The single track is
embedded in a road, crossing a private two-track right of way. An
interlocker tower guards this intersection and the turnouts at the
front of the layout. Behind the intersection is the suggestion of an
orange grove (two or three trees is all that can fit) that will help
hide the fact that the trestle is straddling another track.
Nothing looks more toy like than a small figure 8 layout. So I have
tried to pull out all the stops when it comes to hiding this fact.
Such as putting the curved tracks in straight streets, the
intersection scene, hidden tracks, a tunnel, elevation (low in front,
high in back) dividing the big scene into smaller scenes, forced
perspective, mirrors, etc.
My diary is actually catching up to construction, so I'm trying to
update my diary every two weeks. I'll keep you posted! Thanks again!
Dandy

Hello --

Welcome to the list and thanks for the railroadbuilders.org link --
looks like that could develop into an interesting site.

Keep us posted on your traction layout -- I'm looking forward to see
how you scenic and finish the layout.

Traction is not something that I had thought of before for a small
layout, but it seems like a natural choice for a very small layout:

* You can get continuous running (for display, for testing,
for the pure fun of seeing things run) in a very small space.

* Depending on how the layout was sceniced, you could also get
some interesting viewing points and photo locations on the
layout. The crossing in the middle of the figure-8 would
be a natural for a street intersection, or perhaps even a
scene showing the street railway crossing a steam or
interurban railway.

* You can cram in a lot of equipment and operation believably.
While difficult to do on a small layout, I would think that
a traction layout -- particularly a street railway layout --
would let you operate a lot of equipment in a small space.
Many individual cars running running close together in a
busy scene would not seem out of place.

Good luck with your layout and keep the updates coming.

Thanks --

Jon Piasecki
jonp@...
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--- In small-layout-design@y..., "David Lyman" <dan_d_sparks@y...>
wrote:

Hot diggity dog! I don't know why it took me so long to find this
group, But i'm thrilled I finally have. My layout is really small:
2'x4'3", H.O. scale interuban layout. You can
view the track plan in my builders diary at Railroad Builders .org

at