TheRailwire
General Discussion => N and Z Scales => Topic started by: Iain on June 16, 2010, 09:33:23 AM
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(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_YmW9XnCnhAo/TBjRUAHb8QI/AAAAAAAAAbY/QqME8nek8NY/s800/Room.jpg)
The above is the bedroom in the new apartment I'll be moving to come June (I'll put my bed in the living room). I'm thinking about two layouts: one between the entrance and the closet, the other around the other three walls. So, figure a door layout on the one wall, could I get y'all to design me some basic benchwork and a point-point mainline (I'll try to figure out sidings and such like later). I ask because I have had this much space for a layout before, and I'm slightly intimidated.
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(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_YmW9XnCnhAo/TBjiueGDoPI/AAAAAAAAAbg/VlHCRtKcOlI/s800/Room.jpg)
Ok, this is what I've come up with so far. Opinions?
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looks a little close at the door.
That said, you can get some good, long isnuous scenes in there. With a low back frop or scenery divide you could even squeeze in a narrow staging yard at the back, connected at both ends for continuous running.
What scale/gauge wer eyu thinking? Minimum radius? Track code?
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I wouldn't try to fill the space at first. This is an apartment which means you won't be there forever. It also means that you have neighbors who don't want to listen to a bunch of construction noise. So think modular for when you have to move. I would keep the bed in the bedroom and start modest with a door layout. Nobody wants to see a bed in the living room when they visit. This space is big enough for both.
Best wishes.
Dave
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(http://www.instructables.com/image/FXWNKZ1FZNHP0YZ/Anatomy-of-a-Hollow-Core-Door-Slab.jpg)
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I have to agree with Dave. Keep the bed in the bedroom. The space it would take up in the living room would be fine for a nicely finished modular railroad. If you are "entertaining" female company, two turnoffs would be a bed in the living room and trains sharing space with the bed in the bedroom. ;) You can do the noisy and messy layout construction off site and your neighbors and landlord will be happier for that.
How much space were you going to allow for the bed in the living room? Use that for layout space. The layout does not have to be N-trak style modules, but something that can be easily moved and expanded when you have more space. Having a nicely detailed, finished and manageable layout in your living space sounds like the best option. Just my opinion.
Eric
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The reason I'm really wanting the long runs is that NS was characterized by a whole lot of 'nothing.' Iconic views of NS include the following:
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_YmW9XnCnhAo/TBjrIth37CI/AAAAAAAAAbw/qNHz-IzEXJs/s800/ns-s1617bwc.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_YmW9XnCnhAo/TBjrH-posRI/AAAAAAAAAbs/sTnIp_BUEOI/s800/NS0701NEWBERN1964.JPG)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_YmW9XnCnhAo/TBjrHG_MafI/AAAAAAAAAbo/HlB94EIOTlg/s800/n_a.jpg)
Since I want to model the eastern division, I have to have at least a representative Albemarle Sound trestle (no way I could do the whole 5 1/2 miles, even if I had space; I couldn't do that many bents).
Of course, one of my favourite scenes is this:
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_YmW9XnCnhAo/TBjt0YsXnSI/AAAAAAAAAb4/BX1dapB5C78/s800/ns-s1607awc.jpg)
However, I'm not likely to model it because of it's location. The track leading off to the right is part of the wye that forms the beginning of the Fayetteville branch. AS416s battling a 1% prevailing grade=awesome.
I will build the layout so that it would be portable; not entirely sure how I'm going to engineer that, but I'll figure out something. As for female entertainment, I have bribed the GF into accepting the arrangement (Gold does wonders).
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two thoughts:
1. N-trak spec modules with your own track as needed.
2 http://www.sieversbenchwork.com/ (http://www.sieversbenchwork.com/)
And I agree - having had several bedroom layouts over the years - a modular in the L/R makes a better impression, especially with good skirting and a nice fascia. That way the Gold Points can be put to other uses . . .
that, and you could do the trestle real justice in an L-shaped modular on one long wall . . .
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IDEA: Top-of-door-facing level wall shelf layout depicting trestle, just to run trains. Make it single track and/or maybe a 3 track staging yard across one wall.
Then, have a smaller modular pt2pt for ops/modeling/display purposes.
It's good that the GF is already in play....it is tougher when you're trying to land one! I speak from recent experience here. :) My layout was in the living area and it didn't fit the space very well. Should have started from scratch like you did but...oh well. Don't overdo it....the apartment will get very small after a while, trust me. I just upgraded to a 2 bedroom and it has made everything MUCH better. But, more money and I might have been less inclined to upgrade if layout-zilla wasn't in the way.
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I'll second the comment about Sievers benchwork. While it might be more costly, it is quality stuff and comes with all the hardware. I ordered a section in the past to see how it was built, and it is nicely done.
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For a while I had a layout in a bedroom, coexisting with the bed. The layout was shelf-style along two walls, and it was set pretty high so as to clear the furniture. This was a good arrangement as the room also saw use as a studio for a while that was shared with others.
My recommendation would be to follow prior suggestions to keep the bedroom the bedroom, and start smaller. A shelf layout along two walls (possibly three) will give you nice long runs, and simplify its construction/removal. I think you might be painting yourself into a corner and/or biting off more than you can chew with your current plans.
Also... as previously asked... scale? track? minimum radius?
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As I stated, I am a proponent of doing a highly finished and detailed layout in the living room. That being said, if you are determined to build a layout in the bedroom I can see a couple of problems. There are going to be access issues in the two corners and against the wall at the end of your penninsula based on the benchwork footprint that you posted. If you are determined to put the layout in the bedroom, I would suggets 18" to 24" deep shelves, cantilevered from the wall and placed at about 52 - 53 " above the floor. That will leave the room underneath available for furniture, etc. You will need to patch and paint the walls when you move though. Kind of like what I did with my Housatonic RR layour in our bonus room:
(http://www.nscale.org/photos/data/831/medium/First_Downloads_July_2009_272.jpg)
(http://www.nscale.org/photos/data/831/medium/First_Downloads_July_2009_269.jpg)
Eric
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In my one bedroom apartment, I must have no furniture covering one of my two windows in the bedroom so I can have access to it in case of a fire. I don't know if this is a city code or just rules my complex has. Just something to keep in mind.
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The backwards E is not a good idea. The good old linear around the walls with a peninsula in the center is better for running, staging, etc. Easy to build in sections that can be transported when you move on so long as you plan it that way. Doors can be removed, duck-unders are not fatal. Don't worry about visitors, they don't have to live there.
Personally, I don't get the door layout thing. Being incarcerated in a condo for the past 5-1/2 years, I still prefer no layout to one on a door... it's like a tease, or going to the t*ty bar and leaving with the fat waitress. I'd rather get none than settle for the best I can get. But that's just me.
FWIW, you get bonus points for being more concerned about the layout than sleeping arrangements. Well done, sir ;)
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it's like a tease, or going to the t*ty bar and leaving with the fat waitress. I'd rather get none than settle for the best I can get. But that's just me.
HEHE
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Being incarcerated in a condo for the past 5-1/2 years, I still prefer no layout to one on a door... it's like a tease, or going to the t*ty bar and leaving with the fat waitress. I'd rather get none than settle for the best I can get.
Not sure if this is worded right... "I'd rather get none than settle for the best I can get"?
Anyway, I think it's kind of sad that you may never have a layout. I've always been of the mind that something is always better than nothing. I've had a few layout-less stretches in my life, and I also have had quite a few stretches where I had a "make-do" layout of some sort, be it a little shelf thing, a portable, a door (I've never had a door layout, but I've had similar things, and I can understand the appeal), etc. But those times when I had something to work on were always better than the times I had an empty room with some boxes of rolling stock. If I elected to never build anything unless I could have the absolute best, I think I'd never have a layout at all, ever. I say to each his own, of course, but this all-or-nothing-at-all approach just does not make much sense. Heck, the waitress might be fat, but she could be good company on a lonely night. A card game with a friend is better than just chokin' the chicken by yerself, so to speak...
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I always like the "less is more " approach to "benchwork", but not on aisle space.
I like about 18" or less for the actual "layout" on the walls for two reasons. You can do a ton in 18" or less depth, and it will cost less.
Using the above approach, and utilizing insulation foam for construction material, you'll be able to wall mount your modules or sections on simple 90o /"L" shaped brakets. These are available at Lowe's etc and are very sturdy. Just a couple of large screws to mount each bracket to a stud. Easy to install, and easy to remove.
The same type bracket can be used for mounting upper facia/lighting.
This "approach" will let you make your scenery go "above or below" the actual brackets, so tall steel trestles or large stone viaducts or easy to fit into the track plan.
I would also suggest using the full 8' length of foam for your "module" length. No need to have it to "N" track standards
Hope that this helps a little
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DKS, by the close of the year (if not the summer), I'll have a basement with a house on top of it. Not sure about the house, but I've got some ideas for that basement!
I went from a 14 x 20 layout, to a 3 x 5, to nothing. I'm no stranger to privation, and nothing is survivable knowing something is coming eventually. If I knew it was a door or nothing, I bet I'd have a double decker door layout!
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my problem is the room is 9' X 9.5 and the one car garage is full
of crap. I too do the NS so long coal drags are out
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my problem is the room is 9' X 9.5 and the one car garage is full
of crap. I too do the NS so long coal drags are out
Iain models the original NS... the one with the silver diesels in North Carolina, not todays NS.
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I always like the "less is more " approach to "benchwork", but not on aisle space.
I like about 18" or less for the actual "layout" on the walls for two reasons. You can do a ton in 18" or less depth, and it will cost less.
Using the above approach, and utilizing insulation foam for construction material, you'll be able to wall mount your modules or sections on simple 90o /"L" shaped brakets. These are available at Lowe's etc and are very sturdy. Just a couple of large screws to mount each bracket to a stud. Easy to install, and easy to remove.
The same type bracket can be used for mounting upper facia/lighting.
This "approach" will let you make your scenery go "above or below" the actual brackets, so tall steel trestles or large stone viaducts or easy to fit into the track plan.
I would also suggest using the full 8' length of foam for your "module" length. No need to have it to "N" track standards
Hope that this helps a little
I'm liking this idea. If I do, say, six feet of the Albemarle trestle, it should be enough to give the general impression and for photography, and it would fit on the standard foam board, so I could in theory move it. I'm thinking now that the thing to do would be to model Edenton to the division point at Marsden, with staging for Norfolk and the electric division to the north and staging for everything west of Marsden (Raleigh, etc.) and for the New Bern branch.
Marsden (Chocowinity):
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=35.516177,-77.107104&spn=0.004157,0.006856&t=h&z=17 (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=35.516177,-77.107104&spn=0.004157,0.006856&t=h&z=17)
If I model from 1964-on, I can also include the phosphate line, wich was built with heavy rail, concrete ties, etc. to make an intersting contrast to the sleepy, branchline feel of the rest of the railroad. Of course, several 100 car trains a day pulled by three or four Baldwins or EMDs rock as well.
my problem is the room is 9' X 9.5 and the one car garage is full
of crap. I too do the NS so long coal drags are out
Iain models the original NS... the one with the silver diesels in North Carolina, not todays NS.
The Baldwins and GEs came red; it wasn't until the railroad started buyin EMDs in the 1960s that the gray scheme was introduced.
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In my one bedroom apartment, I must have no furniture covering one of my two windows in the bedroom so I can have access to it in case of a fire. I don't know if this is a city code or just rules my complex has. Just something to keep in mind.
Less rules of the complex or city, more common sense. Egress is always a good thing in case of fire.