Need Help lowering my layout

[John]

Can you give us some photo's of the real thing .. you might just be able to sever a couple of manageable sections, cut those legs down, then do the next section .. and put it back together ..  if you are still in the plywood stage, this might not be so hard

[SD452XR]

Have you thought about raising the floor? Depending on your height and ceiling, you could build a false floor and just add the second level above the existing level. 

Steve

[dnhouston]

John, The benchwork is actually built in sections, which made it easier for me to handle as this was a one-man construction job.  So I could remove some trackage, unbolt the sections and drop them one at a time.  I had considered this approach as well, but for some reason, it just wasn't very appealing.  Although it is probably the most practical.

Steve, I thought about adding risers, but with the bottom level at 40" I was hoping to be able to sit while operating.  The risers would make using the chairs difficult.  And pushing them out of the way even more so.

Ed, I agree with you that starting over might be better, but part of me just doesn't want to take that big of a step backwards just to move forward.  Although I know that sometimes you must as what I have represents my fourth "start-over" already.  I'm also hesitant about using a helix and was planning to do a proof-of-concept helix first to see if I could fit it in and just how long the trains would be stuck in it.  Although I hadn't considered double-tracking it, there's some food for thought.  BTW, I really appreciate all the insights you're providing.  So often I plunge into an idea "half-cocked" because it sounds exciting and haven't thoroughly considered all the implications until it's "too late".

Maybe it's time to start a new thread on "How would you redesign this layout to work better for operations"

[pnolan48]

I just disassembled a three-deck layout and moved it from Albuquerque to Ohio. Because I was transporting it I had to cut it into pieces, but many of the pieces were 12' long, and it was built on 12' wire racks to begin with. With three or four friends, plus wives to help out, we could dislodge and move the sections without too much damage.

Of course, moving 340 sq. ft. of layout "table" across 1400 miles is going to result in some damage--actually considerable damage on the connecting ends. So I may have to remove 6" of track from each "module" end to hook them back up. That's not a big deal, especially since many of the modules will have new modules between them, which will challenge my creativity.

I'm lousy at analyzing track plans. I went from deck to deck with long grades along the back walls--a "nolix" design. Can you incorporate that type of transition? Helixes, to me, are wasteful of floor space--nearly 100% of track is hidden. In my non-helix layout, only 20' of 660 feet of mainline is hidden, mostly for aesthetics.

More later, as I'm traveling.