Don't Damage the Walls

[basementcalling]

So my lease in my rental, which it looks like I will be in for a year given how slowly the gears of insurance and construction are turning, doesn not permit me to screw anything to the walls. Limited nail holes for pictures are allowed.

Any thoughts on options for benchwork for a small layout given that restriction. Thinking a folding table for a small TTrack attempt or maybe a shelf set that could hold a layout on one level. Any suggestions for Ikea or Amazon options people have used?

Feel free to throw out some inspirational ideas too.

[Chris333]

The normal door layout with folding legs.

Are you at least allowed to spray paint swastikas  on the walls like normal folks? 

[wazzou]

IKEA Ivar shelving, if you can find it.

[Englewood]

Kato Unitrak on the floor? Pick it up and put it away when you're done. A different track plan every time, limited only by your track collection. And build a few kits, to use on your layout when you move back home.

[PiperguyUMD]

FreemoN modules!! But if that’s not your thing, I second the HCD layout.

[Maletrain]

Another version of an HCD layout is to use a 2" thick foam panel instead of a door. 

I made one that fits on the top of an old dining room table with the end extensions up, plus a bit more overhang on the ends.  I started with a 4' x 8' piece and cut the width down, then used the pieces to extend the length.  My result is 41.5" x 109".  But, it is so easy to cut it and glue it into different shapes that it seems the ideal way to fit the space you have available.

I painted my foam a nice tan color with latex paint, and laid the Unitrack on it.  You can make the electrical feeders go through holes in the foam to come out on the bottom, or you can make little troughs in the upper surface to route the wires to the side(s) and then run them along the edge.

Of  course, with 2" of foam, you easily can cut pits, ditches, streams, ponds, etc. below the surface as well as glue on more foam to make raised areas.

The whole thing is light enough to move easily.  You could even support it on a couple of saw horses, but it is probably not as strong for leaning on as an HCD would be, unless you have something under it for support (like my table).

[Dave V]

@Maletrain ,

I don't recall having seen pictures of your layout. We love a good HCD in N scale around here! Would you be willing to share?

[basementcalling]

FreemoN modules!! But if that’s not your thing, I second the HCD layout.

If only there were other FreemoN guys in the area to set up with.

[Maletrain]

@Maletrain ,

I don't recall having seen pictures of your layout. We love a good HCD in N scale around here! Would you be willing to share?

Hi Dave. Some time ago, I did post a picture of what I described in my post, above.  But, since then, I have been stalled on layout progress, because of moving out of the house I lived in for almost 50 years and moving all the accumulated stuff into this place that I inherited - nice place but needs a lot of work.  My layout and the area around it have been piled with "stuff" to the point on just about no access.  Not the same stuff, there is a flow of stuff and plans for what to do with it.  But the whole house is up-to-armpits in "possessions".



And my shop here needed to be built from scratch and then used to build the other things for the house.  The little bit model railroad stuff we did here for the club needed to be done in the laundry room to keep it safe enough.  I can barely reach over those piles of boxes to use a bit of the layout track for programming, and don't have the clearance to even run completely around a loop, right now.

So, most of my model railroading has been at the club, and frankly not with results worth posting here, plus a lot of research on the B&O Pittsburgh Division in the early 1950s.  One thing I am really good at is accumulating parts for projects, based on what I am learning from prototype research and reading here about modeling techniques.

Having finally emptied and sold my previous residence a few weeks ago, I think I am seeing some light at the end of my "tunnel" and am hoping that it is the headlight on a model train. 

[Dave V]

Well, whenever it is you can get back to it, that looks like a great start for a fun layout.

There have been lots of great threads here on the Railwire over the years about taking Unitrack to the next level visually. Having played with it myself, I'm smitten with its reliability.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

If only there were other FreemoN guys in the area to set up with.

I've had at least half a dozen folks in the area say that exact same thing.

[Philip H]

I've had at least half a dozen folks in the area say that exact same thing.

Well boys get to it!

[pedro]

I've had at least half a dozen folks in the area say that exact same thing.

Build it, and they will come! Whenever the Free-mo subject comes up amongst N scalers I know by me, (Chicago area) everyone always seems to be waiting for someone else to make the first move. It’s just inertia. Look at how quickly the Nebraska group took off as soon as it had an enthusiastic champion, @Mark W

[Maletrain]

Well, whenever it is you can get back to it, that looks like a great start for a fun layout.

There have been lots of great threads here on the Railwire over the years about taking Unitrack to the next level visually. Having played with it myself, I'm smitten with its reliability.

I couldn't find my original post, so I dug this picture out of my cell phone:



I don't really intend to take that layout "to the next level visually", because I really don't like the look of Unitrack very much.  My goal for this layout is to have an easily modified track plan to experiment with N scale operations and the equipment needed to make operations work smoothly.  (My ops experience is all with other peoples' HO - club and friends' layouts.)  So, my test bed is filled with track to let me do locomotive hosler movements, train building and car sorting, plus some industrial switching, to see what works for me and my wife in N scale.  And the loops are for running-in equipment and testing to see how much of what my locos can really pull.

I intend to make buildings and some scenery for this layout, but just for the practice on the buildings.  When I have room and time, I would like to do a separate experimental layout/diorama that focuses on visual realism.  That is what might result in photos worth sharing here. 

Frankly, the works I see posted here tend to drive me to want to try to do so much detail work that I would never be able to complete an operating layout in what lifetime I have left.  So, I am sort of planning to cram two practice layouts into my development, and then start work on my "ultimate" layout.  I will probably not live long enough to complete my ultimate layout.  But, I want to get to operate on it while I am making it visually "finished".  My thought process is to make it fun to be doing, and hopefully avoid the frustrations of learning something important the hard way and having to rip out the results of a lot of effort.

And, with that, I am going to try to drift this thread back to the OP's request for ideas for model railroading in a home he has leased for just a year.  I think that whatever activities basementcalling really likes to do in his model railroading are probably what he should arrange to get going rather quickly in his temporary place, with plans to move it or dump it, as warranted, in about a year.  That is most likely to give him some enjoyment and less likely to give him frustrations for the year he is displaced.

[Dave V]

Well, along those lines, having had and moved with an HCD layout many times myself, I feel like the ol' HCD is a brilliant way to avoid damaging the walls while assuring that the layout can move to the next place if/when necessary.

That said, T-Trak wasn't on my radar back when I built the PRR Juniata Division. It's also a great way to remain flexible while having a near-zero impact on the room it's in. An HCD does give--IMHO--more flexibility in the track geometry and the vertical component of scenery and track. But since I have no experience with T-Trak, I could be 100% wrong on this. If I were starting over in N scale and still doing a prototype for which a heavy double-track main were appropriate, I would take a very long look at T-Trak.

HCDs are what I know (I've built 3, 4 if you count the Enola Yard section of the old PRR Juniata Division) and I think you'll find tons of resources and trackplans for them.