[SwiftyMcVaie]

hi im returning to the hobby after a number of years and looking to pick your brains for ideas.
I have a room which measures 42ft by 24ft and am looking to build a large railway. Costs are not an issue so if anyone has any ideas please let me know either here or my email [email protected]

Many thanks in advance

 

[John Webb]

Welcome to the forum!

I assume from the fact you are posting in this section you intend to go for '0' gauge or even larger? You may need to go round the loop a few times: what scale > what can I model > would that be better in a larger/smaller scale > what scale etc...

There are plenty of plans in various books, mostly for 4mm (00) scale - but these can be scaled up for the larger gauges.

Another factor to be considered is whether you will be running the layout on your own or if you have friends who will help - if the former then a simple branch line might be appropriate where you may have just two, perhaps three trains on the move at most, if the latter than you can consider a major junction station and/or city terminus with goods yard and the possibility of a number of trains moving simultaneously.

Best of luck - have fun!

Regards,
John Webb

 

[Brian Considine]

Welcome to MRF.

That's a nice amount of space you have available - be sure to keep us all posted on your progress.

Any questions then please just ask away - there is shedloads of knowledge here.

 

[Robert Stokes]

That amount of space is going to make a lot of people, including me, very jealous. However, it does bring one drawback. From what I have read, it will be very easy to start with ambitious plans and then get downhearted at the lack of progress. I would suggest working on a small part of the space at first but work out before how it can be included in a much larger layout. You could plan the whole thing and lay track roughly for much of it but concentrate on making scenic only a small part of it initially.

 

[7113]

QUOTE (Robert Stokes @ 19 Jan 2009, 16:03) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>That amount of space is going to make a lot of people, including me, very jealous.

I'll second that! but to be serious Robert is correct in what he says. I have heard many tales of over ambitious layouts never gettin going.

Regards

 

[frame69]

I agree with these chaps, if I could go back 12 months my layout would have been started a lot smaller then added to as I gained knowledge and methods etc...

 

[Twiglet]

Me too - like (it seems) almost everyone, I was far too ambitious at first and jumped in with an over-complex layout 'to take full advantage of the space available'.
I'm getting there but it has been a slow ride and often very frustrating.
What have I learned? Keep it simple. Halve the complexity of your initial plan and then halve it again. Walk away for a week then go back and halve it again!
Don't try to build Clapham Junction. Much better to have one train meandering through lots of interesting scenery, coming in and out of sight etc, than five expresses all hurtling around complex figure-of-eights, chasing their tails and creating nightmares every time they derail. Keep pointwork (switching) to a minimum and keep points off the mainlines. Make the station your focus. Remember - every metre of track laid is a metre of track that has to be kept clean.

With as much space as you have you can do a LOT in OO/HO.

All for what it is worth etc., Mike

 

[alastairq]

I'd like to ofer a left field suggestion....with all that space available..the temptation is to spend a lot and go lavish......all of which can end up taking far too long to get anywhere near completed.

However, if cost really isn't an issue, why not, instead, look at the much 'larger' gauges and scales?

Bigger than O scale, we have Gauge 1, which is quite well represented in the trade...plus gauges 2 and 3?

Thus with such gauges, a more modest layout which is more 'achievable' might ensue, which also..fills the space, giving one a sense of 'better value??'

Folowing on from the above, we have the larger scale, narrow gauge prototypes?

what about a 16mm scale layout?

Like ''Lynton''??

 

[billericaybill]

The cash budget may not be limited but our time budget is limited for all of us. Even if you have plenty of time even building a model railway can become just another job, however much fun it is to start with. In O if you are going to build all your locos and rolling stock and then scratch build buildings as there are few kits available building a large layout could take forever....or seem like it.
One idea is to have a small to moderate station and then sweeping curves with nice rural scenery as this will not be held up by wiring and making numbers of buildings. The lower time/money investment rural sections can be pulled out later and replaced with more complex formations later, especially if this is planned for in the beginning. This is similar to what others have said in that it will pay not to be too ambitious until you have the measure of time and effort needed.
I wish you lots of enjoyment of it, and one other thing, a really nice music system in there might be a great investment !
Andrew

 

[FUNGUS]

Very jealous of th space you have available! With tha amount of room a spose anything is possible in the normal indoor Guages (N,OO.HO and O) I thinks Id go for a country scene with a main line running through
Steve

 

[alastairq]

QUOTE In O if you are going to build all your locos and rolling stock and then scratch build buildings as there are few kits available building a large layout could take forever....or seem like it.

O gauge is no longer a predominantly scratchbuilder's dmain in my view...that mantle is well and truly on the shoulders of S gauge modellers.

For those not shy of spending there is much rtr to be had in O gauge.........fro smaller firms like Skytrex, for example...the BAchmann's O gauge rtr locos in brass...not forgetting Heljans recent offerings?
track is very nicely handled by Peco [better than OO??]..and .even for gauge 1....and rtr locos are available in THAT gauge too....

for structures there are kits out there.......as an example, check out Kittle Hobby's ads?

with the larger scales, space is filled with a more modest and achievable model......plus, I feel O gaue ,o r gauge 1 stock will hold its value much better in these harsh imes..better than OO plastic stuff, anyways.

 

[dwb]

I have to say that some of the Gauge 1 stuff available from Accucraft is seriously tempting and they're not that expensive compared to O gauge. Now coaches to go with these are a different matter but maybe scratchbuilding in gauge 1 is a tad easier in some respects with it being so big?

David

 

[alastairq]

for coaches, what about eBay and Lima O gauge coaches?

However.....again, if money is little object, specific coaches can be professionally built and painted...JLTRT [Pete Waterman's company] for example, can likley help, since they produce many etched stock kits.......??

If, as I suggested, using the area to model a larger scale, thus a more modest 'design'..ie, achievable.....then stock numbers, especially coaches, need only be of a limited size........fill the area with 4mm models, and the sheer volume of stock might be overwhelming?

Of course, one up-side of this thread is the possibility of 'involving' groups of fellow enthusiasts to assist in construction?

''project management'' rather than individual modelling?

If considering even larger scales, GRS are worth taking a look at?

After all, with such a space available, we could enter the realms of indoor live steam?

 

[dwb]

QUOTE for coaches, what about eBay and Lima O gauge coaches?

I was thinking of Gauge 1. I know of a couple of companies who make coaches but they are ~£500 a pop?

David

 

[alastairq]

that's large scale for you...but consider how much a professionally-made coach costs for 4mm scale?

More than a top notch rtr loco?

 

[PaulRhB]

QUOTE (SwiftyMcVaie @ 19 Jan 2009, 12:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I have a room which measures 42ft by 24ft and am looking to build a large railway.
Hopefully this might help sort out some definitions or give you some extra ideas

What type of railway do you like?

Steam, diesel or electric traction? Standard or Narrow gauge.

British or Continental? also where in the relevant country.

Do you want a lot of track or trains in the scenery?

Do you want to sit back and run trains or operate it as a miniature railway?

Will you operate it alone or with a group of friends?

Do you want sound?, if so plan for DCC control from the start and it will be easy to run the wiring appropriate as you build.

 

[jimread]

I saw a Gauge 1 layout at an exhibition in Brierley Hill in the 1980's it was quite short by the standards of the scale just a shunting thingy, one pannier tank and a few wagons.

I stood there for ages just watching the loco roll majestically along, it was quite magnificent.

Jim

 

[BVM]

If you really want to see what can be done with space and a large budget take a look at this;

http://www.youtube.com/v/v=sk-TV6Ptpy4&hl=en&fs=1;showsearch=0

This is the McKinley Railway in Poole Dorset.

 

[BVM]

The YouTube insert in my previous post did not seem to work so here is the full address;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk-TV6Ptpy4...feature=related