[cabledawg]

I started the design for this layout over five years ago. Originally we had a 12x24 room for the trains, but as the kids got bigger, we needed more room to spread out so the trains and "living room" swapped.

The current room is 9.5x11, originally with a doorway, window and a small hall leading to the front hall of the house. The hall was closed off, the carpet replaced with reclaimed laminate flooring and the walls repainted a somewhat neutral color. The layout is a hybrid box design cantilevered off the walls as we need to use the space for storage as well. Most of the lumber is either reclaimed from the old portable layout or leftovers from other house projects. I was happy I didnt have to buy a lot of new stuff to make this work. I wish I had taken more pics of the build process but it was moving so quickly for a while that I didnt even think about it until this week......

Attached is the AnyRail design I made years ago to fit this room. Because space is premium, I went with a multideck design. The Staging area creeps up a 2%-ish grade to the main level. Eventually there will be a train elevator to move things up the second level. It'll be about 6' long so enough to hold a few cars. The location is fictitious and so is the operation. It'll operate like a branch line with the staging area being a distant district yard/interchange somewhere. The small yard on the layout will be the "local" yard that services both levels. Not ideal but running it on TrainPlayer seems to be entertaining enough.

 

[cabledawg]

Couple pics

 

[cabledawg]

More pics

 

[cabledawg]

Right now I have the main level track and wiring completed (excluding the elevator portion) and have the ramp to the staging area installed. The second level will be started after the new year. I'll be using LED strip lights for lighting since the single overhead light is dismal at best.

 

[Severn]

Not a lot of room there. What radius can are the curves?

 

[cabledawg]

All the tracks are 22" radius curves. My old portable layout had 18" curves and while that accommodated most of my locos and rolling stock, I thought since I had the space on the corners I'd push it out to 22". All the switches are #4 except in the staging area where I used #6 since they were stacked. Every other joint has a soldered feeder connection. Main bus lines are 14g and the feeders are 20g. The doorway bridge piece has it's own connection to the main bus so it's powered too.

The main level will have minimal detailing. While my kids are grown or old enough to handle models, we often times have little ones that enjoy watching the trains and I dont want to constantly chase away little hands. The second level (once it's installed) will have more detailing done with static grass and the whole nine yards.

The buildings are leftover from the old layout and most need repairs and repainting from being in storage for so long. Kinda the same story with the trains. But I have two working reliably and a few more that are close but have hiccups once in a while. About the rolling stock is still running plastic wheels and horn/hook couplers. I plan to remedy this as time goes by but for now I'm using what I have.

 

[cabledawg]

Update. Got the lighting installed for two sides. The mounting is only temporary until the construction on the second level begins. The LED color temp can be changed as well as dimmed to set daytime or nighttime lighting. Most of the staging yard is now installed; just need one more box of flex track. Had to buy loose track this last time and ended up with two sticks of Code 83. Of well, it still works.

The last pic is just some of the rolling stock I've acquired over the years. Some is still in boxes, either damaged and needing repair or cars I didnt intend to run all the time on the layout (like Budd passenger cars). I've got most of my DCC locos back up and working. Still several that need to be converted.

I did find out the hard way that when backing the trains down into the staging yard I need to ensure all the couplers are hooked together. Had a string of four break off, shoot down the ramp and launch off the second turn. At least I know the track is smooth enough for them to get that kind of speed :thumbsup:

 

[Bonz85]

Impressive layout. Some of my rolling stock is still horn hook and quite a bit are still plastic wheels but will upgrade as time goes.