[fredvon4]

Picked and stole apples in Yakima as a Soldier assigned to Ft Lewis (Tacoma WA) with duty on the Yakima firing range. Many day in the Tri Cities near Yakima WA

64 now and after 2 strokes can no longer play with flying model planes. I still have a Lionel round the tree train set from 60s

I am currently selling off a substantial airplane inventory of kits, engines and finishing stuff... most tools and adhesives translate to starting RR engineer hobby

several weeks lurking on this forum and the 0 gage section....

As Army brat lived around a lot....sure do have many nostalgic areas to model....

industrial....Joliet Il
agricultural...Wenatchee or Yakima WA
urban...Berkeley or Richmond CA
port side...Oakland Army Terminal Ca
rockies mountain...Tooele utah army depot
panama canal or similar
military depots or ammo storage
Quantico AmTrack passenger
stockton cattle rail yards or ft worth similar

model real world, or some mish mash of all above in a fantasy memory railworld

fortunately I have plenty of indoor AC space in my rebuilt RV over head cover, now sided, windowed, and insulated ---soon to be electrified and wifi connected...15' wide, 15' tall, 42' long over all, 32' inside the ends enclosed with wall and over sized doors.

This Man cave will house my ammo reloading and trains and hanger for aircraft I will not part with

you thoughts and opinions solicited....I have been slowly following gun runners build of the massive bench work for his swan song lay out

 

[T-Man]

Welcome to the forum.

Layouts take a lot of planning so look around. I suggest you look up dennytodd and view his threads. It may give you some ideas. He has posted a few videos too. He is not an active member sad to say.

Good Luck

 

[DonR]

A big 2020 thank you for your service and welcome
to the Model train forum.

Planning a new train layout means a lot of thinking
and mind games.

First is the choice of scale. The space you have
available seems to indicate that choosing HO would
be wise...N is pretty small for older guys...and 0 gauge
would need A lot of room.

Because of the limitations it usually isn't possible to
model a specific area even with HO, tho there were
a lot of rail activities where you have been.

Maybe you could think...what do I want to do with
my layout? Some just like to sit back and watch
trains run around the layout. Others, tho, enjoy
the challenges of switching...moving cars from trains
to rail using businesses...or shuttling cars from
yards to trains. The choice that affords the most
activities is a combination...continuous running with
ample switching.

Whatever your decisions, please do plan on using
the DCC control system...it is far easier to set up
and run on a layout you likely will have...and a lot
easier to operate trains...if you can work a TV remote
you can have two or more trains running at the same
time on the same track. There are four major brands
of DCC, Digitrax, MRC, NCE and Bachmann. All are
quality built and dependable, and all are full featured
except the Bachmann...it lacks ability to fine tune
loco decoders, but otherwise is fully capable of running
2, 3 or more trains at the same time. Because of NMRA
standards you can run any DCC loco with any DCC
system.

And be assured you have a number of folks here on
the forum who enjoy helping new modellers.

Don

 

[Tom_C]

Don, I was about to reply with the similar idea of switching to a smaller scale. Then I reread the original post. He doesn't have an RV. It's a Building previously used to store an RV, but is now enclosed. If I read it correctly the main area is 15x32. It still may be a little tight, depending on how it's laid out.

 

[fredvon4]

Thanks guys...like said, been lurking a bit translates to being a sponge and soaking up process and ideas....

RV overhead car cover was enclosed last year and spray foam insulated....15 x 31 interior floor space or 465 sq foot

Need room for ammo reloading benches
Need room for electronics work ...Ham radio and or trains
Need some room for the AC system
Need room for Tools and stuff

I know reality suggests investing in HO--- but child hood train set was Lionel 0-27 and recently bought a Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer Oval three rail set from Hobby lobby.... sort of liking that scale for my stroke addled palsy left side dexterity

Been following GunRunners build log of his swan song O scale bench system and eventual layout... .....

I got length to work with ---but floor is only 14.5 wall to wall, so basically My layout will be something like 7 ~8 wide by 20~25 long....

Am leaning to a multi consist running unaided as I relax and load some ammo on very hot or very cold days

Most of my specific questions will be asked in the appropriate areas

Thanks for the welcome guys

 

[Tom_C]

Keep in mind that if the platform is a solid 7-8' that's a lot of real estate to access from one side. Consider a U shape, or have access from both sides.

 

[Big Ed]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[DonR]

Somehow I was under the impression that you
had less space. But 7 or so by 20 or 25 is
plenty big for 0 gauge. The Forum has a very
active 0 gauge group who you'll enjoy working
with. Ask them about the 0 gauge equivalent
of DCC that would let your control more than one
train at a time.

Don

 

[traction fan]

Welcome aboard!

Picked and stole apples in Yakima as a Soldier assigned to Ft Lewis (Tacoma WA) with duty on the Yakima firing range. Many day in the Tri Cities near Yakima WA

64 now and after 2 strokes can no longer play with flying model planes. I still have a Lionel round the tree train set from 60s

I am currently selling off a substantial airplane inventory of kits, engines and finishing stuff... most tools and adhesives translate to starting RR engineer hobby

several weeks lurking on this forum and the 0 gage section....

As Army brat lived around a lot....sure do have many nostalgic areas to model....

industrial....Joliet Il
agricultural...Wenatchee or Yakima WA
urban...Berkeley or Richmond CA
port side...Oakland Army Terminal Ca
rockies mountain...Tooele utah army depot
panama canal or similar
military depots or ammo storage
Quantico AmTrack passenger
stockton cattle rail yards or ft worth similar

model real world, or some mish mash of all above in a fantasy memory railworld

fortunately I have plenty of indoor AC space in my rebuilt RV over head cover, now sided, windowed, and insulated ---soon to be electrified and wifi connected...15' wide, 15' tall, 42' long over all, 32' inside the ends enclosed with wall and over sized doors.

This Man cave will house my ammo reloading and trains and hanger for aircraft I will not part with

you thoughts and opinions solicited....I have been slowly following gun runners build of the massive bench work for his swan song lay out

fredvon4;

Welcome to the forum! That sounds like a pretty good sized space you have! I'm jealous My own, N-scale, shelf layout is mounted to two walls of my garage. It's made up of sections 4' long,16" deep and 16" high. Is your main interest in Lionel O-gage? If so, you should be able to fit a nice O-gage layout in your 40' x 15' space. Of course that would also apply to HO-scale, N-scale, or whatever scale you like best. I disagree with DonR's contention that "N-scale is pretty small for an old guy. That depends on the particular old guy. " I am an old guy (71) and I have been modeling in N-scale since the 1970s and I'm still getting along just fine with N-scale thank you Don. (Scary thought. I just realized that 1970 was half a century ago! ) Whatever scale, and whatever size/shape of layout you choose, I strongly recommend you build it in sections. You might also consider building your layout along the walls on a shelf 24"-36" deep. That would give you room for scenery and structures but still leave a 9'-wide by whatever part of your 40' you want long, space in the middle for reloading ammo, a workbench or two (one for guns one for trains?) Storing your favorite panes, (Hang them from that high ceiling?) or whatever else you choose.

The files below cover a lot of basic info and decisions for you to make. Some of it is not applicable to O-gage Lionel, but other parts are useful in any scale.

Have fun!

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos: :smilie_daumenpos:

View attachment WHERE DO I START rev 4.pdf

View attachment 1 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 2 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 3 & 4 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 5 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 6 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment All AboutTurnouts rev 5.pdf

View attachment MODEL RAILROADING ON A BUDGET.pdf

View attachment Model Railroad Terminology 3.pdf

View attachment Paintbrush Pine Trees.pdf