I've started chipping away on the construction of my new layout modules that will connect up with the part of the old layout I brought with me. I settled on the modules being 1200mm long x 600mm deep.
I contemplated doing something similar to FreeMo style modules without a backdrop. But then I found this idea from a user on the MRH forums and I decided I did really want a backdrop and in built lighting. This way, when the layout moves again, each module can be packed up relatively easily and transported as is. Maybe, I may even be able to take the modules to a train show one day.
I've got room to build five modules in my current space. I'll share a track plan in a future post, but the priority is to build a yard area with enough capacity for all my rolling stock and locomotives, so I don't have to have any off layout storage. That way I can run trains in a point to point manner, as I did on the old Thoroughfare Gap Railroad. I'm hoping to have a roundhouse, which will be a new addition. That would go nicely with one of my turntables and engine servicing facilities.
I've decided to minimise the grades on the layout to maximise the pulling power of the little 4-4-0's, which always tended to struggle with the steep grades on the old Thoroughfare Gap layout. That doesn't mean I won't have any dramatic scenery though. While the track height will remain mostly the same, the scenery in some modules will extend for some distance above and below the track, like it did in my redwood foreste/ravine module that didn't make the move.
So far I've put together the benchwork on two of the modules. I'll be working away on them as I get the time over the next while. I need to make some legs and I'm thinking I'll make the track level about 125cm (49 inches) off the ground as it seems to be a comfortable height for me. How high did you decide to make your layout? If you started again would you go higher or lower?
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| Two modules in need of legs... (and some models). |
My current benchwork sits on 48" high shelving units. The benchwork is 6" thick, so trains run close to my eye level if I stoop or sit on a stool to run them. But this height makes it more challenging to reach into the scene to uncouple a car, rerail a derailment, work on scenery, etc. My wife is 5'3" so the trains are already at eye level for her! For now I keep a stool or two handy for vertically challenged folks or when I need to reach farther.
ReplyDeleteWhen the time comes to build the next railroad, I'm not sure if I'd do it any differently. I occasionally consider a shorter railroad to allow easier reach but I really like the eye level view. By the time I get to the next railroad in 5-10 years there may be grandchildren to consider, so that's a factor as well!