Model Forum / General / Railroads / January 2007

Gianni,
It is really a compromise in this case. Technically there is nothing
to prevent you from running a layout 20cm above the floor.Th problem
comes from 2 fronts: 1) it is a royal pain in the a.s to build
something that low and 2) the lower the layout the more toy-like it
looks.  I model in n-scale and my layout height is 55" (about 140cm),
which is just below eye level  and gives (for me) the best appearance.
Sitting down while operating would allow one to lower this height.
Try this: sit on a low chair (preferably one you can roll about like a
desk chair) and measure how far your shoulders are off the ground.
About 5 cm less than that would be your ideal height for best
appearance.
At about 50/60cm you would have to be sitting on the floor to get that
effect.  If the layout is at waist level, you will lose a lot of
realism, especially in n-scale. On the other hand, the trains will
still run...
Hope that helps,

Franz T.

Gianni Rondinini schrieb am 29.01.2007 17:11:

How much space do you need to do a soldering job overhead? That would be
the bare minimum for me.

You will need at least a minimum back drop after the last track to have
something to catch the eye. Such back drop should be at least 2/3" (20
cm) heigh.

You questions are intriguing and by no means easy to answer. I guess
it all comes down to what aspect of model railroading is of most
interest to you. I remember reading in a very old MR of a person who
was into operation and gave no thought to scenicing at all. He built
his railroad virtually on the floor. His name IIRC was Watson House
and his scale was O. Would I do it that way? No! But that's because I
enjoy building scenery.

Franz has given you several pieces of good advice. However, the matter
of personal preference in still the prime consideration. He suggests a
height below shoulder level. I would prefer a few inches below eye
level. (Because I have a multilevel system obvious compromises are
necessary. Heights on my system range from a mid-thigh hidden staging
yard to an above eye level area on my highest tier.) Neither of us is
right per se. Only you can decide how you want to view your railroad.
Two additional points before leaving this area:
 Remember to consider width. Effective reach to rear areas diminishes
with height.
 Will you be sharing your railroad with others? Even my main
operational level is too high for my grandchildren to observe without
the aid of stools. Oh well, they'll grow.

HTH. Best of luck in the design of your system. Thank you.

Jerry

I don't think it's a matter of air flow under the models. If you have
whatever track you plan to use tacked down to plywood, there is little to
no air space under the track itself. The minimum would be the height of the
rails. I'm running Lionel FasTrack on the carpeted floor of my living room
right now with no problems.

I'm actually kind of partial to laying on the floor while watching the
trains run. I guess I'm a kid that way. But I like watching the light of
the loco come at me and see it whiz by.

Assuming you'll be using plywood, or whatever other surface, to build the
layout upon, how low you can go depends only on how low it can be while
still making it easy for you to get underneath to deal with the wiring.

You can do it on the floor if you like. But then hiding all the wiring for
a large layout will be a hassle. With a platform of some sort, you can
drill through and run the wiring underneath.

Rule of thumb: If a hi-cube box car crashes into a low overhang, it's too
low. ;) If your highest car fits, you're good to go.

Otherwise, you can run them through a long tunnel with barely enough room
for them to fit without a problem. I've never heard of model trains
overheating to be a problem.

Of course if you have a smoking locomotive (which I happen to love) in a
very tight area, you may find you'll need to clean the smoke residue off
the cars as well as the engine.

I haven't been here long, but I've found there is no such thing as a silly
question. The most experienced people here understand that each person
starts as a beginner.

I envy the room you have. I live in a two bedroom apartment right now and
am only beginning to look at houses. At least a partially finished basement
is going to be a must for me.

Lots of useful responses to your question so far!
If it were my space I'd use the outer low edges of the space for staging
tracks and then utilize the much narrower area at a better height for
the scenicked area, with climbing tracks between the two heights.
Perhaps the minimum height would be to have the trains at eye height
while sitting on the floor, and to operate the railway from sitting on
an office chair. The other height constraint with this scheme would be
to have comfortable access to the rear tracks while crawling under the
front scenic sections.

Important point! Insulate the loft ceiling and provide ventilation
BEFORE you start layout building. This is the part of the house that
collects all the hot air from the house below and all the heat from the
sun shining on the roof. It also gets very cold in cold weather.

Depending on the humidity in the room you may want to leave enough room for
air circulation under the layout or you may get mold. 6" should be enough?
Do some cardboard mockups and 'play' a little to see what is comfortable. at
the 1'4" level you may be banging your head on the ceiling just to get in
there.

Jb

i wanted to thank everybody for your precious suggestions and hints.

i'll let you know what i think i may do and, perhaps, i'll take some
photos of the whole area so that you can have a look at it.

thanks once more.

regards,