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No Room for a
Layout? |
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| Sure you do, look around. Let me give you some hints.
I’ve always thought of opening my own train hobby store. And one of the things I
wanted to get across to my customers was the fact that everybody has room for a layout. I
drew up plans for a 9’x9’ kids bedroom, and came up with ways to get several
different layouts in just that one tiny bedroom. And I’m talking about all at the
same time. |
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- A layout on casters that rolls under the bed. (See the old B/W sci-fi movie THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL -
photo above)
- A small N scale or Z scale layout would easily fit in a dresser drawer.
- If the room ceiling is high enough over the doors and windows, you could
run a shelf around the room at the ceiling with scales S,0-27, and/or G.
- A simple yard switching or point to point layout in HO or N (any scale
really) could be put along one wall on a simple 8"-12" deep shelf.
- If the bed is in the middle of the room with dressers or tables on each
side, a nice layout could be designed on top of each dresser with a narrow
"bridge" running across the headboard of the bed connecting the two halves.
- A layout only a few inches to a foot "thick" could be
designed to fasten to a wall and fold down away from the wall to play with. (Sort of like
those ironing boards in a cabinet that fold down for ironing and then up again when not in
use. Does anyone remember old MURPHY beds?) This same idea works for a bookshelf sized
layout that sits against a wall and then folds down to the floor to run the trains.
- One more idea is a layout that pivots between a pair of support legs with
casters, one at each end, this lets you store a 2’x4’-4" deep layout in
just 4"-6" of space. The layout would flip on it’s side, and casters on the
support legs let you push it into a closet or out of the way in a corner. (Kalmbach has a
book titled "Model Railroads for Small Spaces" which has a detailed blueprint.
You could also take that blueprint and pivot the layout length-wise instead of depth-wise
and store it along a wall.)
- And who says a layout has to be big at all. I once made a little 12"
inch square layout made out of an old ceiling tile. I used N scale flexible track to make
a little 10" inch circle. My train consisted of a little 0-4-0 steam switcher and a
couple little coal cars. A layout this size would fit in a hat box.
- Did I mention garages or outside sheds, or hey, why not in the garden.
- And don’t forget Lego Bricks. They make a couple different train
set.
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 Here
is yet another layout that we used for Christmas. I'm afraid most of our photos aren't
very good. I can't begin to tell you how may pictures we have with peoples heads cut
off. Or almost cut off!!!! You can't really see it too well, but on the carpet
infront of the layout are some trains. Several Diesel locomotives are AT&SF. I
love the blue and yellow paint scheme on the GP-20 and you can also just barely make out
the Santa Fe F3 with the famous red and yellow Warbonnet-heritage theme on it's nose. |
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