Around the Room Design...please be kind

[jpierceisme]

Ok, I haven't done model railroading stuff since before DCC was a thing. So I am trying to teach myself and come up with a fun design for a project.

The layout is in a Garage/ Ceramic Studio. Not meant to be a focal point but something to look at and keep me occupied from time to time.

The garage is 16 x 10 (very old home) and 7 1/2 ft High. The plan is to have about 18" of shelf space around the room that would make the bottom of the shelf at door height, to create the project.

Attached is my initial design with blocks created for the DCC stuff. You will see a section protrude off the top of the drawing and that is meant to go into another room and be at waist heigh on a shelf.

The yard isn't my favourite but was trying to do something fun. The goal would probably be to have four trains running maybe one parked and route type schedule going while operating.

HO Scale
83 Track, mostly Atlas and Peco track/turnouts.

[Tom Springer]

JP,

Ceramic Studio as in liquid slip and white molds, making castings and things?  Sure hope not.  I lived with that stuff for 20+ years and the dust gets everywhere, and it tried to destroy 2 different layouts; cleaning track and the layout was a nightmare.  Hope you don't have that environment.

What is the primary intent for the road you want to build?  Operational or more for "show"?  By height of the shelf "at door height" (7+ feet up), what are you thinking about visuals and operations?
If this is for "show" at a high height, does it matter what the railroad's aspects are, or what the yard looks like, as how much would be seen by anyone in the garage.  Sounds like it may be there just to have a road, and if that is the case, what you have would work and nothing further need be said.

But if you are planning a layout that you want to spend a lot of time operating, the story changes a lot.  Then the operational characteristics you want, what you would enjoy most, need to be identified.  Long trains running, switching, etc.