Hello,

We are moving to a new apartment in downtown Helsinki. This means that I'll (finally) have a chance to build a permanent track into one of our living rooms! The size available is roughly 100 cm x 395 cm, and -- should I execute the plan -- it would be build into a custom cabinet next to wall. The track will be viewable from only one side (the three other sides would be next to a wall) and would be covered by glass sides/ceiling, with proper integrated/dimmable LED lighting etc.

I'd need your help in getting going. There will be tons of questions as I carry on, but I'd appreciate if you had time to advice me with the very first ones!

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The design requirements for the track are:

(1) It needs to be visually attractive
I have shown several layouts to my wife. She is a strong supporter, and wants to have a track at home as long as it will be well-designed and well-build. Based on the benchmarks I have shown to her (from Internet, some club tracks and some private layouts), her expectations are really high. Lots of custom buildings ("not just anything from the box"), cute industrial buildings, charming village, a bridge etc. I have warned that this will take several years to complete, but I'm trusted to be able to do the job ;). Fortunately, she is aware that "100cmx400cm" is not a lot of space, and that wehave a chance to have maybe 1-2 objects (turntable, crane) in the layout.

(2) Operationally fun to play with
This also needs to be a social hobby for me and the kids. I think that it needs have some functionalities like:
- a parade route with a continuous run (for the kids)
- turntable & yard (as they grow up)
- crane & depots
- maybe a bridge

(3) Fun to _construct_ ;)
I'm indeed looking forward to building this track. although I won't have much time on this! I have lots of high-tech RC-plane design/build experience and I master some basic techniques like structural design, 3D CAD, preparing files for laser cutting/CNC:ing, and I look for opportunities to apply the skills onto this trackhobby. I will be probably laser-cutting all plywood material, also the "ribs"/support structures for the terrain directly from the CAD file. Also, this needs to provide opportunities to develop further increase the functionality over years. E.g. I'd be quite eager to make it a computer-controlled later on, so I'm also planning to have enough of feedback-points in the track since the beginning.

(4) Prototypical authenticity
This is not a priority, but where possible, yes.

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I got this idea just 1.5 weeks ago! So far, I have studied some references in the internet, read design guides (e.g. Iain Rice's books), benchmarked others' designs, and arrived at following spec:

• I'd like to model a 1940-1960s' layout where the factories still had cute little tracks, turntables etc., trains were short, and everything was not so optimized to for efficiency. I believe that this era provides a rich set of opportunities for a modeler
  
• the environment would need to have mountains to provide scenic route, provide spaces for bridges, hide the tunnels etc., and therefore I would model either the German Alps or Rockies in the US. I will be using German/DB rolling equipment, but I don't care that much about having those in the US mountains
  
• the track would be multi-leveled to provide enough routing options. I'm planning of having three levels: the ground layer at -18 cm would be not visible (unless you open the cabinet door). It'd have a fiddle yard and "mainline" turning curves; the middle layer would contain all the buildings and functions (turntable, factory depot etc.); the top layer at +20-24 cm would only contain scenic route in the mountains (tunnels, bridge etc.)
  
• the track would have a partly invisible "helix" in the other end with two parallel tracks to provide means for the train to move across the three layers
  
• I'll be using Märklin K-track throughout. I'll come back to all the compatibility questions on digital equipment, but I have some 100+ meters of that track from the 80s' which has been used only once in the 1990s'! It's basically brand new.

I have pretty good "Week-2" idea what I want. The attached pdf provides a schematic 3D layout of the *mainlines* which I used to check the practical considerations of the layout like (vertical) clearances, curve radiis, in combination with inclinations (I planned for max 3.0%). It looks like crap so don't get scared, but was really useful for rough 3D concept design. I used a general 3D CAD tool which I have also used with the airplanes.

In addition, I have couple of pictures of designs that I like in particular.

Track.pdf (20kb) downloaded 56 time(s). IMG_9716.PNG (1,198kb) downloaded 53 time(s).

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Questions to you:

• any questions, comments on above ;) ?
  
• do you know any sources (books, internet) where I could find track layouts for 100x400 cm?
  
• do you know (in Europe) any experts/designers who I could provide professional planning support for the track/diorama? I'd need concept validation and heavy design support, especially for the "scenery". E.g. pictures of realistic environments that would allow me to understand what track-side infra looked like in the 1950s'-1960s' in the target countries, then later on, references to commercial products (like bridges, buildings, factory's) where I could buy stuff that doesn't make sense to craft from scratch.

Due to busy work, I may not be able to response immediately to your possible questions. Nevertheless, I appreciate all the help I can get!

With best regards!

Hi AB builder,

Welcome to the forum. I don't think you are in the wrong forum. If you have a look through the section my layout, you will notice there is a few guys here who has what you are aiming for, professional high quality museum type build layouts, but they are probably busy working on their layout hence lack of reply!

It looks like you have already done lots of research and planning and probably have the technical skills to start such a project, so we'll done

I would look towards the US, where visually appealing (narrow type and walk in layouts) are very popular. European layouts (generalising here) has a history from being build up table size in various square and retangular sizes.

First off: you need to prioritise on the visually towards how much track you want. You simply cannot have a museum type layout with the size available if you also want multi level tracks with e.g. a large shadow yard on first level. Such layout never existing in real life. I agree that the first photo in your post is an example of a well executed layout plan, without too much track.

If you look in various model magazines (check out e.g. The Canadian MRH magazine which is free) there is lots of various companies who provide service in track designing. My impression is that in US and England you will find small one-man companies providing such service while in main land Europe these tends to be large companies, which will probably be unrealistic expensive for this size of a project.

To have a visually appealing layout the lighting is really important, as well as the facade, ensuring no clutter is seen. Having the layout encapsulate in a lowered ceiling also enhance the aspect and you then hide the lighting. You can make lots of fantastic show effects with led strip lighting by having various colours and simulate night from dawn to day time. I am sure your wife would appreciate this.

K track is probably the best option for this type of layout as you can design it with flex track and do beautiful prototypically ballasting.

For high quality custom building structure have some inspiration from Gerorge Sellios Franklin and Manchester layout, and also Rod Stewart's layout. Both are modelling that time period. If you are planning to do some Rocky Mountain layout checkout Pelle Søborg (contributing editor for US Model Railroder magazine).

My own learnings from building layout the last few years is the mistake of trying to build up a realistically looking layout from a flat table. It's very convenient to lay the track on a flat surface, but you will struggle afterwards getting the natural scenery look. Have a look at Woodland Scenics sub terrain system (there is several videos on you tube). With these products you can very fast and without being an expert build some really naturally looking landscapes.

Good luck with the project and keep us posted on the progress!

Brgds Lasse