Joined: 19/11/2022(UTC) Posts: 10 Location: Florida, Melbourne
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Hi, I’m new here. Last Christmas I purchased a vintage Z scale Marklin 8172 train set to add to my moms tiny city as fun decor. I fell in love with the simplicity of the set and was impressed with the quality considering it was an older model. This Christmas I got the bug and purchased some track from ebay (T3 expansion) and additional track from ajckids.com (great seller btw) to make my own little layout. The only limitation was that it had to fit my coffee table in the office. The results are what I think is a decent track with some switching fun. I have been moving the switches manually and plan to get a piece of foam board to perforate for the wiring and perhaps add some simple decor (I have a lighted Christmas tree from my previous N scale experience). I don’t want to overcomplicate the layout scenery as the main seller for this scale is obviously the size as well as the minimal storage. I considered using a tube of towel paper roll as a rudimentary tunnel. I want a minimalist set I can dismantle when Christmas is over and store safely in a small amount of space (wife acceptance factor is very high for this train). Please look at my layout (first time I use SCARM) and feel free to provide feedback. I bought too many 8500, so I have spare track I can add more lines perhaps. Let me know. Thats it! Cheers, Lizardking 
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 9 users liked this useful post by Lizardking0069
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Joined: 26/07/2021(UTC) Posts: 635 Location: Sydney
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Is that walnut. You could make the rest out of nice timber as well.
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 1 user liked this useful post by Toosmall
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Joined: 19/11/2022(UTC) Posts: 10 Location: Florida, Melbourne
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Its a hazelnut 😂. I wanted to recreate the box art of the original set, but didn’t have a walnut on hand.
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 1 user liked this useful post by Lizardking0069
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Joined: 26/07/2021(UTC) Posts: 635 Location: Sydney
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Originally Posted by: Lizardking0069  Its a hazelnut. The problem with walnut or hazelnut is the Marklin 8999 nails are going to make a dog's breakfast of it if you ever decide to redesign the track plan. Probably worth using some double sided tape or a bit of acrylic sealer as a mild adhesive. This is a handy reference to timbers commonly used in Australian construction and cabinet work. The book is useful, failing that there is a list of the timbers on this page. http://www.skillspublish.com.au/Skills%20TBG.htmP.S. I once saw a cross section of Huon Pine in Tasmania, it had tree rings to 2500 years. Things like the year 536 you could see the very thin tree rings and for the next number of years. Puts a few things into perspective!
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Joined: 22/01/2009(UTC) Posts: 14,874 Location: On 1965 Märklin Boulevard just around from Roco Square
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Will the layout ever become bigger so it fits onto a dining room table ? |
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Joined: 19/11/2022(UTC) Posts: 10 Location: Florida, Melbourne
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Oh I misunderstood the question. On the photo there is a single hazelnut on one of the load carts I was pulling with the small loco. The table itself is made of mango tree and is rather expensive. I won’t be using nails on it any time soon. Between the layout and the table there will be a piece of foam to hide the wires.
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Joined: 19/11/2022(UTC) Posts: 10 Location: Florida, Melbourne
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Originally Posted by: river6109  Will the layout ever become bigger so it fits onto a dining room table ? Never say never. Once the kids are older and decide to move out I may make a bigger one. For the time being its a seasonal track and those are the size limitations I decided to work with.
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Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,555 Location: Paris, France
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Hi LizzardKing Welcome to this great forum. My 2 cents from a Märklin HO digital fan is: - better have the layout fully encased in a glass box to protect from dust - then you can do landscape or make changes without ruining your table Drawbacks: the "table" is of rectangular shape Here is a picture of a glass box I have made for a boat. Approx, it is 90 cm long, 60 cm wide and 21 cm deep. It is supported by 2 square rods anchored on the wall (so the box is faily solid) - Made of 4 mm glass - assembled by L-shaped anodized profile, glued using epoxy (Araldite)  In your case, since you probably need a bigger box size, you may need 5 mm thick glass Cheers Jean |
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Joined: 16/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 5,842 Location: Hybrid Home
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Or a simpler solution requiring only one glass top:  The IKEA "Liatorp" couch table might serve as a basis... |
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 3 users liked this useful post by Alsterstreek
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Joined: 16/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 5,842 Location: Hybrid Home
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Joined: 19/11/2022(UTC) Posts: 10 Location: Florida, Melbourne
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Originally Posted by: Alsterstreek  Wow I love this! Its exactly what I was looking for!
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 1 user liked this useful post by Lizardking0069
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Joined: 26/07/2021(UTC) Posts: 635 Location: Sydney
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Originally Posted by: river6109  Will the layout ever become bigger so it fits onto a dining room table ? You have got it all wrong. Radiuses will increase and the coffee table will turn into a donut! 
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 3 users liked this useful post by Toosmall
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Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC) Posts: 8,464 Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
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 1 user liked this useful post by kiwiAlan
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Joined: 22/07/2022(UTC) Posts: 62 Location: New South Wales, Sydney
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Hi LizardKing, You may want to consider adding two extra turnouts so that you can run the train in either direction. If space permits, maybe also offset the outer line so it’s asymmetrical and adds more interest. 
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 2 users liked this useful post by Manga
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Joined: 19/11/2022(UTC) Posts: 10 Location: Florida, Melbourne
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I agree, thanks for the feedback on the layout.
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Joined: 26/07/2021(UTC) Posts: 635 Location: Sydney
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Stick in some transition curves from the 195/220 radius to straight using some 8591 sections 490mm radius. Looks a whole lot better with a softer tangent.
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Joined: 02/10/2013(UTC) Posts: 842 Location: West Texas
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Hello everyone, hope all is well.
Quite a few years ago, someone was selling plans for the construction of a coffee table layout. It was a more traditional coffee table style, more like the IKEA table above.
It seemed like a good idea because the enclosed aspect would protect against dust or accidental bumps and drops. When it’s open and on display at home or outside the home, it is more likely someone might pickup your favorite locomotive to get a closer look or to take. The Mini Club size still amazes many who are not familiar with them and they break easy.
I have not seen much about coffee table layouts for a long time but it is likely even a traditional style table could be used for a layout which has that modern/abstract style like those above.
Perhaps a table plan is still available on the web.
Take good care. Happy Holidays!
P.S. I have heard many great things about SCARM, but don’t think it would work on an iPad.
Dwight
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