Back and slimming down

[sparky]

Well after what seems a lifetime since last posting we have moved house which has meant the complete dismantlement of my old layout which was huge in my old double garage.......alas I have to now slim down my collection and will post items for sale over the coming weeks. I do however intend to keep a few bits and bobs and build a small compact layout in one of our bedrooms. Could squeeze in and 8 x 2 area. Not sure if I want a small roundy roundy or some form of end to end. Anyway I think the best bit of the hobby is planning !

[Newportnobby]

Welcome back, Sparky.
A 2ft width is tight for a double track loop so even if just the ends could be 2ft 6in that would help, and then I'd suggest a 'dogbone' track plan. After all, to sit watching trains go round with favourite tipple in hand is one of life's great joys

[Foxhound]

Welcome back, Sparky.
A 2ft width is tight for a double track loop so even if just the ends could be 2ft 6in that would help, and then I'd suggest a 'dogbone' track plan. After all, to sit watching trains go round with favourite tipple in hand is one of life's great joys

Welcome back, Sparky.
Downsizing a collection and a layout is soul destroying sometimes but at others it can be liberating.
Nobby's suggestion of a dogbone is a really good one - we were planning to have a loft conversion and put the current horseshoe-shaped Church Bank layout up there (it would be a proper room accessed by proper stairs, not a climbing up and down a ladder affair), but the rate of inflation and the forthcoming end of our fixed rate mortgage period has given us pause for thought. It may be time for us to look at a twin track dogbone  or variant thereof, and just make it longer than the current layout's long side. Certainly looking at 2ft 6 at each end, as opposed to the 2ft wide single line loop we have now.

I look forward to seeing how you get on!

[Papyrus]

Like you I have been musing on the idea of dogbones (see this thread https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=56129.msg748920#msg748920 ) I too am restricted to 2 ft wide, but I have slightly more length to play with, but it might give you food for thought.

Cheers,

Chris

[Newportnobby]

Here's a very simplistic 'dogbone' plan based on an 8ft length but with 2ft 6in ends for better curve radii. The tracks at the top could be formed into a fiddle yard should you want one, and the curves between the two end loops are gentle enough to create curved platforms which would look rather good.

[sparky]

Yes lots to think about...trying to convince my wife to put a layout in our 4th bedroom which is currently my office plus has a spare bed in it.....could use 3 walls and be warm in the winter compared to when my old layout was in our outside unheated garage. That would give me the opportunity for a U shape with hidden wider ends and 2ft on running areas if that makes sense.....of course she wants it kept as a spare bedroom in case our grown up kids decide to stay over which happens zero times a year at the moment but you know what the better half can be like !