Hello all...I've been reading thru all of the great posts on this forum and decided to join in...some great stuff on here. My son (8 years old) has a couple of MTH Realtrax starter sets and it's time to move to a real layout...we plan to stay with the MTH and grow off of them. As a kid I had HO trains...we both love trains so excited to do this with him. We're limited in space in my Miami condo but we decided we don't really need a dining room so the train table has taken it's space...I purchased the benchwork from Sievers (great experience)...the table is 5'x8' along the back with a 3'x4' piece at the end creating the "L" shape. The triangular piece will be water with a train bridge going over it.
The layout goals are:
1. Longest possible continuous loop around the perimeter
2. Ability to run two trains at once. And want the trains to be able reverse direction without picking them up.
3. Some grading...don't think I can get high enough to run trains over trains but some grading for interest...may add an elevated trolley line at some point. Is 4% grade too steep? That's what I'm currently showing and allows cars to enter the scene thru a tunnel at the high point of the track...don't expect that we can run very long trains in the space we have.
4. Operable actions of some kind...passenger station...industrial area...some sidings for storing rolling stock. Also want to create a little small town "downtown" area
Been working on Scarm to create a variety of layouts...would love to hear what you guys think...criticism is welcome along suggestions, thoughts on which layout works best, etc...from what I've seen in other posts you guys have lots of great ideas. Haven't gotten to the point of laying out structures in the layouts...that's my next task.
Thank you in advance for you time and input...really looking forward to hearing what you think.
