Model Railway Forum

old(ish) man here, who's had a variety of N and OO layouts in childhood and early adulthood.

I'm moving house in about a month and the new flat looks like I'll have room for a reasonably good sized N-gauge layout.

I'll post my ideas for comment in the relevant section.

Welcome to the forum. Great place and full of knowledge and humour. Look forward to seeing your progress.

Welcome to the forum, friendly helpful bunch on here. Good luck with the move, hope all goes well.

Welcome to the forum.

Having room to build a layout in can be quite a challenge as one often has plans that need more space then the plans allow. But nothing is impossible. There are always solutions, narrow gauge being one of them as it offers in its various scales a smaller space with prototypically shorter trains and sharper curves then its standard gauge counterparts. The advantage of narrow gauge is that one is modelling using the same size platform but in a larger scale which usually makes things easier on the eyes.

An example is that if one models in 009, one is modelling in the same scale as 00, but using the same gauge of track as N gauge, so you can get the basic idea. Narrow gauge is not for everyone but it is a rather welcome compromize for those who want to run trains without the need in modelling in a smaller scale.

Obviously smaller scales will offer another answer, and in N gauge, a 2ft x 4ft layout is equivalent to a 4ft x 8ft layout in 00, and most peoples homes should find room for a 2x4 even if it has to be stored upright when not in use.

I model in 0-16.5 and my partly constructed layout (As I have only got so far on it) is in 2ft x 7ft which is tiny if you consider the scale is the same as 0 gaugers are used to.

Where there's a will there's a way!

I have an O gauge layout around the walls of an 8X8ft room. Surprising what can be fitted in a small space.

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:40 pm I have an O gauge layout around the walls of an 8X8ft room. Surprising what can be fitted in a small space.

That was my next thought. If one can go right round the perimeter walls of the room, one can make a large layout that does not take up so much actual space if that makes sense, though one has to consider access into the room and windows etc. Remember that windows double up as fire escapes so careful consideration is needed... But it does give an excellent use of space if one can pull it off successfully and overcome any obsticles.

The room is the lounge which has 4 doors off it, have my corner L shaped thought. The windows don't open, 3rd storey flat.

Welcome to the forum. There are people who build a layout in an A4 box file, so you definitely have room!

Welcome - as you've seen already there are plenty of helpful suggestions on offer. Once you've made a decision, stick to it and enjoy.

The most important rule about model railways is 'Rule 1-It's my layout and I can do it that way if I want!' so nothing you do is wrong!

Build a micro layout. Go on - you know you want to!!