Shelf type layout?

[downtowndeco]

Model railroaders often have around the room, shelf type layouts. The layout is not an island in the middle of the room, but rather, sits on a shelf that goes along each wall. It might be anywhere from 6" to 2' deep. Yes, you have the door to deal with but you can either go over (like a hillclimb) or have a drop in bridge that is hinged.

The advantage is instead of a 5' x 10' island in the middle of the room suddenly you have a layout that is literally as big as the room. A 15' x 25' room becomes a 15' x 25' layout. In addition to having the "shelf" go around the room you could also have an island at one or two points where the track would come out into the room a bit farther. Super easy maintenance too because at no point is your layout anywhere deeper than 2' (or so). No more hanging yourself on a dolly with a hoist over your layout to reach the parts that are in the middle. : )

This would work best as a rally or raid type layout IMO, which is what I'm thinking of doing. Has anyone tried this? Thoughts on the idea?

[Retro Racer 44]

I built an HO railway like that when my boys were young. Then we moved and never rebuilt it in the new place. I had an idea of building a sort of dogbone shaped track with the straights against the wall on two shelves with a loop at each end, and the theme could be continued to go round three corners and still not intrude very much on the room.

It would be like a bent oval but you would also get right hand turns at each end getting back to the wall. A wider shelf at the lower level could allow for something like esses or some scenery. The whole thing could be mounted a bit higher on the wall to allow for furniture in the room because you would not have to reach far to get to the back of it for marshalling.

[HomeRacingWorld]

[HomeRacingWorld]

Racing on the track above is painless. Jim and I stand apart and clear line of sight. I have many hours logged on that track. If all I had was a small bedroom, I would design an L shaped layout very close it.

When space is restricted, you do what you can with what you have. But I am not an advocate of "the running feet" contest. I don't care how many feet it is, I want a nice flowing track.

[MoparGreg]

I find folding tracks that fold down from the wall a best use for space when space is limited. I'll share some pics of my track I've been working on in a few days. You will be amazed at how much track and what can fit in a small room.

[goosenapper]

Relating to the original concept, if I stood in the middle of a room that had a track running along a shelf on all sides, I know for certain that I would eventually fall over. I would either lasso myself with the controller chord or succumb to vertigo. Either way, there I'd be in a heap on the ground, and my car would probably de-slot and land on top of me.

In the world of tracks, I prefer L shapes. That's what I have on the floor of my attic at the moment, consisting of Scalextric Sport, and virtually every routed track plan that I've made ends up looking like an L, even when I don't shoot for one. I guess it's bread in or something.

Going back to shelf layouts, you could probably get a nifty L shaped track in a corner attached to the wall, perhaps even a fold-up variety. It would be a wide shelf, yes, but still a shelf.

[buspor63]

[downtowndeco]

I'm not thinking about trying to save space, I'm thinking how cool it would be to have scenery 360 degrees around the room plus the cars would actually go somewhere.

[HomeRacingWorld]

So basically the concept you described for railroading. Using selective compression and creating different scene effects to mimic that "going somewhere" effect.

Sounds interesting. You would be the right artist for the job.

[downtowndeco]

Well, it would be "going somewhere" because it actually would be. Albeit basically a big loop, but because you would be surrounded on all 4 sides by the layout + a painted backdrop it would really increase the illusion of distance.

[indybob007]

You cant have a track around you and your in the middle unless your the Girl in the Exorcist. Along 1 or 2 walls can be done but not around the whole room. For trains it works well and the only problem is the entrance door. But a liftout will solve this. Indybob

[dreinecke]

A few thoughts as others have pointed out:

- A track going all the way around is novel, but would not be fun to run on as with the speed of most cars (even 14k NINCOs), you'd be turning way too much for my liking.
- L-Tracks in a small space work great
- Foldable tracks off the wall are absolutely fabulous in a VERY small space where a track cannot be down all the time.

As for the idea of no place wider than 2' - I had this in mind when I designed my PDR. It had to be against the wall as I had a very narrow basement at the time. In order to ensure I could touch every inch of the track, the bench work needed to be a max of 3' wide, except where I could get around it. I incorporated areas where the track comes out to 7' wide, but again, I could get around that side of the table and was able to reach everywhere.

[RichD]

If your layout will be nearly at eye level you will be looking at the cars from the side, so it will be more difficult to pass or judge your braking points. If your layout will be L or U shaped your view will be blocked part of the time when you are running with another person. One cure for that is to have detachable driver's stations like this track.

[TuscoTodd]

I am assuming that you are looking at doing a 1/32 or 1/24 scale layout based on the comments about the rally style car, etc. - but if you are potentially looking at an HO layout, specifically where the target class of cars can be something slower, like stock t-jets - the "around the room shelf" might be doable without getting yourself dizzy And as an added bonus, it would allow for a LOT of scenery options. :)

But on the larger scale(s) - I think I would have to recommend against doing a "full circle" do to the issues with following the action. Instead, I would think that it would make for a more enjoyable layout to have it tied to only two or three walls to make an L, J or U type shape - that would eliminate the need to spin completely around to follow the action. :)

Another option you could look at is to build something like the btaylor's "Dragon" track: http://homeracingworld.us/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=11243

And while I can't find where I saw the build for this track - this track is basically a vertical build that has a relatively small footprint:

(just food for thought! )
:D

[downtowndeco]

Watch any slot car race. Guy's heads bob back & forth, left to right the whole race. You would be able to see 3 of the 4 walls easily because they would be right in front of you. If you were to have your back facing the least hard of the track to traverse (a straight, for example), you might not even need to move your feet. Just move your head from left to right.

All types of layouts have advantages & disadvantages. While you have the track in front of you, large "island" type layouts can be hard to marshall & maintain. Those that cram in as much track as possible lack scenic possibilities and are uninteresting to look at. If you constrain yourself to what size table will fit in your room you severely limit the distance your cars can travel & even in a best case scenario most layouts replicate what is basically a small go kart track.

Would an around the room layout work with an 8 lane magnet cars HO track? Nope, it would be insane. But a 1 or 2 lane rally or raid track with wireless controllers? I might just try it. : ) I always try & go where no one has gone before & I think my builds speak for themselves. Could this idea be a dead flop? Sure. But what fun is life without risks? Taking risks is how new ground is broken. : )