# 1st Ever Layout: O Gauge 4x8



## mbeutler1203 (Nov 28, 2015)

Over Thanksgiving weekend my Dad brought up his old Lionel 8304 Pennsylvania Locomotive (4-4-2), Tender, Caboose along with a number of additional freight cars, track accessories and O-27 gauge track. I remember playing with this set as a child in the basement with my father. I now have a little 2 month old boy who I thought one day would most likely love trains so I decided to ask my dad to bring the old set out of the attic.

My father, grandfather and great grandfather all worked for railways in Wisconsin so there is a bit of nostalgia in our family with trains. I have been wanting a hobby and couldn't think of a better one to start.

Over Thanksgiving weekend we cleaned up the locomotive and track. We setup a very basic oval on our kitchen island about 5'x4' We were very surprised to see it running pretty darn well, it even had a little smoke coming out of the old locomotive even though that oil hasn't been heated up for over 25 years.

I am going to keep this thread going as I progress with my first layout. My plan is to do a basic 4' x 8' o-gauge layout to bring the old set back to life. Down the road I think I will end up switching over to HO solely based on the space requirements for a good o-gauge layout.

So, this weekend I just finished building the table shown in the image below. Later this week I plan to apply the plywood and pink foam board to the top. After that I will be determining a track layout and ordering the required items. Right now all I have is O-27 which obviously is quite limiting. 

Please feel free to follow along with my progress, especially people like me who are new to the hobby. Hopefully you experts can show me the ropes and help when I have questions and all the rookies like me, hopefully I can show you some ropes or atlas help you avoid the issues that I run into.

Thanks!










Followed the plans shown here, except I switched out the 1/2" plywood supports for 2x4's.


----------



## L0stS0ul (Feb 6, 2015)

Looks like a great start. :smilie_daumenpos: Nice work. Make sure to make some holes for wiring before laying down the plywood top. Much easier to predrill now  

There is a lot of action that can be done in a 4x8 with 0 scale. I don't think I could ever go smaller. I run 2 trains on 2 separate loops in less than 4x8 right now and we really love it. I am planning to expand to 12x4 but thats as far as I can go with my current space. About the only thing I would have changed with my current layout is that I wish I would have elevated my inside track to make things more visually interesting. Not something I could easily do now. If I had elevated the internal track I don't think I would be negotiating with my wife for more space  Something like this would have been awesome in our spot. I do love building mountains and stuff tho


----------



## nealt (Jan 22, 2015)

I have seen layouts like this. Question: When the train goes through a turnout its direction is changed. You can never get back to the original direction unless you backup the whole train through the turnout. Is this what you want?


----------



## L0stS0ul (Feb 6, 2015)

That is correct but that does not bother me. It makes it more interesting to run the trains. I like having to switch directions and stuff. To each their own. You could easily add 2 more switches and a crossover to each loop to allow for a figure 8. I opted for more scenery in mine.


----------



## longbow57ca (Oct 26, 2015)

Hello, Sir, I like your strong layout table 4 feet by 8 feet long looks so cool and very easy to build. Thanks longbow57ca.


----------



## mbeutler1203 (Nov 28, 2015)

longbow57ca said:


> Hello, Sir, I like your strong layout table 4 feet by 8 feet long looks so cool and very easy to build. Thanks longbow57ca.


It was incredibly easy to build. Actually it was the first project that required me to use a miter saw and literally the first time I ever built anything!


----------



## mtoney (Oct 6, 2012)

I also like that track plan, but with my layout needing to fold shut into a 10" deep frame, I would have to do without any scenery on the upper level and the upper tunnel would have to go. Nice plan though. Mike


----------

