# portable layout?



## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

So I want to create something that I can set up and take down at my house. I'm probably not going to do hills or anything because of that but I do want at least one bridge.

I want to run 2 tracks. 1 freight, 1 passenger and a small track going in an oval through 2 "main streets" with a trolley.

All that said, I have no room for a permanent layout in my house right now, so I want to build something I can put on different sheets and put together/take apart semi-easily. 

Anyone done this? Can you show me examples? Videos? Pics? Diagrams?

Thanks 

-DRV


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## mr_x_ite_ment (Jun 22, 2009)

drv...a semi-permanent layout is something I haven't thought over much, so it is new territory for me. If I was to make something that could be stored away, I would probably look for a room that wasn't used a lot, and find an open wall with little or nothing on it. I would take a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood (or some other material), and put a long hinge on the long side of the 4 X 8. Now I could fold it down and let it hang on the wall (you obviously would need two legs to hold it up when swung out to use). In the two corners alongside the wall, I would have a turnout on each...this way you could expand onto a narrow shelf if you ever wanted to (say a 6" or 8" wide shelf). That 6" or 8" shelf could run all the way around the wall someday. Then you could have a "lift-out" section by the doorway to the room that could be swung up out of the way when not in use.

I have only thrown in the shelf expansion running around the room because you know how we all "outgrow" things sooner or later! As far as a bridge goes, it could simply "connect" two shelf sections together or could even be the "lift-out" section. Good luck!

Chad


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

*portable*

Hello Mr-X-ite-ment

When I was a wee lad I had a pretty small bedroom so I hung my 4' x 8' layout using large eye-bolts in the ceiling and could raise or lower the layout onto my bed when I wanted to run the trains.

Another option would be to make several small units and connect them together like a modular club layout - only smaller - maybee you could set them up so they could stack without damaging the track / scenery 

Good Luck

Aaron


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

Thank you both! Food for thought there.

I am thinking something stackable, but the idea of hanging it from my ceiling is a pretty good one.

Any and all ideas appreciated


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

drvmusic said:


> So I want to create something that I can set up and take down at my house. I'm probably not going to do hills or anything because of that but I do want at least one bridge.
> 
> I want to run 2 tracks. 1 freight, 1 passenger and a small track going in an oval through 2 "main streets" with a trolley.
> 
> ...


Do you have any room under your bed? You might be able to have a "pullout" layout on some low casters. Heck, even if you don't have room, you could raise up the frame and *make* room.  

So what if your bed is a little higher?

Greg


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## mr_x_ite_ment (Jun 22, 2009)

Aaron...I once saw a guy with that exact same layout...he could raise and lower it down from the ceiling. I was going to suggest that too.

I went with the hinge-on-the-wall idea in case drv ever wanted to expand it. I imagine there are many things one can do. I once put a layout up in the rafters of my shop. It weaved in and out of the rafters. It was definitely high-n-dry!

Chad


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

*what did you decide on drvmusic*

Hello Drvmusic just curious if you decided on an approach?


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

*Nothing as of yet...*



aionta said:


> Hello Drvmusic just curious if you decided on an approach?


Nothing yet. It's gonna take a while. I'm just getting started and a LOT of what I've had for trains & track are not very good quality. It's gonna take months of planning, picking a theme,etc...

I'm leaning towards the idea of having multiple boards and hanging them from my basement rafters with eye hooks.

Need to decide what my final theme is and what kind of cars/engines I'm looking for. I already know I want an Amtrak set. I'd love to get an MBTA (Boston) Commuter Rail set for my passenger cars, but the cars are scarce and the engines were never made (and I don't have much money to work with).

As far as my freight set, I want to have a Boston & Maine theme, since that's the line I grew up seeing, though I have 3 Santa Fe Engines right now (are Santa Fe engines the standard or what? They're everywhere!). 

Next month I hope to buy a trolley that will go through the streets of my "town."

So much planning, so little time, but once I eventually get started I'll post updates here.

I'm also going to help a friend build a large layout in his basement. He has nothing as of yet so we're going to make some pilgrimages.

This is fun and you, and the others here have been SO much help!


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## phdezra (Nov 28, 2010)

choo choo said:


> Do you have any room under your bed? You might be able to have a "pullout" layout on some low casters. Heck, even if you don't have room, you could raise up the frame and *make* room.


I'm going to hop on this thread, too, as I am new to model trains and I am planning a layout in an apartment. My main plan at the moment is to build a modest sized layout on MDF or plywood, and put it on casters so it can be rolled under/stored under my son's bed. The measurements (typical twin mattress) of the storage space under the bed (simple iron frame holding the mattress with no boxspring) is approx 74" x 42", so unfortunately that rules out some of the basic 8' x 4' HO layouts I've seen, but either a smaller HO layout (or possibly an N layout) is what I am considering.


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## andersley (Oct 24, 2010)

Many layouts in the UK are portable (and a lot are taken to shows and exhibited). With this in mind, 4ft x 2ft is a common baseboard size, several are joined to make the full layout. Depends what you need of course, the above would limit a small layout to switching, terminus-fiddle (staging) yard is very common in europe.

Once I made quite a fair sized layout with the above sized boards, with nowhere to set it up fully, except when exhibited at club shows. So pairs of boards were connected and worked on together, so working my way around the layout. To test, it was set up on the drive (in good weather only!).


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

Ours isnt protable in the same sense you guys are thinking of, but portable in the household move realm. See, we move often (roughly every 2 years or so) and we needed something easy to break down and fit into a moving truck without taking up much room or getting trashed. SO what I did was build a table using MDF and a 2x4 frame.

This part I'm waiting to finish, but the plan is to have 4x4 posts as table legs that are bolted on to the 2x4 frame. This will give the table a sturdy base, but the bolts can come out for teardown.

The top of the table is just the MDF, no insulation boards. I know this isnt typical but our logic is that it needs to survive being ina moving truck. Someone using this idea and just simply storing the table could use the insulation base ontop of the MDF. None of our building sre permanently set; they all can come off and be placed in a box. Since we are using Bachmann EZ track, none of the track is attached to the board. Again, if just storing, you could easily have the usual roadbed and any kind of track.

All the electrical stuff is just ziptied to anchor points in bundles and can come out relatively easily with most being color coordinated (sorta).

By using this setup, one could just take off the legs and place the board behind a door or a couch, but unfortunately, this setup doesnt allow you to get crazy with terrain or structures.


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## MadCS (Nov 1, 2010)

I can suggest using a modular approach. I have done a switching layout using 4'x2' modules on 2" thick hard foam insulation. I can set these up across a few tables. I chose to use an independent module design, however as a basis you could look into NMRA's module standards as a starting point: 
http://www.nmra.org/standards/modules/ms_intro.html


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## jaydv (Dec 10, 2011)

mr_x_ite_ment said:


> drv...a semi-permanent layout is something I haven't thought over much, so it is new territory for me. If I was to make something that could be stored away, I would probably look for a room that wasn't used a lot, and find an open wall with little or nothing on it. I would take a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood (or some other material), and put a long hinge on the long side of the 4 X 8. Now I could fold it down and let it hang on the wall (you obviously would need two legs to hold it up when swung out to use). In the two corners alongside the wall, I would have a turnout on each...this way you could expand onto a narrow shelf if you ever wanted to (say a 6" or 8" wide shelf). That 6" or 8" shelf could run all the way around the wall someday. Then you could have a "lift-out" section by the doorway to the room that could be swung up out of the way when not in use.


WOW, this sounds PERFECT for my space...anyone try it???


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