"Have you heard of Rod

"Have you heard of Rod Stewart?"

An apartment doesn't mean "no space" it means "limited space."

One thing I'd probably do is see how good a laptop he has (if he travels, he has a laptop. It's the law, right?). It's possible that "virtual railroading" such as with Trainz or MS Train Simulator, might be good to keep him interested when he's away.

For that matter, XTrakCAD (and I assume 3PlanIT) have "run your trains" mode - he can use his time away to determine what sort of layout he might be able to build.

I would also grab track and a locomotive in HO, N, and Z scale, so he can see what size he is most comfortable with - so he'll have an idea what he should design towards.

Find a Club

I'd say, find a nearby club with a decent layout.  That's how I survived all throughout my teenage years without space for my own layout.  I spent so much time amassing and painting a large locomotive fleet, I didn't even realize what I was missing at the time, LOL.

LOL.. I was gonna mention him

LOL.. I was gonna mention him too..

I think a club would be a great way for someone with limited space and time to enjoy the hobby if there is one nearby. It could provide context for reading and such when travelling. Doesnt the opsig maintain a list of people who look for operators? I joined but have not heard back from them to check that out. That could be an interesting way to enjoy the hobby as one travels..

Chris

That's what I'm going to do,

That's what I'm going to do, due stateside the 1st or 2nd week of October and looking to join the Model Railroad Club in Durand, MI as soon as I get rid of the jet lag!

Or start a small shelf or modular layout

A small 2' X 4' or 1' X 3' shelf or modular sectional switching layout would be a great way to start fitting in the hobby with very limited space.  It would be a start for added sections or for an eventual addition to a larger layout. It is amazing how detailed a 1 foot square area can be done with some time and energy.

Take a look at Dave Vollmer's N Scale Juniata Division which is set up on a hollow core door, he has traveled a lot with being in the military and has always had limited space. I have met him twice at train shows in the Raleigh, NC area before he moved to Omaha, it really is a great layout with much detail on a very small footprint.

Start small, dream big, and plan for the future!

Go "inglenook".....

2 switches (turnouts), some flextrack, one base board, a switcher and some roling stock ....and you got yourself an inglenook, providing you with hours of switching (fiddling) pleasure, mine is made on an Ikea "moppe" 2 drawer storage cabinet. (N-scale)

If you whant to learn more about inglenooks have a look here http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/index.html , every thing you need to know about inglenooks.

A mistake I made ...

Good replies, guys!

A mistake I made duing the years I was planning for my dream layout was not building equipment and structures. Once I finally got space for a layout, not only did I need to spend a bunch of time getting the layout stood up, but once I got it stood up - I didn't have anything to put on it!

Very poor planing on my part! Had I been clued in a bit more, I could have had a number of nice locos and structures to put on the layout right off the bat.

The cool thing about this "ah-ha" is building loco and structure models takes very little space and you can be doing very productive work toward that eventual dream layout in the process. Even building things like generic residential houses can be a later important detail of your dream layout.

A model building project and small workbench can be so compact that it could travel with you when you're on the road. If you really want to have a productive evening in the hotel room, turn off the tube and work on a "future layout" modeling project.

Students

As a student I don't have much space. when I moved my father told me about the club up here, but I forgot about it. When the club sent me an e-mail it took me five minutes to decide that I was going on there next meeting. Since then I haven't regret joining. Beside I have started building modules for a modular layout. ofcourse it consume space but its worth it.

I'm also working on some small project beside, that keep me busy until I get the space I want

I built an Inglenook on the

I built an Inglenook on the kitchen bar when my daughter was 3.  Now she is 5 and we still enjoy switching it.  She is the switchman and conductor and because bad things could happen, I am usually the engineer.  It is also my test track so new locos' first assignments are usually switching the Inglenook.

PaulMack

I'm building my new layout outside...

On the patio of all places. The patio is 6 X 6 and I'm building a 3 X 5 N-Gauge layout out there with room to spare. Where there's a will....

Here comes the sun

Be careful to not let the sun get a straight shot at the layout (especially on a hot day). While in most circumstances track expansion/contraction is relatively easily dealt with if the sun hits the track directly it can get hot enough to expand significantly . It will also tend to dry out wood causing it to shrink. These two factors may let you experience the joy of recreating the prototype's problem of heat kinks.

A heat kink is where the rail expands enough so that the tiny spaces left between the ends of the rails are overwhelmed by the expansion of the track and the track warps dramatically - either side to side or upward.

My friend Bill left his garage door open on a sunny day and had some flex track that was close to and inch off the roadbed in places from this (luckily it went back into place when it cooled off) ...

Hoping this isn't going to be a problem for you.

Charlie

Door layouts in N Scale

Check out what Ed Kapucshki has done with a great Conrail door layout at http://www.conrail1285.com

Saved Frustration!

Joe, that was not a mistake.  Becasue I did the opposite as well as both.

I ended up with a whole lot of damaged building and kits form the experience.

I think its jsut best to take the whole thing on day at a time.  When the layout is ready, its time to build the structures.  That's perfectly fine if it is not done by the weekend...or next month...or next year!!

A club was good for a guy in the barracks as well....

When I was stationed at the National Security Agency at Ft. Meade, it actually did not take me long at all to discover the NSA HO Scale modular club. Some of the wood in my current benchwork came from the modules I acquired for that club.

Small layouts

Good evening everybody,i dont think anyone has given this link? Google micro/small layouts by Carl Arendt, some superb modelling and no excuse ever for not having a model railway!

           Don.

Try Dominoes

I lived in an apartment for years, dreaming of a big basement empire.  I started with a modular (domino) layout which helped me with my construction skills.  The layout was 22 x 12 and ran around the walls of my living room and dining room.  Several years ago I thought I had my dream job and would stay with this job until retirement.  I let my wife build her dream home on top of my 1800 sq ft basemnt.  Two days before moving in to the home, I lost my job.  We have decided to keep our home and return there to retire in about 10 years.  I am currently working 500 miles from my basement and get home one a month.  I am back in an apartment and will be building a small modular layout.  The modular sections are designed to fit into the larger basement empire.

When I moved into the basement I imediately set up the old modular apartment layout.  It permitted me to run trains while building the larger layout, one module at a time.  I am also using the time in the apartment to build kits and upgrade locomotives to DCC.

I feel smart

Joe said "A mistake I made during the years I was planning for my dream layout was not building equipment and structures. Once I finally got space for a layout, not only did I need to spend a bunch of time getting the layout stood up, but once I got it stood up - I didn't have anything to put on it!"

Joe's remark makes me feel intelligent.  For the last 15 years I've been accumulating locomotives, constructing buildings, and building rolling stock.  Thus, I now have all the locomotives (but most will need to be DCC'd and tuned), 80% of structures except for bridges, and all the rolling stock needed.  Except for benchwork, roadbed, track, wiring and powering, and scenery, I have a nearly complete layout.  Fortunately, my choice of prototype, era, and locale hasn't changed.  It will be easy to accurately locate track around existing structures.

My biggest financial error was to accumulate Walthers and Shinohara turnouts before deciding to handlay.

Accumulating is good but it

Accumulating is good but it can get out of hand.  And if you don't know were the buildings are going to go, you can end up with a whole lot of buildings and no place to put them.  While they start out nice, they quickly get damaged.  And then you are better off having waited ten years and simply buying a bunch of rpemade buildings at the local swapmeet.

I suggest picking something you REALLY like, a locomotive or a train or a passenger car/train and build THAT.  Or build vehicles, as they take up very little space once built.  In doing this you will not be accumulating a bunch of "Some day" stuff because in all honesty, "Some day" never comes.

And you can always be doing research about the things you ilke and designing the foundation for a good freelanced, protolanced, or prototype railroad.  Regardless of your style, freelancing will take the most work, protolancing the second most, and prototype the least - and even prototype is a monumental effort!!!

Start making trackplans - invision them in as much and as little space as you can imagine.  I still have a plan I drew up on the computer many years ago, it's not very great and it will never be built, but my mind ran through that railraod at least a couple times and I know it was fun running the railraod while I did.

Have Fun!!!

 Bowser kits are always a

Bowser kits are always a great place to start!

There's is also

a Yahoo group that I belong to on small layout design.  Lots of members are from Europe - Great britain specifically.  Many of them are very space limited, and I think they have developed a lot of great ideas on how to get around that.  Plus, you get to learn a whole new language of railroad terms if you read and post there.  I don't have the link handy, but if you already have Yahoo groups membership, I'm sure you can find it easily enough.

I am that guy ...

That's me to a tee. I'm just getting started and am a little fuzzy about what to model. I have lots of room for a layout, but want to be efficient with the space. Don't know what to do about that yet, but when I figure it out, I'll post more.

I also travel quite a bit for work and end up in remote locations for weeks on end. I am going to put together a toolbox and thought if I laid some track on the pullout tray and scenicked it, then I could display a loco or car or two and have some railroad in front of me. Under the scenicked tray will be room for tools and jigs to build current projects. Car kits, turnouts, etc.

Since anything I build eventually has to fit on my layout, I should know how many left hand #6 turnouts, bridges or coaling towers I need. I can build those projects while at work and get them onto my layout when I'm at home. If I only get 1 week/month to work on it, may as well be prepared. A little planning might help to prevent building a bunch of stuff that'll never get used.

As I said, I a newbee. This toolbox should get me going right away. I'm going to buy everything to put it together as soon as I get back to civilization.

The toolbox is a great idea

I think the toolbox is a great idea. I saw an article, I think in RMC about someone who does the same thing; he travels a lot, and does basic building construction or car assembly while out on the road.

To me this is a brilliant way to make good use of down time, I know when I travel for work I usually end up staring at walls at some point in time in the evening.

Of course flying with a tool box may be more of  a challange...

The toolbox

If any of you saw the article on Rod Stewart's layout, he brings stuff along with him and models on the road.  I think I read that he would get one fairly central hotel room for several weeks, set up his "shop" and fly back there every night after a show and work on his construction projects.  

I, too, am on the road a lot, but its a regular week on/week off shift, so I know where I'll be and when for the most part.  I have a set of tools that I leave up there for putting together buildings and weathering, though lately I haven't had much opportunity due to extra work and my class I'm taking.  The toolbox would be a great idea for you, provided you can get it on a plane. 

Rod Stewart

That was what I thought of right away too.  Rod would get a suite and have some long tables setup in the main room for a shop area.  His tools and supplies were shipped around in large boxes just like stage gear is handled.  He would fly to the tour date locations and fly back to the central hotel location.

For the apartment dweller a shelf layout or a diorama could fit the bill nicely.