Background

Knowing nothing about this, is there a link to rules/suggestions/posting guidelines?

Contest

The contest was announced in the September 2015 Model Railroad Hobbyist in the Staff Notes column at mrhmag.com/magazine/mrh-2015-09-sep/staff-notes 

There is a discussion thread at https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/module-guidelines-12201427

A promo for the contest has been running each month next to Staff Notes in the magazine.

question about current module contest rules

I realize this post is for the previous contest a year previous, but I'm not finding a discussion thread for the current contest which closes 1-31-2017. I have a question about this statement in the rules as shown in 11-2016 MRH page 7:

Interior doors are normally 6'8" = 80" high. Does this mean the module itself should not be larger than 30" x 7'6" ? Is this a typo?

I thought the general idea was that we can choose our own module size, as long as it fits through a door - and, presumably, other parts of a house.

It's the room we have to work with

If you can prove your module design will fit through the 7'6" door in our specific example room this time without damage or smashing fingers then go for it.

practical module size for typical houses?

I thought one key design factor with the TOMA method was to have modules that you can take with you if you have to move to another residence, where doorways are generally 6'8" high.

I'd like to see some discussion of what is the largest size of module that can fit into a typical residence when it comes time to move. A 7'6" high doorway is not typical, although a long narrow item could often go through a window.

What concerns me with the TOMA approach in a modest-size bedroom is that the typical long-narrow configurations do not allow enough width for turn-back curves to handle conventional through trains in the most popular modeling scale, HO. In a smaller room these modules seem destined to be diorama-type scenes or branch line terminals or switching pikes with very short trains and short hauls and stub staging at one or both ends - unless we can make some modules wider (and shorter), like the size of a double or queen box-spring. Without turn-back curves, track mileage for through trains will be very limited for the space.

A queen size box spring is typically 60" x 80" x 9", which is expected to pass through a house and fit into most bedrooms. Of course, it can be tricky if you have to go through a hallway with a bend.

I have a 54" x 72" HO layout "core module" which I have been using successfully for 35+ years in different places. It provides a continuous run option (with two sidings) as a stand-alone unit, and I've built different adjoining shelf layouts to fit available space. My "core module" is about the size and bulk of a standard double box spring. I'd like to bring that sort of idea into the module contest, if it can fit the rules.

 "I'd like to bring that sort

Sounds like it could fit thru a door unless it has very tall mountains? or perhaps a narrow hall leading to the door?  but to make it more unique and get more points in the contest why not divide it into quarters and assemble them into a SuperToma? Remember this is a contest for a theoretical layout not necessarily something you'd choose to build.......DaveB

Door height

Seems to me if you are concerned about getting your modules into rooms with only 80" doors, then all you have to do is make 30"H x 80"W your limit for your modules. That way, you are guaranteed to get them out of this room and into any other room. After moving a lot of furniture through hallways, downstairs and upstairs and sharp-turn stair landings, I would recommend keeping module length under 60". On the other hand, all the contest requires is getting it in and out of this room which is pretty generous.

Why excluding larger than O?

Joe,

While I understand that the major focus of MRH is towards the smaller scales, and more modelers model in that scale, why did you intentionally exclude scales larger than O in the contest? Some pretty cool Gn15 (G scale on HO gauge track) have been made in small places, or even full sized "G gauge" stuff. Just curious more than anything.

Craig

We want to solve a typical home layout design problem

Perfectly logical explaination!

Thanks Joe for answering my question. That's a perfectly logical explanation. Just trying to encourage more modelers to think outside of the 'box' in my mind is a great approach no matter what scale one models in.

Thanks for putting the TOMA appoach into words. When I build round 2 of the outdoor railroad, I'm planning a similar approach, one town at a time.

Craig