the MRH Forum

Help with my layout Dream and design
Reply
New member 1 post jodacious46 New member 1 post
jodacious46

 I'm 73 y-old and want to model as prototypically as I can in HO the ICRR RR(about 9000') as it existed in late 1930s-late 1940s.

I have a room 14'6" x 13'2" and plan a 2' shelf layout around the walls. It will have a pull-out section where the room enters the DR and a lift-out in one corner for exit to outside.

My question/concern/dilemma is, can I - using double trackage around the walls - fit single track mainline, 29 No. 6 turnouts for industrial sidings, staging yards...5-stall roundhouse, etc?

I know HO is 1:87 I have a Sanborn Fire Insurance map with building front widths in feet. Do I take 1/87th of the 25-feet and so on down the street to get an accurate footprint of the structures I want to build?
 

Please bear with a beginner w/some knowledge of model railroading.
Thank you for your help.
Cordially,

Jody Correro
Reply 0
Ken Rice Super User 5,917 posts
Ken Rice

1/87th

Yup, HO scale is 1/87th full size.  So if you want to model a 25 foot wide building, that’s about 3.5” wide on an HO scale layout.

I’m not sure I follow exactly what you’re aiming for - are you saying you want to have a twice around the room trackplan to fit 9000 feet of prototype, which is about 104 feet of HO track, into a room that has about a 55 foot perimeter?  You could do that, I’m not sure that would give you “as prototypically as possible” though.  It depends on what aspects you’re interested in, and what you can and can’t compromise on.

Perhaps if you describe a little bit more what you’re hoping to achieve you could get some more specific suggestions and advice.

My blogspot blog: http://rices-rails.blogspot.com/
My MRH blog index
Reply 0
barr_ceo Super User 3,274 posts
barr_ceo

"I know HO is 1:87..."

... except it isn't. It's actially 1:87.1

Yeah, it's a minor quibble, and USUALLY won't make much difference...   but you said "... as prototypicically as I can"... and better to get it right, and make any selective compression deliberately than as a result of incorrect computation.

 

 

Read my Journal / Blog...

!BARR_LO.GIFFreelanced N scale Class Digitrax & JMRI

 NRail  T-Trak Standards  T-Trak Wiki   T-Trak Wiki Pages
Reply 0
ctxmf74 Super User 15,945 posts
ctxmf74

"I know HO is 1:87 I have a

Quote:

"I know HO is 1:87 I have a Sanborn Fire Insurance map with building front widths in feet. Do I take 1/87th of the 25-feet and so on down the street to get an accurate footprint of the structures I want to build?"

  Yep, divide the real measurements by 87 to get model size. You can also get an HO scale ruler and just work in HO scale feet.  Your 2 foot shelf will represent 174 feet of real estate , so that gives a rough estimate of what might fit at a location. Keep us posted on what you decide for your track plan.....DaveB 

1990.jpg 
Read my blog
Reply 0
dark2star Prolific poster 1,767 posts
dark2star

Hi,as far as I understand

Hi,

as far as I understand you have a firm concept of what you want to achieve.

Do you have any track planning software you can use (e.g. XTrkCAD) or the pencil and paper version (with the track template so that you get the dimensions correct)?

While I don't think you'll draw your final track plan the first time, I still think you should draw *something* in order to get an understanding what will fit and what won't. It should help you get a better track plan in the end.

Similarly, I would want to encourage you to look up the "TOMA" articles in MRH-Magazine. Basically, pick just a small scene of your model empire and build that. You can put the scene into your larger layout later, but right now you'll use it to try techniques, you'll get a better understanding of dimensions and what-not... Even if you end up not using the small scene, I'm sure it will be worth doing.

Finally, don't forget to have fun

Reply 0
Reply