If you are making it in

If you are making it in sections 4 sections would be easier to transport than 2 and you would have the option of going longer if it is in a garage so you could add 2 more sections later if you want and make it 6 x 16.

Several years ago Model

Several years ago Model Railroader built a sectional layout called the beer line. They used metal pins and sockets to locate the sections so they would rejoin and maintain alignment. The pins were called mold makers pins or pattern makers pins or something like that, they were very robust and were used so after a mold was filled it could be opened and then reassembled exactly the same so another casting could be made.

Those items would likely allow you to reassemble your layout with out problems.

Reach

Is the reason that large table layouts have go out of favor.  You have to put in some means to be able to get to the center of the table, 3 feet from the short side and 5 feet on the long.  With scenery and wiring, I can see where tis is a problem.  If you keep everything within 2 feet of an edge, that consideration goes away.  It impacts the potential layout shapes.  Thus you see shelf, around the room, and center peninsulas. 

Topside creeper solves reach

Topside creeper solves reach if one must build an island pike and have 30 inch radius, so does an operating pit like the days of old. The inside must be hollow though.

My vote is a shelf

I like to make progress incrementally and a large layout, even in sections, seems too much. Perhaps you could use the same design and break it down into narrow sections that could be built to work on where you rent and move to the garage when ready to "plug in". There is great satisfaction in getting a small area finished enough to run som trains; add some structures; do some experimenting with scenery techniques, etc. 

Neil

Yeah, I'm gradually leaning

Yeah, I'm gradually leaning towards a shelf design. Like you suggested Neil I'm looking breaking down the areas of interest like the two towns and the yard and trying to make them fit on the shelf.

i would love to somehow create a continuous loop, I'm thinking I could make an end piece that loops around?

I just absolutely love the track design. If I could do an around the room shelf that would work fine, maybe I could do a sort of floating shelf design, like you might see at a model show. I could sit in the middle of it, but it's not attached to the walls as such.

but I haven't ruled out the two 6x5 table top design just yet.

decisions decision!

different scale maybe

I'm a believer in shelf layouts for small spaces

I like how my shelf style (around the room) layout allows me easy access (reach) to all areas and a nice center open area.

Moved away from shelf layouts

. . . for now.

I was a proponent of shelf layouts for many, many years and built many shelf layouts. And I still have my British Railways OO scale 12x15-foot shelf layout upstairs.

If tearing down sometime in the future what you've created doesn't bother you much, then by all means shelf away! But that began to bother me about two years ago. I tend to get rather emotionally attached to my layouts.

I've opted for a modular HCD island format for the sake of portability and longevity. Yes, an island-style requires more room, but I know there's at least one more move ahead when we retire in 12-14 years (depending on what numbers the Railroad Retirement Board comes up with). I'd rather take it with me, so to speak, than start anew.

Best wishes in whatever you decide!

"6 x 10 is a massive

    It's large but it doesn't have to be heavy, it's got enough width to be stable even if built fairly light. The thing to consider is whether you want to view your trains from inside the loop (shelf layout) or outside the loop (table style layout)  A 6'X10' table is going to require about a 10X12 room at minimum so pushing the loop out to shelves around the perimeter of the room could give a longer run. I'd also consider the type of scenery desired and if it would look better on shelves or on a wider table. I think you could make a nice layout either way once the factors are considered and the choice made.....DaveB  

Modular

10' x 6' could mean 6 boards, all 4' x 2', joined to form a sort of table top with a 4' x 2' hole in the middle. Then, if you do move, it can easily be taken down. MR's Beer Line was designed to be set up in different ways. You also get a continuous run, but you can build each module up individually.

Brian

Thanks for the wealth of

Thanks for the wealth of information.

I've been sketching out layout plans on paper and trying to make the track plan designed by Jim Hediger work as a shelf style layout. So far I've been happy with the results. I just hope to have enough room to fit the town scenes.

The shelf modules I've been drawing are 60cm wide, which is about 2ft by 1.5m long, which is about 5ft. 

I think I can make it work, but I'm not sure how it will look with mountains and a branch line that weaves up a hillside.

I'm away at the moment, but when I can get back home I'll upload some plans I have in mind so you can get a bit of a visual idea of what I'm after.

basically this video shows the track plan I want in a 6x10 format.

​im not sure if the link will work properly as I'm posting this using an iPad.

thanks, Luke Towan.

Peninsula Idea

 What about an around the walls with the towns both in the middle of the room. The continuous connection could represent interchange where the upper right is concealed by the overpass and lower right to visible staging. I show a swing gate on left to get into the layout from the garage door side. 

Neil

The last time I build bench

The last time I build bench work, I swore that it would be the last time. Several times I have started a layout and then ended up tearing it all out because of moving to a different house. My bench work is made from three inch wide boards ripped from 3/4 inch plywood. Each section or table, is 2 foot by 4 foot. The legs are made from the same material and are attached with screws, so each table can be disassembled if needed. Each table is bolted to the next table with carriage bolts, which makes it very stable. If needed, for fitting a given area, I make just the top portion of a table to whatever length is needed and bolt it between 2 tables with legs. This bench work has proven to be very strong and versatile, and, if I move again, I can disassemble it and take it with me. 

Resurgence of island layouts

The 2015 issue of Model Railroad Planning featured, to my amazement, a couple of island layouts, one of them by Lou Sassi.  I was shocked because the model railroad orthodoxy for some time has been that shelf and around the walls layouts are to be preferred.

I think shelf layouts are to be preferred in many cases because there is a natural tendency to build an island on a piece of 4x8 or 5x9 plywood or on a ping pong table, with all the problems well-described above. 

But as the Beer Line cited above proves -- and maybe last year's MR project layout -- you can build a layout in such a way that it can be both and island and a shelf layout, depending on how you arrange the smaller, portable pieces. It is  smaller and portable that should be the operative words.

Really, you should decide what you want the railroad to represent and/or do, then decide on the shape.  I wouldn't build a layout with a vast central peninsula space like Mike Confalone's current Allagash because I am too old to manage the popups required for construction and maintenance,  much less an overhead creeper, but it sure does look good!  Your space may change, but your concept need not.  Spend more time thinking about that, then you will know which shapes and sizes will let you achieve that vision.

Shelves, Doors and Stairways

Hi Bouldercreek,

Before you start building, measure your doors, hallways and stairways between the layout and the exit.

All the doors in my house were 32"...except the basement door, which was 28".

My layout is built in 11 sections that all fit up the stairs, thru the door and around all the hallway corners.

If you have any doubts about the size, build a skeleton frame of 1x2s and try to take it outside, starting from the layout room.

It will save you taking a sawzall to your layout if you move.

That's all some very good

That's all some very good advice!

I'm defiantly leaning towards an island design yet build it as a modular shelf type construction. What I'm trying to say is it will sit out in the open and connect together like modules and the center will be open, you can duck under and sit in the middle of the layout. 

The middle section will basically be a 2m by 1m hole and the control panel will be on the inside, yet visitors can stand around to outside to view it.

Work from inside out

I have a 6'x12' that I use for my Lionel trains.  It's 34 inches high.  So I can reach the center, but it's difficult to do much at that distance without disturbing things in between.  If you opt for it, work from the inside out and at least keep turnouts and crossings out of the center 2 feet.

Enjoy

Paul