No room of a layout.

[CNE Runner]

'K' - I cannot agree with you more. One of my greatest fears is that those interested in micro/mini layouts will lose interest if the website isn't updated on a regular basis. My suspicions are that the current webmasters do not possess the time/commitment/abilities to truly service this wonderful resource. I suspect the website will eventually be discontinued. My advice, to those interested, is to save those portions of the current website to their hard drives before they are 'lost in cyberspace'.

Ray

[jward]

i think there'll always be interest in the small layouts as long as there are people like me who "have" to have a layout regardless of how much room they have.

[Terry Toenges]

Can someone take over Carl's site so it doesn't disappear?

[CNE Runner]

Terry - I echo your lament a thousand times over. Eventually the website will be lost - to those of us who would not have a layout without the inspiration/guidance Carl (et. al.) provided; and all those 'armchair model railroaders' who would enter the hobby on a much more active level. I only wish I possessed the computer skills needed to continue the cause.

Another, positive, facet of small switching layouts is the incredible amount of operation that can be 'squeezed' into a small package. Some of my switching scenarios can take as long as 2 hours (real time) to complete...not bad for a layout that measures approximately 10'x 15" at its widest. Unless you have the resources, and finances, to construct one of the room-filling behemoths; mini layouts can satisfy the model railroading 'urge'. [I should mentione that the Monks' Island Railway is really two mini layouts joined as one...each can be operated as separate switching problems.]

If anyone is interested, I will gladly share my method of car selection and switch list generation. Things can get hectic when #4 is still in Sweet Haven...and the ferry is due in an hour (because of track conditions and distance it takes our intrepid road crew an hour to make the 18-mile journey).

Cheers,
Ray

PS: I will gladly contribute a couple of articles for a 'new' Carl Arendt website as will many other fans around the world.

[jward]

one thing i've found, having built and run a copy of john allen's timesaver, is that small switching layouts can be as simple to run or as complex as you care to make them. take the timesaver. it was designed for the use of only 5 cars and a locomotive. alot of people have a hard time figuring the moves with 5 cars. if that's too tough for you, you can cut it down to 4 cars and things get easier. me, once i mastered the 5 car operating plan i found it too easy, and added a sixth car to the mix. the difficulty in making the required manoevers increased dramatically with that one simple act.....

[Doneldon]

I only wish I possessed the computer skills needed to continue the cause.

Ray-

You can easily learn such skills.

                        -- D

[kamerad47]

I llke hearing about switching operations!!

[CNE Runner]

'K' - Since you (and probably others) enjoy switching operations, I will start another thread regarding that topic. My hope is that we can have a 'pooling' of ideas on this extensive and interesting subject. To start you off though I recommend a visit to the Shunting (switching) Puzzle website at

http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/

This website was invaluable to me when I was formulating my own operations procedure.

Enjoy,
Ray

[jsmvmd]

Dear Ray,

Howdy.  From Carl's book I am hoping to get some micro ideas to see if I can modify them to use for a temporary living room floor layout for my kids with G or O gauge.  Right now I do not want to make a permanent small scale layout, preferring the larger stuff, but not having a space to dedicate, you know ?  I do have several boxes of custom painted HO rolling stock and engines, Erie and Lacawanna with which I do not know what to do.... Perhaps a small HO layout would be in order.

Dear Ray,

You are both nice guys.  Hope your wives appreciate you !  My first foray into foam tunnels worked well, except for the flaking of the plaster.  Over the years I have accumulated an array of foam boxes, small to large.  I had cut off the ends of some smaller boxes and glued them together for the tunnel frame.  These boxes were large enough to let a small G scale engine pass. The ends I cut out in a rough arch design to simulate stone.  Then to that I glued irregular foam pieces over which I applied plaster soaked paper towels.  Worked well.  Strong and light, looked good.  I am content to use this instead of cardboard due to water resisence.  The problem was flaking plaster.  I even designed a tunnel for the corner of the room with a 45 degree split to keep it in 2 pieces to take down after Xmas.  Seems to have worked well.

Best Wishes,

Jack

[CNE Runner]

Jack - In addition to Carl's last book I strongly urge that you thoroughly peruse the website. In addition to the Scrapbook articles, there is a section of track plans that may fit your situation.

We spent last winter in Arizona. Around the holidays we took a garden layout tour in the Chandler area and one 'layout' was of particular interest (all of the layouts we saw were outstanding). This layout was John Allen's Timesaver in G-scale! The owner of the layout invited several of us to 'solve the puzzle'. G-scale trains - mixed in with HUGE buildings (well...huge to us HO folks) and scenery made for an intense experience for this old runner.

Good luck with your layout and keep us informed of its progress,
Ray

[cats2287]

If you don't have enough room for a layout, go to amazon.com. Type in "Model Railroading In Small Spaces Second Edition" I got my copy for 4.65 and it's great!

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

When I saw this thread the first thing I thought of was...I wonder if 2" foam board covered with fiberglass would work and how much it would weigh?

Kinda like a surfboard only bigger!  The price of fiberglass and resin might deter most folks, but it would be an alternative 

[jsmvmd]

Dear Ray,

I had seen Carl's website a few years ago, but had forgotten it.  Thanks for the advice.  What I would like to do is to put Bachmann and Aristo track on semi-permanent foam slabs painted to look like ballast and construct a twisted line of track in my living room that the kids can take apart or re-route easily, run under or over stuff, run with TE and battery power.  Will let you know how it turns out.

[CNE Runner]

'J' - It sounds like you have a plan in mind...great! How about constructing each piece of layout as a module - such that each track lines up with a mate on another 'module'? This would allow you to swap modules in numerous ways (ala N-Trak modules)...Model Railroader's Beer Line was constructed in this manner.

Regarding track: I exclusively use Peco Code 75 track (which is a little delicate and pricey for a 'youngins' layout). Have you thought about using Bachmann's EZ-track (or Kato, Atlas, etc)? We did a train show this past spring at which I got into a conversation with an attendee regarding track. He told me he used EZ-track and could make it look as good as ballasted 'regular' track. On a whim, he went home and came back with 3 pieces of track: one was in the original condition (yuck), one had been painted and weathered (whoa...pretty nice), the last was painted, weathered, and had some stone ballast glued on (amazing). Just food for thought.

Regards,
Ray

[Doneldon]

CNE-

Is your Peco track really more expensive than EZ Track? I haven't explicitly checked, but I would expect Peco, even with roadbed and ballast, would be more than EZ Track.

I can believe that EZ Track looks great if it has added ballast and weathering, especially if one is trying to represent main line track. And it wouldn't need much ballast since the whole contour is already there. One question, though: Would dilute white glue or wood glue stick tightly to the plastic roadbed?

                                                                                                                                  -- D