Change of plans? Minimum width of space inside a walk-in?

[Morgun 30]

I recently posted that my wife decided to clean up part of the basement to allow me to finally set up my layout. I built and L shape table. Well, now she has decided to clean up the entire basement and wants to make it a "second" family room. She thinks that my table will take up too much space and want to confine me to one end. This may not be that bad a deal as I will have a area that would be 14' x 6' ( maybe even as much as 8' ) I told her that this would actually take more space away from her, but she doesn't see it that way. So, I could be looking at a walk-in layout. This would, as you all know, would allow for more track.

I'm thinking that at 6' wide, I should have a minimum of 28" open to move around in. This would give me two 22" wide straight sections.

Questions. Will that ( the 28" opening) be enough? And are there any suprise problems with a walk-in layout? Thanks, Morgun 30

[Doneldon]

Morgun-

Twenty-eight inch aisles should be adequate under most circumstances. I've seen functional aisles as narrow as 18 inches though I don't recommend it. However, aisle width is not a simple decision. Where the aisle is situated makes a difference, too. If you plan to run your railroad with multiple operators, you'll need especially wide aisles in locations where there is operator activity on both sides of the aisle. For example, a yard on one side and an industrial park with heavy switching points on the other side of an aisle calls for much more clearance than a point where there isn't any activity or activity is confined to only one side. Also, you'll want to be careful about placing track and fragile scenery close to the edges of your layout in areas along aisles. People squeezing through narrow aisles can sometimes drag trains or break scenery placed near the edge of a layout.

Given the changes imposed on you by the general manager, I would suggest that a walk-in or, better, along the walls layout would best fit both your railroad needs/wants and the demands of general, non-railroad living space. These work best for a point-to-point layout but your ability to continuously run trains is lost unless you can build "blobs" on both ends for turnback loops. The advantage, though, is that the main layout shelf can be very narrow, allowing easy use of the space for other purposes.

                                                                                                     -- D

[#94]

I could get by with those restrictions but I would seriously hope that all model railroaders considering marriage need to have a well planed pre-nuptial real estate agreement. This comes up far too often.

[Joe Satnik]

Dear All,

Discussion on "around the room" with a lift or swing bridge to gain access to the center:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,14741.0.html

John Armstrong devotes a chapter to layouts with discussions on walk-in aisle

widths in his book "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" (3rd Ed.) c1998

ISBN 0-89024-227-5

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

P.S. Reminds me of the story of someone trying to shrink a larger scale walk-in layout drawing down to a much smaller scale.  He forgot that the aisle widths would  shrink too.  (Incentive to diet?)

[Doneldon]

John Armstrong devotes a chapter to layouts with discussions on walk-in aisle widths in his book "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" (3rd Ed.) c1998

ISBN 0-89024-227-5

Joe-

I believe that no one should endeavor to do a trackplan without this classic open on the table. Yes, even in the age of CAD programs for track planning. Those programs will put tracks together the way we want but they aren't able to point out the whys and wherefores of how to configure the track. Armstrong's book is and always has been the unimpeachable resource for designing a layout. Nothing else even comes close.
                                                                                                                                                     -- D