My 2014 Layout: a world in 35 plates

[MusicaRibelle]

Hello, and thanks for reading!

This is my current home layout, built over various iterations in the last year.

I started with nothing but the desire of getting back into trains and into Lego.

Given I had limited space, I settled for a 4 ftx6 ft rectangle, or roughy 7 x 5 32-stud baseplates.

Here's the BlueBrick diagram:

Layout in BlueBrick, on Flickr

And here's the first version, with green felt over the raw wood panel:

Initial layout

Here's a view from above -- it was not easy to take this picture :)

Layout full view

Modulars on 'main street' are temporarily with their top floors removed so we can see the whole railroad.

This is a view from the other side:

Layout from the back

I am able to run two trains concurrently, and keep a third one on a side line, which has been good for a while.

Now I want to build more, and I am again kind of out of space..

..problem is, in the meantime I also got somewhat addicted to modular buildings.. so it's a constant struggle to use space as best as possible.

I eventually opted for a 'custom' road between two rows of buildings, which saved me some space.

I also wanted to have a feeling of a small but vibrant town, pedestrian and bike friendly. No private cars.

The little smart-like cars mimic the 'car2go' shared cars we have in Seattle.

The tunnel helped creating some more space for buildings:

Tunnel

The other good thing about the current layout is that it leaves enough space for a decent station:

Train Station - Stazione

Still a WIP, once I'm more satisfied with the interior I'll add more pictures and a post for that.

I think I will now look for a different 'iteration' and different layout.. suggestions?

I could possibly expand the available space by one baseplate in either (but not both!) direction.

I would like to accommodate 4 or 5 trains, and at this point I don't care anymore to run several of them at the same time. I just want to build and display more trains :)

Lastly, thanks for all of you who participate in the forum and keep it alive. This is my first year "back" in lego and I learned a lot from all of you and your great creations.

Keep on building!

Edited January 4, 2015 by MusicaRibelle

[MusicaRibelle]

flickr links were all wrong, my apologies -- they should have been fixed now.

[Exa]

Hello !

Pretty nice layout. If you fall in love with modular you will need much space. You can save some space by reducing track space from 8 to 4 studs on some parts of the layout (where there is no point). I do it on my layout. It's good for the look and it works fine.

If you want to run more trains, trust me, you will need much more room. If you tell me how much space you got and all the track you have, I can design some layout for you. BlueBrick is nice to create layouts.

[Hrw-Amen]

Looks nice for a small layout. Wish I had the room. Nice to see some sidings as well for goods transfer and the tunnel is a good space saver and allows as you said for extra scenery. I think the only thing I would say is that I think the track would look better ballasted and maybe all mounted on baseplates, but I know that can be a brick/money/time expensive thing to accomplish. Good start though so keep us up to date with any advances that you make please.

[MusicaRibelle]

@Exa: this is what my Lego room looks like:

legoroom

The room itself is not that small, but there are doors pretty much on each side.

The maximum usable space is something like 200 x 200 cm, but with limited access to all sides, which could be a problem in case of derailments :)

anyhow, I'm open to suggestions and not afraid to tear it all apart -- which is one of the reasons I don't have it all ballasted. It is easy to undo.

[Exa]

This is a very simple layout (2m x 2m) witch gives a lot of inner space. Of course, it's really basic. Do you plan to max your track or keep it as small as possible ?

Edited January 6, 2015 by Exa

[MusicaRibelle]

Thanks, Exa. I'd be happy with more track, and only about 8 baseplates for buildings.

Well, I'm thinking of building more of a yard, so I could have 4-5 trains 'parked' while 1 or 2 can circulate.

I'm afraid 200x200 maybe too big for the space -- but it's good to know what the 'best' scenario is.

This is a slightly bigger layout than what I have now, I'm not happy with it, but I'm trying to figure out how to build a yard with the space available:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/musicarib/Layout-14/withyard.png

[Exa]

I understand your needs and your point of view. I just want to point that a big yard takes a lot of space. I dont have parcking track for all my trains. I prefer remove some trains from the track than build yard for all of them. :) Just my 2 cents. I only go one advise : listen to everyone but do what you want ! It's your track, your fun.

[legonerd54321]

If my family and I get a bigger house with a nice, large basement, and I have enough money, I hope to make a layout just like this! Great job!

[southerntrainfan]

Nice job…thanks for posting good ideas!

[MusicaRibelle]

Update: I've experimented with building a small yard.

It's not great, given the space available, but it's interesting in that I can now fit three trains on the layout while another one runs on either of the two loops, leaving space for a fifth, in case there is a 2015 train... ;)

Yard

Now I need to finish the fourth train, since I only have the engine and tender..