By John B. Pedersen

Author  Bio Do you want to have an indoor layout for the winter, or for times that running outdoors won't work?

Let's move to indoors for a while? Do you want to have an indoor layout for the winter, or for times that running outdoors won't work? What options we have are again determined by available space. A 10 x 12 room will give you a good size layout with many possibilities. The design of the layout will be the factor guiding your curve, and turnout radius. You are only limited by your own imagination.

My own experience goes back many years to an HO shelf layout, and two N scale layouts. The fact that my building of an indoor Largescale layout is limited, I am going to suggest that you check the LSOL archives for further information, or one of the many members who build and run indoor layouts. Those guys are a wealth of knowledge, who are glad to help with your project.


Ceiling layouts. This is a subject I know a little about because I built one along the living room ceiling. I hope you avoid some of the pitfalls I ran into, most were due to the ceiling design. Whether you are a do it your selfer, scratchbuilder, or unhandy, there is some thing or someone for you. I am sure that you have been reading books or magazines on Largescale, and have seen some ads for overhead railways. Some of these guys will build a custom layout of exotic woods, with special hangers to meet your needs.

Send them a diagram and they will ship your system for you to install. Very little construction knowledge is needed for installation, only basic tools are needed. If you are a little more handy you design and order your own parts and assemble. There are available tunnel portals, and bridges. Complete electric lighting systems are made for use on some of the pre-manufactured systems.

In my case I had to use a shelf style arrangement because the ceiling is a homemade drop ceiling. The ceiling framework is wood, but I would have had to put extra support hangers in places that would have not looked too good. One thing to keep in mind, and I'm sure I really don't have to mention this, is you should consult with the better half in this project. If you have a room of your own, it may not be necessary, but if it is the living room, well you be the judge.

I am a very fortunate person, my wife likes my trains, and was all for around the living room ceiling. Back to the construction, many years ago I put rough cut Cedar on the walls to resemble a log cabin effect, So some of the manufactured systems would not go well with the decor. I used rough cut cedar boards, with small brackets I cut and installed under the shelf boards. I cut the corner shelves to match the curve diameter, which is 5 feet in my case.

My advantage is that I did not have to find the studs because I have wood to attach to all over, so I could put the brackets evenly spaced around the wall. I pre-drilled holes at an angle thru the shelf at about 30 degrees and drove screws thru the shelf into the wood. You should do this at every stud space as these will not be seen from below.

The lower brackets I made support only a little weight in the middle of the span. The one piece shelf design will hold a lot of weight at the corners for a good distance from the corner. Only a little help is needed at the corners. The small under brackets are mainly to keep the track level horizontally.

To enhance the appearance and to give a little more appeal to the railroad, I added wallpaper border to the wall above the shelf, giving the appearance of villages, farms and water under the bridge. One thing to consider, which I didn't do, is if you build a shelf style overhead, is to use some kind of a sound deadener under the tracks. Whether it be Homasote or cork, or what have you, be sure you do not put fasteners thru the sound material.

The deadener should be secured to the shelf, and the track to the deadener. When running with plastic wheels it is quite quiet, but 6 or 8 cars with metal wheels can get a bit noisy. The slower the operation the less the noise. I can let it run and talk or listen to the radio without needing to turn up the volume. When I can't run outside, I can inside.

One item I will add to this in regards to powering the overhead system, is to have an emergency power disconnect close at hand. I had a power supply blow a voltage regulator, and sent full power to the tracks. I use a small remote control unit to turn my power supply on and off, and it is next to the control for emergency purposes. Seven feet is a long way down to the floor, so an ounce of prevention...

Christmas layouts. Go to the "how to" articles in LSOL, and you will find a great Christmas tree layout to build for your home. A long standing tradition in my household, since I was a kid was a small layout on the living room floor using 027 Lionel trains. I still have them and they still run good. After I got married we lived in a small apartment, so I found a small Lionel standard gauge set for around the tree. As the kids and house got bigger we went to setting the 027 set up through several rooms in the house. Now the kids are gone, I still set up track in 3 rooms for a couple of months around Christmas time. As long as my body cooperates, I will keep this tradition, and enjoy the company of people who enjoy watching it as much as I enjoy running them.

As I mentioned before, I will not get into specifics of track, structures, and the like, as other articles are available on these subjects LSOL has a good selection of such instructional material for you to read. I hope this has been informative for you, as maybe it will help you avoid some mistakes I made while building my railroad empire.

There is no cut and dry right or wrong way to do things, some ways are just easier than others. You are doing this for you so remember that the only person you have to make happy is you, unless you are running it around the living room ceiling. Having the whole family participate in the process is a great way to spend quality time, with great pride in the finished(?) project. I named my railroad, JFF & NSI Railroad, which stands for-just for fun-no scale intended, and I do have fun with it.

track plans for 10 x 12 room, or more

You're saying that in G scale a 10 x 12 room gives you lots of possibilities? Hmm...I'd love to see a forum for track plans for that size space, or a little larger space. I have a basement and would like to see what possibilities others can or have come up with.

Andy Stobie - 02/13/2012 - 11:56

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