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Size of Area Needed for Layout
William asks readers:
“I currently have a room that’s 14 x 20 feet that I can use for a RR layout. HO seems to small for me to work with since I have an ON-30 train and have problems even setting it on the track. I remember how easy it was to set my Lionel cars on my 0-27 when I was a kid so I think I’d like to go with an O gauge layout. I want to keep it a little bit realistic so I wouldn’t necessarily want another 0-27 unless the toy like look of them has changed that much over the last 50 years! I don’t want a huge layout, just something to play around and tinker with in my retirement. Do you think I could do this with O scale trains in the 14 X 20 area I spoke of?”
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4 Responses to Size of Area Needed for Layout
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O gauge is no longer “toy Trains” Makers other than Lionel Make models not toys. I have an O layout
in about a 15 ft square that does very well, Bill
William
I really don’t think you need to worry about placing engines and or cars on HO tracks. I’m 67 with fingers that don’t always want to work right so I purchased a plastic slide type apparatus. You place one end between the rails, place the engine or car on the other end and let it slide down on to the rails. Works perfect every time. Don’t remember the exact price but it was just a couple of dollars and was available at the hobby store in Des Plaines, IL that I frequent. You can do so much more in HO than O given the amount of space you have.
Hope this helps!
David
I suggest you think twice about making O your layout choice. The cost of most items is at least double that of HO; over 70% of all layouts are HO so mfgrs. tend to make more stuff available as it’s a larger market, and you can fit about twice as much stuff into the layout whichever size you model.
If you go O gauge you might want to concider a “U” shaped layout going around 3 walls in the room. This called a point to point layout. A reverse loop on each end of the layout let’s you turn the trains around. I model Z gauge and I am 54 years old. Putting the trains on the track has never been a problem for me.