My layout at our local train show, suggestions welcome!

[hoeij]

Please check out my layout at our local train show. Ideas, tips, suggestions, comments are welcome!

One question I have is: Packing and unpacking all this into boxes each year for our annual show is an

endless amount of work, I wonder if there is a smarter way to transport this stuff from A to B.

[Lazarus]

Its is a nice size layout and you have the locos and track you would expect on this size layout. (good comment)

My comments would be and some of what i am slowly working though on my own layout:

1. You need more detail there it little lego other than the trains and track no theme going or anything else to look at. (this is the bad comment)

the rest are tips.

2. I built my layout in sections mostly 4 base plates by 4 base plates. these are then glued onto a sheet of 20mm mdf cut to the size of the 4 base plates. This gives you the strenth you need so you can move the section around without pulling stuff off it.

3. you stick your track and what ever detail onto the sections like buildings and so on and leave it always attached so you never need to rebuild much when you are going to show.

4. i then build large wooden boxes the size of the 4 base boards and normaly stack 3 sections in this box you build the box hight depending on how high your sections are. this makes them very easy to move around in a van or car and when you get to show you just pull out all your sections and place them together and preseto your layout.

5. Planning and design is key with this. I have my whole layout designed on LDD in there 4x4 sections and build sections as i can aford it.

6. ballest your track so it can stick onto base boards even the turnouts this also gives you that needed detail on the track (if you want help with this Msg me and i can send you some plans on how to ballest your track.)

[Hrw-Amen]

It seems nice and is very train orientated. This is fine as it is in a train related show. I would myself however try to fill in some of the space if it was myself. At the moment as fine a layout as it is, it is still very much a lot of train tracks running around each other with little 'Town' in between. I don't mean that as a negative comment though as I appreciate how hard it can be to take it all apart and set it up again elsewhere. Sometimes though for a convincing scenario it is better to have slightly less track and train and a bit more setting the scene. But it really depends on what effect you are going for. I cannot complain as I have to long term layout due to lack of space. You certainly have a wide range of track types and power types running on your layout which is really good to see.

[hoeij]

Its is a nice size layout and you have the locos and track you would expect on this size layout. (good comment)

My comments would be and some of what i am slowly working though on my own layout:

1. You need more detail there it little lego other than the trains and track no theme going or anything else to look at. (this is the bad comment)

the rest are tips.

There are several tables with pretty much only track/trains. I recognize that as a weakness.

In my previous layout at the show, my (then 8 years old) son built a really neat running race for minifigs, put various things there for the runners, there were spectators and other neat little details, and the winning minifig had his hands joyfully in the air. That added fun to the layout, and he also added some other neat things as well. This year, we kind of ran out of time during setup, so there aren't as much details as I had hoped for. It just took a lot more time than I counted on to set up everything (basically, the blue track is just an endless amount of work. But operating the RC switches during the show is kind of fun).

I would myself however try to fill in some of the space if it was myself. At the moment as fine a layout as it is, it is still very much a lot of train tracks running around each other with little 'Town' in between.

Thanks for giving me some good ideas. I'll ask my son for ideas on how to make the layout more lively, he's pretty good at that.

Edited June 19, 2013 by hoeij