A Coffee table sized layout!

[tantousha]

Hey world!

 

I've been collecting Japanese trains since I returned from living there a few years ago. I bought a Kato V14 set which is great for setting up on the floor, but lack of space means having to *ahem* put my toys away when I'm done.

 

That said, luck came recently to me when my fiancee decided she wanted a new coffee table. We currently have a mid-size white IKEA Lack that's been used and abused so she suggested I build a layout on top of it. Since I recently started collecting B Train Shortys I figured I could build a cool small layout for them.

 

I'm going to  start with Kato unitrack because it's familiar and relatively easy to get in here in Canada. I plan to have a station siding, a viaduct section and possibly a regular siding if I can justify the extra cost (and without making my layout feel too cramped).

 

I've attached 3 different layout plans and would love feedback from all of you!

[disturbman]

Hey tantousha,

 

I like the third plan best. You can actually do a lot with Shorties without making things feel to cramped. There is plenty of videos on youtube and a selection of 20 or so in our video gallery.

 

As for the sidings, if you had choose to try Tomix Finetracks you would have had access to very tight radius curves and point, which is quite helpful when you limited space to work with.

[The_Ghan]

Tantousha,

 

As soon as I saw your layouts I thought of Reinoud Kaasschieter's site and, in particular, his Hakone Revisited layout.

 

The real Hakone Tozan Railway.

 

Awesome stuff.  Might give you a couple of ideas.

 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[tantousha]

As for the sidings, if you had choose to try Tomix Finetracks you would have had access to very tight radius curves and point, which is quite helpful when you limited space to work with.

 

Kato makes compact radius turns too. I have a compact loop set they make (called CV1). Unfortunately their compact tracks weren't included in the cad program I used (called Rail Modeller, the only good one for Mac that I can find...)

 

I'm also not sure I need much more compact curved than I've got. I set up the CV1 loop on my coffee table and it took up such a tiny space...

[tantousha]

Tantousha,

 

As soon as I saw your layouts I thought of Reinoud Kaasschieter's site and, in particular, his Hakone Revisited layout.

 

The real Hakone Tozan Railway.

 

Awesome stuff.  Might give you a couple of ideas.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

Thanks for the link! I'll be sure to root through his website for additional inspiration.  Amazed at how much detail he managed to cram into the layout you posted, but I want to keep the layout a bit more simple. I have amassed a decent sized collection of small buildings and plan on using the space to build a small city...

 

Thanks again The Ghan!

[cteno4]

Tantousha,

 

fun idea. you might take a look at the mini layout nick yee did that uses btrain shorties a lot, quite fun. bit bigger than i think you are talking about, but similar idea.

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/btrainshorty-pt1.html

 

there is also Carl Arendt's small layout scrapbook, classic stuff and lots of ideas.

 

http://carendt.us/scrapbook/linkindex/index.html#

 

few odd ideas here that might stimulate

 

http://www.cke1st.com/m_train2.htm

 

Have you checked the latest update on railmodeler to see if they have the compact radius curves in there now?

 

keep us posted!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[The_Ghan]

Jeff,

 

I didn't want to confuse poor tantousha, but Mikes track plans is one of my favourite sites.  I refer a lot of people there ... especially kids with limited budgets.

 

cheers

 

The_Ghan