smallest portable O27 layout ideas (2024)

No room for a layout? A small layout is way better than no layout. This double-track oval fits on a 3' x 4' platform which is small enough to easily stash under a bed. Two trains is the easy way to get more action into an otherwise small simple plan.

This version uses conventional O27-profile tubular track with O27, Marx O34, O42 and O54 curves. The compound curves all flow together smoothly with no straight track. One O42 curve is cut to make two half-curves, otherwise they are all standard pieces of track. You'll have to scout the second-hand market for old Marx O34 curves.

I had a trial version set up temporarily on the floor for a while, running home-made battery-power loco and tram.

A loop-to-loop O27 layout can fit on a 30" x 79" door and hasmuch more interesting action than a plain oval. Non-derailing switches provide an automatic "random-route" feature, so the train runs through the central junction in different directions.

I currently have a temporary layout set up with this plan. I use standard-O switches (#O22 switches with O31 curves)whichhave asuperior non-derailing function. Non-derailing O27 switches might overheat with the train going over them so frequently.

Standard-O track is easily connected to O27 track simply by forcing standard track pins into the O27 rails. It may help to spread the rail web slightly with a screwdriver before inserting the larger pins. The O27 track needs some shimming toget up to the height of the switches. The O27 curves allow this plan to fit on a standard-size 30" x 79" door.

conventional tubular track

The track overhangs the table ends slightly; you could tack 1x2 strips on the ends to extend the table. Some track is cut to fit. The 5.8" straight sections relieve the S-curves and require only a little extra length in the plan. Add spurs and more track if you like.

Hi Ace,

I always enjoy your posts. If I remember correctly, you once talked about your capacitor discharge circuit for the O27 switch afterthe switchwas modified for fixed voltage to the solenoid. Would that work here?

Small layouts are a lot of fun. I never thought I could find them satisfying until I tried them. I postponed building a layout because I had been convinced that 'big' was the only way to go. I missed out on a lot of enjoyment not considering a small set-up sooner.

Take care, Joe.

Ace posted:

A loop-to-loop O27 layout can fit on a 30" x 79" door and hasmuch more interesting action than a plain oval. Non-derailing switches provide an automatic "random-route" feature, so the train runs through the central junction in different directions.

I currently have a temporary layout set up with this plan. I use standard-O switches (#O22 switches with O31 curves)whichhave asuperior non-derailing function. Non-derailing O27 switches might overheat with the train going over them so frequently.

Standard-O track is easily connected to O27 track simply by forcing standard track pins into the O27 rails. It may help to spread the rail web slightly with a screwdriver before inserting the larger pins. The O27 track needs some shimming toget up to the height of the switches. The O27 curves allow this plan to fit on a standard-size 30" x 79" door.

conventional tubular track

The track overhangs the table ends slightly; you could tack 1x2 strips on the ends to extend the table. Some track is cut to fit. The 5.8" straight sections relieve the S-curves and require only a little extra length in the plan. Add spurs and more track if you like.

I built a layout in o27 using more or less this schematic for my office. The difference was that the return loops were separated and placed at opposite corners of my office cube atop the walls. They were connected by two tangents of track and a 90 degree curve at the corner of the cube.

Using the non derailing feature of the switches, the train went the opposite direction through each loop each time.

Joe Rampolla posted:

Hi Ace,

I always enjoy your posts. If I remember correctly, you once talked about your capacitor discharge circuit for the O27 switch afterthe switchwas modified for fixed voltage to the solenoid. Would that work here?

Small layouts are a lot of fun. I never thought I could find them satisfying until I tried them. I postponed building a layout because I had been convinced that 'big' was the only way to go. I missed out on a lot of enjoyment not considering a small set-up sooner.

Take care, Joe.

Unfortunately the fixed-voltage capacitor-discharge arrangement doesn't work well for O27 switches on a small reverse loop, as discussed here:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...id-they-work-for-you

... Suppose you have a train going through a small reverse loop with an 1122 switchpowered bycapacitor discharge. The switch triggers automatically and unnecessarily when the train enters the loop, and if the train goes through the loop too fast the capacitor may not be adequately charged to fire the switch again for the train to exit the loop.

And as long as metal wheels and axles are on the O27 switch, the capacitor cannot begin recharging. So thatis why I used standard-O switches for this loop-to-loop mini-layout!

Ace posted:

Unfortunately the fixed-voltage capacitor-discharge arrangement doesn't work well for O27 switches on a small reverse loop, as discussed here:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...id-they-work-for-you

... Suppose you have a train going through a small reverse loop with an 1122 switchpowered bycapacitor discharge. The switch triggers automatically and unnecessarily when the train enters the loop, and if the train goes through the loop too fast the capacitor may not be adequately charged to fire the switch again for the train to exit the loop.

And as long as metal wheels and axles are on the O27 switch, the capacitor cannot begin recharging. So thatis why I used standard-O switches for this loop-to-loop mini-layout!

Thanks, Ace, for taking the time to explain!

Take care, Joe.

Here's a portable O27 layout that I built a few years ago for a series of articles in OGR magazine called the Reading Central.

It was built in a space of about 30"x80", or the size of a door. It was built with removable end pieces (the curves) for increased portability. The two main scenery sections at each end also lift off for transport.

It featured a hand-operated sector plate (a partial turntable-like device commonly used on "micro-layouts") that allows more operation in the small space. Most of this device is hidden under the city with an access opening on the end of the layout.

The variety of equipment that will run on O27 is amazing if you watch the clearances along the mainline. Also, the number of small scenes that can be worked into a layout this size is also amazing if you use some creativity.

The articles can be found in OGR magazine Runs 247 and 248 (Jan - Mar 2011).

The finished "coal mining" end:

The finished "city" end:

The entire layout:

Some scenes:

Jim

Jim, that's a great-looking layout ... but it doesn't look to be so portable when it's all assembled with the extensions and backdrops and high-rise scenery. It appearsto be about 9 feet long when assembled, not exactly "smallest" category.

[edit: my mistake on length, somehow thinkingthe center portion was a 30" x 80" door]

Definitely outstanding work!

hello Jim..........

WOW, Very IMPRESSIVE !!!!!!!!!! I LIKE it !!!!!!!! I am slowly building a 36 by 78 inch door layout too but still deciding a track plan for it. Last week I purchased railking NW-2 for the layout. Soon 4,40 foot cars or shorter and a caboose. I am impressed with your scenery skills !!!

Tiffany

Tiffany and Chessie,

Thank you.It was really fun to build and got a great response from OGR readers at the time.

Sinclair,

The walls are from Scenic Express Here's a link:

Walls

Ace,

Yes. The parts have to be separated when moving. The 80" measurement includes the end sections. Actually, I think it's more like 76" or 78" overall IIRC.

The center section is the largest piece at about 30"x48". I don't recall exact measurements and I haven't dug out the article lately.

The city scenery section and the mountain scenery section aren't real big, but the whole thing (6 pieces plus legs) pretty well filled up my old Honda Odyssey van.

The six pieces were center section, two end track sections, center section backdrop, mountain scene (backdrop permanently attached to mountain), and city scene (again backdrop attached), plus 4 legs with bracing gussets. At shows, I usually omitted the legs and just set the whole thing on a table.

The OGR Modular Scenery layout I built on a chunk of Styrofoam for another series of articles might qualify better as tiny. It could have been smaller, but they wanted me to use Fastrack and 36" diameter was the smallest available at the time. This one lives on in Allan Miller's office at OGR.

Jim

here is a rough plan of an under-the-tree layout i've made before...

it uses all sectional track (some half-curve) but i believe it only needs one cut of a piece of straight track and it avoids the running-around-the-edges look. it can be separated (blue lines) for storage.

cheers...gary

overlandflyer posted:

here is a rough plan of an under-the-tree layout i've made before...

it uses all sectional track (some half-curve) but i believe it only needs one cut of a piece of straight track and it avoids the running-around-the-edges look. it can be separated (blue lines) for storage.

cheers...gary

I re-drew Gary's planwith SCARMand it fits together perfectly with just one custom-cut piece of track. It makes a good variationfrom the usual symmetrical circles and ovals of typicalsmall plans.

ACE,

here is one solution by David from Dearborn. very clever container.

His video for electric trains

Ace posted:

overlandflyer posted:

I re-drew Gary's planwith SCARMand it fits together perfect with just one custom-cut piece of track. It makes a good variationfrom the usual symmetrical circles and ovals of typicalsmall plans.

Thanks, Ace! i think i touched it up after scanning the drawing into my computer, but the plan has never been more than hand-drawn sketch. can't seem to kick the old school compass and straight-edge habit i revert to once in a while.

a benefit of this type plan is opening up most of the corners more than a circle or oval would yielding more outside-track space for power controls or scenery.

cheers...gary

Greg Nagy posted:

Ace posted:

A loop-to-loop O27 layout can fit on a 30" x 79" door ...

I built a layout in o27 using more or less this schematic for my office. The difference was that the return loops were separated and placed at opposite corners of my office cube atop the walls. They were connected by two tangents of track and a 90 degree curve at the corner of the cube ...

Greg's comment brings up the idea of portable re-usableendmodules for expedient layouts where space is limited and maybe not permanent. Compact end modules like this can be easily adapted to different spaces, with single or double connecting tracks built on simple shelves to fit available space.The second example has a cornercut off at an angle to reduce the footprint.

@Tiffany posted:

hello Jim..........

WOW, Very IMPRESSIVE !!!!!!!!!! I LIKE it !!!!!!!! I am slowly building a 36 by 78 inch door layout too but still deciding a track plan for it. Last week I purchased railking NW-2 for the layout. Soon 4, 40 foot cars or shorter and a caboose. I am impressed with your scenery skills !!!

Tiffany

I spent a weekend experimenting with O27 track on a 36”x78” door, and kept coming back to this;

There seemed to be two main variants; one had a second reverse loop in the opposite direction, with non-derail switches linked in pairs that gave several possible routes through the loops, or bypassing them, the other had the longer siding routed up a ramp for bottom dump coal cars, and a coal loader filling cars on the inner passing loop.

Ace: A really good post and well thought out plans for small portable O27 layouts. Christmas 1961 found a pair of O27 Marx switches under the tree. I thought they were real cool because the manual operated switchstands permitted a jr. railroader to "bend the iron" as in prototype practice!

Don't leave out the S gauge guys either.

Item: I considered incorporating S gauge with my O27 to model a narrow gauge connecting line. I believe this would have worked out quite well using the Lionel General and American Flyer Frontiersman sets.

Joe

@Rockershovel posted:

I spent a weekend experimenting with O27 track on a 36”x78” door, and kept coming back to this;

There seemed to be two main variants; one had a second reverse loop in the opposite direction, with non-derail switches linked in pairs that gave several possible routes through the loops, or bypassing them, the other had the longer siding routed up a ramp for bottom dump coal cars, and a coal loader filling cars on the inner passing loop.

This is a great layout! I can see using it as the basis for a much larger, around-the-walls plan. I may just do that! Thanks.

Have you considered an Oval and figure 8 with a couple spurs inside each loop? O & F8 allows reversing from each direction.

Below shows basic O & F8 with a few extras! From my layout control panel.

Charlie

Here's a screen shot of my AnyRail plan. I have a 3 X 9 (actually 38" X 111") table on Mianne benchwork. I've tried connecting the two loops with the switches I have on hand and so far I can't make it fit. I really like what Jim Policastro did in the posting above. Very similar to Jim's layout, my plan is to put a mining scene on the left side with an ore tipple over the double track siding. The town would go on the right side. I also considering an elevated loop or a trolley line.

John

I purchased a license for SCARM and was learning to use it. I decided that I had a lot of old 0-27 track and swtiches but not much space. So I set the goal of trying to have an interesting layout in a 36 X 72 inch space. Well I over shot the space by a bit and ended up around 44 X 78 inches. My first version was a flat layout shown here.

So I then moved on to learning elevations so I added a reversing loop on trestles. Kept going and added a sub-level with another reversing loop to make for a very long outer main line and a shorter inner loop.

In the above picture the main level is in blue, the upper reversing loop is in green, an the sub-level reversing loop in in red.

Not sure I'm going to build this yet, but definitely has me intrigued as to how much I could fit into a small space. Be warned if you decide to build this I'm not sure I have proper clearances throughout so you may want to mock it up first.