I started building the layout on my birthday in September 1985. Because I was constructing the HO layout above the O layout, my intuition told me to build it so it could be easily disassembled and moved. I built the HO layout in three sections; two sections were 5' X 5' and one section was 4' X 6'. The sections were built from 1 X 4 material, glued and screwed together with plywood gussets at each corner. The three sections were then bolted together. This turned out to be a very smart move becasue less than a year and a half later I was transferred to North Carolina.
Layout Design
Before the move the layout was basically a double track oval on the 5' X 10' main layout (two 5' X 5' sections bolted together). A small yard was built on the 4' X 6' section and was bolted to the main layout to form an "L". A spur track ran from the inner oval up an incline to the yard. A switchback track in the yard allowed switching of hopper cars to a coal mine at the front of the layout. The 5' X 10' main section was dissected by a scenery break through the 10' dimension, which gave the impression of a larger layout.
The main part of the layout was completed in 1986 but I didn't get too far along with the yard portion of the layout before I found out that I would be moving. I disassembled the layout and packaged all the buildings and trains in preparation for the move. It was over three months, however, before we were able to buy a house and move all of our possessions. It was late in 1987 before I was able to get back to the layout.
In the new house I was able to configure the yard so that the layout now resembled an inverted "U" shape. The operating guide at the left has a schematic diagram of the track configuration at our new location.
The three photos below show the front side of the layout which was the rural area. This area is 10' long and 2' deep. The coal mine, accessed by the switchback in the yard, is seen at the upper level of the photo on the right.
The main part of the layout was completed in 1986 but I didn't get too far along with the yard portion of the layout before I found out that I would be moving. I disassembled the layout and packaged all the buildings and trains in preparation for the move. It was over three months, however, before we were able to buy a house and move all of our possessions. It was late in 1987 before I was able to get back to the layout.
In the new house I was able to configure the yard so that the layout now resembled an inverted "U" shape. The operating guide at the left has a schematic diagram of the track configuration at our new location.
The three photos below show the front side of the layout which was the rural area. This area is 10' long and 2' deep. The coal mine, accessed by the switchback in the yard, is seen at the upper level of the photo on the right.
The two photos below are of the city section (left photo) and the yard. When the layout was moved to our new house the 4' X 6' yard section was rebuilt to fit the "U" configuration. This new yard space was about 2 1/2' X 8'. The yard featured a car repair facility, in the background, and two small engine houses (foreground).
This small layout operated very well. Unfortunately it had limited potential. It lasted until late 1995 when I decided to build a large O gauge layout again. So the RMRR was gone again, but not long forgotten!
Prior to the rebirth of the RMRR I did continue to do HO scale modeling assisting my good friend Joe Leahy in the construction of his large HO layout.
Prior to the rebirth of the RMRR I did continue to do HO scale modeling assisting my good friend Joe Leahy in the construction of his large HO layout.