# Indoor ceiling layout planning questions



## oldrails (Oct 12, 2013)

Hello from beautiful Abbotsford, BC,
The only place the boss will let me run my future railroad empire is in the garage, so a ceiling layout seems like the place to start.
I've collected many large scale pieces over the years, but have never had a layout.
The task ahead seems daunting, so I have a few questions, but before I ask them, let me say my power is two 2013 model dash 9's all set to go the R/C route.
Question 1. How do I figure out how much track I'll need for a 24' x 24' layout with 8' curves.
2. How do I figure out the curves (where they start and end) (am I right in thinking that if I buy track for a 16' circle, it'll give me the correct 4 corners I need?)
3. Best company to locate the track I need and should I buy new?
4. I'm thinking Ikea shelving to lay the track on?
5. The boss is taking me on an anniversary holiday next month to Portland, OR.. Can someone recommend a large scale shop there, where I can buy the above mentioned track?
Thanks for your help;
Sincerely
Ed


----------



## astrayelmgod (Jan 2, 2008)

I don't know what Ikea shelving is made of, but you don;t want MDF, or whatever the local term is for boards made from compressed wood chips and/or sawdust. It sags quite badly unless it is supported at frequent intervals. 

There are several ceiling layouts around here, and they all use slabs of acrylic sheet as roadbed. I know that one is made from one inch thick acrylic sheet, I don't know about the other two. 

How about building it on the floor first, running it for awhile, then cutting whatever roadbed you end up with, then assembling it up high?


----------



## oldrails (Oct 12, 2013)

Thanks for the quick reply!
Hmmm...see through roadbed. I never thought of that. Will have to check the cost.
Building on the floor, is not an option...wish it was.
Sincerely,
Ed


----------



## JPCaputo (Jul 26, 2009)

A quick note is G gauge curves are generally called out in diameters. Not like HO which uses radius. 
A 16 foot circle would leave a bit less than 8 ft straight on each side of your room. 
An 8 foot circle would leave a tad under 16 ft straight between the curves. 

For the engines being RC, are they battery powered as well? Or track powered? If they are battery powered, you will be making many trips up and down a ladder to recharge the batteries. 

I have seen multiple styles of ways to hold track up. Check websites of overhead layouts for how they do it, and there are multiple threads on here that discuss various ways of making overhead layouts. Including a simple shelf along the sides and some type of solid or suspended curve in the corners. 

I've been looking at making an overhead layout for a couple years now, just been figuring the best way to do it in budget and aesthetically pleasing as well since it will be in a living room, and possibly bedroom as well. Another problem on my end is I have more engines and motive power than cars.. So I need dual tracks at least.. Makes designing a bit tricky though..


----------



## JPCaputo (Jul 26, 2009)

For the lengths of track and how much, a full circle will get you the four corners. 

The straight section between is the length of the side minus the diamater of the corners ( draw it on a sheet of paper, if you can scale it to 1 ft real is 1 cm on paper, using a compass and ruler you will be quite accurate ) 

I am not sure how much clearance on each side is needed, 6-8 inches? That will reduce the length of the straights by a foot or so.


----------



## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

You can draw your railway by hand on graph paper. A bit of time and simple math is enough. Or use a track planning software, which can be found online. 

It sounds like you're going around the perimeter of a square room, so one circle of track separated in quarters with straight sections will work. Just be sure you leave enough clearance to the walls. 

I think you'll need to suspend the railway from the ceiling, not use shelving. The leverage effect of shelving extending outward to support eight foot radius is going to be huge. 

Is your garage ceiling drywall, or exposed framing?


----------



## work4fil (Jan 4, 2008)

Ed, 

I am also in the process of suspending a layout from the ceiling in my garage. My area is roughly 20 by 30 feet. I am going to rip OSB into 16" widths then suspend from my nine foot ceiling. I have planned on 10' curves for the mainline, with 8' curves for a siding that will follow about 3/4 of my "U" shaped plan. 

My constraint is clearing my garage door opener, but I keep my grade to about 2-3% max. so that won't be too bad. I plan on track power for now. Somewhere down the road I will hope to move outside, but the south Puget Sound is not too warm this tim of year. 

I thoughr 8' would be okay, but some day I would want to run 1/29 passenger cars instead of my narrow gauge stuff, so 10' really is practical. I also wanted to run my baby scale stuff with my large scale, so 10' infrastructure would make HO look good too. 

Bigger is better. Have fun! 

Fil


----------



## Blk69 (Dec 6, 2009)

Yes, you want to suspend from you ceiling not create a large shelf. Suggest 8" wide plywood roadbed, suspend every 4'. (can go longer with thicker plywood) Not sure of materials in BC, but here we have a long treaded piece of metal (like a very long bolt with no top) called all thread (comes in 1' to 10' lengths). Attach two piece of all thread at each support point and connect to ceiling (can be finished ceiling or no). Just drill holes in the plywood, run all thread thru holes and support with a nut. You can adjust the nuts to level the whole thing out. If you can get a firm attachment to the ceiling and use say 3/8's all tread, the hole system will be very solid and not sway. 

If you have the ceiling height, you can do a double track layout one on top of each other. You could also make the plywood roadbed wider for tracks, but depending on ceiling heights may be hard to see second line. Fairly easy to extend the alltread down another foot for second line. 

This is picture of a double side by side. 

http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSe...inlineImage/true/Attic%20Ceiling%20Layout.jpg


----------



## jguettler (Apr 17, 2009)

Ed,

Here's a webpage documenting construction of my overhead line. Maybe you'll get an idea or two.

http://www.trainweb.org/wgr/Overhead/overhead.html

Jim


----------



## oldrails (Oct 12, 2013)

Wow...this forum is helpful. Thanks Brakeman, JPCaputo, BigRedOne, workforfil, & Blk69 for all your great suggestions. 
Yes my ceilings are finished and causing some sleepless nights thinking about that problem. 
And yes the engines are battery powered giving me something else to worry about (will have to shop for a good ladder) but these problems won't curtail my enthusiasm. 
Your right about some mighty nice ceiling layouts on this site. I really like the one you sent Blk69. Too bad that system doesn't come as a kit, with track included. I would buy it. 
It would save a lot of time plus it looks very professional. 
I think that your plywood and long bolt system is a good method as it'll make it easier to get everything level. It'll also hide the carpet felt (as seen on another forum) I plan to use as a roadbed/sound dampener. 
Wow again. Lots to think about. 
Sincerely 
Ed


----------



## Harold Wilson (Oct 28, 2010)

I just completed a small overhead track in my hobby room. I used a combination of wall brackets and ceiling brackets made from red oak leftover from a couple other projects. The track is supported by 2 rails made from 3/4 X 1" red oak. This is a railroad on a budget. 
The wall brackets are made from a piece of 5/4 and a piece of 3/4 oak. Ceiling brackets use 3/8 dowels fastened to the track supports with small screws countersunk into the track support. 
A few pictures are in this photobucket album: 
http://s1253.photobucket.com/user/harold4152/library/Hobby Room 

Harold Wilson


----------



## JPCaputo (Jul 26, 2009)

I am curious as to who would be interested in a lift system to get engines and cars onto and off of an overhead layout. 

It is part of what I am planning to build eventually. If it works well I can make kits for others. 

I just have concepts and rough sketches at the moment.


----------

