New member and new to Hon30

[Scott1984]

Hello,
I have just signed up for the forum. I noticed there is some interest on here for Hon30 layouts. I am new to the scale and also newer to the hobby. I built a HO 4 x 6 layout several years ago and had a lot of enjoyment with it. Now I have limited space to work with so i have decided to go with Hon30. I am 57 years old so my eyes are not suited for n scale so I figured this scale would work for me. I have already started the layout, it will unfortunately need to be in our garage. It is 28 in x 53 in and is going to be a mining themed layout. This layout will be a little different in that it will have two separate levels. The lower level will be the mine workings, with tunnels and ore carts and a train running a loop around the mine scene. I know this is not prototypical but in my mind it was a cool idea and I had the extra track to do it. The mine scene will be lit with yellow LED lighting. The top will be the actual layout, with a mountain that the train will run through and mine buildings and mill. I will attach the top layout track plan. It is not very complex, I am on a limited budget and can not afford a lot of turnouts. I will upload some pics of the layout as it stands now if someone is interested. Here is the track plan I have, if anyone has any better ideas, please let me know. I am by no means an expert at this. Well it looks like I am having an issue with uploading the plan,if anyone can help I would appreciate it.

[Dave V]

Welcome aboard! I'm one of those dabbling in HOn30, though most of my work is HOn3.

As for images, a host of capabilities opens up after your 25th post. The forum is set that way in order to filter membership to only those with serious intent to participate.

[Scott1984]

Thanks Dave!!
I just watched your last video about your layout. Your work is really awesome. If I can produce something half as good as your layouts, I would consider it a success. Thanks for the info on the attachments, hopefully I can get some pics up and a copy of the track plan. I would like to get some expert input if I can. I really appreciate your help.

[Chris333]

So you just keep going bigger as your eyesight goes? Asking for a friend 

My HOn30 layout is only 2x5' but fun to build.

[Scott1984]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the reply. I think that is how it is going to work probably. Ho is good for me right now, I use my magnifier for small stuff like figure painting and other smaller items. I really love Hon30 due to scale and Ho stuff works with it well. My layout will have 10 inch curves, I do not think I could do that in Ho. I actually had your Iron Mountain ore cars printed by some one here in Idaho. I spoke with you on Thingiverse. The cars turned out really well. I had the cars with dummy couplers and the ones without couplers printed. Hopefully I will be able to post pics eventually so you can see them. I also have seen some of your videos and I am very impressed with what you do. Specially with design for Hon30 rolling stock an locos. Thanks for making some of your stuff available for folks to get printed out. Right now I am working with some prints I found on ebay, they are diesel but they use the inexpensive Kato chassis. Sorry for the long reply, I am pretty excited to be a part of the forum.

[Chris333]

I have a couple micro layouts, but my "big one" uses 10" curves.

[Scott1984]

Has this one been in one of your videos? It looks familiar. Are your structures scratch built? They look great on the videos. I think my draw back will be that I am using only 3 right hand turnouts. I wish i could have got more but they can get a little pricey.

[Chris333]

This is the longest video of it:

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There is a bunch of other random stuff (hard to tell where one layout ends and the next starts) , but you can see it being built here:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=41787.0

Most of the buildings are scratch built, so are the turnouts.

[Scott1984]

Thanks Chris,
I will look at the link. I did not know you could make turnouts in this scale. That's pretty awesome. I am still working on the underground mine section of the layout. It is taking a long time due to it's in the garage and it's a bit cold out there. I guess the other is due to the fact that I am slow and sometimes it takes time to figure out how I am going to do something. The train in the mine section only goes in a oval, so it is pretty simple. The hard part has been making the tunnels and rock walls for them. Once that is done I will need to figure out what works best for the top portion.