As I am getting ready to retire I am planning on selling my home and living on a houseboat. Well actually 2 houseboats. I will split my time between summers in the north and winters in the south. Our southern houseboat is more of a floating condo and I think I can squeeze a HCD layout in if I put a queen size bed in the 2nd bedroom that has this design http://www.rockler.com/hiddenbed-fold-out-bed-and-desk-mechanism The desk in the plan is only I think 24" deep but it looks like I could get away with 36. Making it almost exactly HCD size. I would put a light frame at the top so that when the bed is down it would become a support and keep feet from getting to my layout. I don't know of anyway to get a layout in my summer boat but that is fine I usually am outside all summer not indoors being an artisan. The problem with the layout is the desk is speced at 40-50 lbs for balancing. Anyone have any great ideas to reduce weight and still have some mountains and such? I am thinking expandable foam shaped to almost finish with a thin coat of plaster or even just painted. I am really liking a HCD plan that was posted by JT58( http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/n-scale-hcd-layout-planning.91063/ ) with the reversing loop just to give the feeling of changing things up by reversing train direction. I would be going DCC and should have room for the controller off the desk somewhere. I suppose using ground throws instead of switch machines saves some weight as well.
The artisan statement is due to the fact that I dislike the term playing with trains. Seeing the work some folks do is really an art as much as a hobby!
If you can do 36 inches, that would be great. Most doors in my residence seem to be 32. So you would be in a good position. I like the idea of a reversing loop. It beats using an 0-5-0 switcher. Most trains run in two directions. So this adds variety, to stave off possible boredom.
I understand utilizing all the available space. Try a 9 1/2 feet by the same. Not much room unless you stack and pile your layout. Not sure at this time I'm happy with the outcome but it's the best I can do. Well this isn't about me it's all about you. But I do understand. So go for it!
Changing plans already, I have an area 6' X 15' that I can use if I raise it up to the ceiling when not in use. I've seen folks utilize this method in various rooms and think I can make it work. Should be a good size for N scale, maybe even HO for the older eyes!
They put bags of cement mix in the hull for ballast so I may be able to remove them. Then with pulleys and a winch should be able to raise and lower nicely.
Are you thinking of putting just one HCD (perhaps, 3x6'8" feet) in the 6x15 space, or maybe two (3x13'4")? I wonder if arranging pulleys and a winch for twice the weight AND twice the length of a HCD might create more than double the hassles of raising just one.
Sorry guys, I have been away for a bit. So the 6'X15' area probably is not going to work. Having spent a couple weeks just sizing up the rooms, I really have no idea where to put a layout. I did see on facebook a bar layout where the layout was inside a glass case basically. I might get by with something like that.
Another idea is to go the T-Trak route, keep the modules in storage, pull them out and put them on a table for an hour or two and put them away...