Hey,
After 40 years of collecting, my first wife has allowed an 8 by 8 foot layout in the garage.
It doesn't get extremely cold in Nashville, but occasional freeze is seen.
Just wondering if old MRC Controlmaster X (and others), engines, electrical scenery/structures or anything else should be protected more than the polypropylene cover I put on.
Much appreciated.
I don't see any reason a cover would help from the cold. Are you going to run the layout in the winter? If you are you will need heat anyway. My garage is attached to the house. I bought a gas wall mounted heater and had a plummer tap into the stove gas line. I have it sat to keep it 45 or so while I am at work.
I all so have A/C for the summer. Climate is a must to keep the wood from wrapping, but more important to make it fun to model and run trains.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
The cover will protect it from dust and condensation, which makes it a good idea in some situations. If you keep the garage closed, though, condensation should not be a problem, unless you have a very humid day followed by a large and rapid drop in temperature. Still, the cover won't hurt, but make sure you can get it on and off without damaging anything.
If you're comfortable in the garage, though, the trains should be, too. You should give some thought to your benchwork, though. The problem is changes in humidity. A wet environment can warp wood products like plywood and particle board. Mostly, you can alleviate this by painting them (both sides) to seal them and keep the moisture out. I'd recommend using a 2-inch foam sheet for your layout base, rather than plywood, because it is not affected by moisture.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I work in a basement that gets very cold. I wear a heavy sweater and run a heater on my feet.
I have had to put extra effort to removing humidity in the summer because it gets bone dry in the winter. While the temp swing won't effect my benchwork much, the humidity swing will.
Rail can also be an issue but I have gapped enough just to make electrical blocks that it has not been a worry.
The other thing I run into is drying and setting times can be impacted. Expect plaster and glue to take longer to set. Expect paint to dry a little slower.
My basement does not ever get below the upper 40s, so I don't know how extreme cold would impact things like locomotive lubrication and such.
Good luck!
Chris
I'm trying to model 1956, not live in it.
I've got a California Basement (garage) layout, and even though it's supposed to be SunnyCal here in the Central Valley where the temperature is always a balmy 80 degrees (according to people who don't live here, LOL!) I have pretty varied temperature changes, everything from 45 degrees in the winter to about 106 in the summer. The garage is only partially insulated, but I haven't had any problems with electrical damage in the seven years the MR has been in existance.
The first year I had the railroad, we had a weather prediction of a Canadian Freeze that would drop the temperatures to about 25, and I did bring my power pack inside in anticipation of the cold snap. It lasted about two days, and as soon as the weather warmed back up to the usual 40 or 50, I took it back out, hooked it up and ran some trains without any problems.
I do have a small de-humidifier that I use during rainy weather (yes, it rains here, during the winter, sometimes a LOT!, LOL), but other than that, I've had no problems with temperature changes in the garage.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I am a little south of you in Northeastern Alabama. I would assume our winters are very similar in nature (although our summers are probably a little warmer and more humid than yours). My layout is in our garage and is of the fold-up variety. The garage is not heated in winter nor air-conditioned in summer. This means wild swings in both temperature and humidity! With the exception of my wood craftsman structures; everything seems to work just fine. I find I have to store the structures indoors or they begin to deteriorate. BTW: I store my engines and rolling stock on shelves in the same garage...no problems.
A stable environment will lessen the effects of temperature and humidity swings. If you provide some expansion joints in the track, you shouldn't have a problem with warpage. Occasionally you will find that you have to replace some groundcover - but that is about all that has troubled me (again, remember that my layout is folded to the vertical...gravity is always trying its best to unseat something). If you can provide heat and dehumidify the train area - so much the better. All the suggestions above are spot on. I would be very careful about covering my layout. The wrong cover can increase the likelyhood of environmental damage to a layout. If all that is holding you back from building that layout; I say go for it!
"Keeping my hand on the throttle...and my eyes on rail."
Hi! I'm down South of you in Lawrenceburg. My layout is in an out building and it DOES get cold enough to cause problems. The cold will cause your bench work to shrink causing gaps in your rails. Locos don't like to run when it's cold. The oil and grease stiffens up. No permanent damage to them or your controls, but still a major running problem. Plastic will help with condensation. I have a couple of WalMart quartz heaters out there. I can keep it about 50+ degrees even in Jan/Feb.