All the odl poorly made walls are gone. Next step, waterproofing the walls and epoxy paint on the floor, then new walls with insulation and vapor barrier, new power circuits, and then it will be layout time.
Finally some real progress.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Looks like a good start Randy, I'll be watching!
Mike.
My You Tube
It's always nice to have a clean slate on which to start. I hope that you'll share your progress with us as the room and the layout progresses.
Wayne
Randy!!
Okay baby, let's do this!!!!!
Looking forward to watching your progress!
Cheers!!
Dave
(That's 10 exclamation marks in a three line post! I must be enthused! Sorry, I can't stop. Now it's 12 exclamation marks.)
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Randy, that must have been a lot of work tearing out the basement walls. Very good job on that.
Looking forward to your new layout build. Do you have a track plan? I must have missed it.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
I hardly lifted a finger... maybe bordered on writer's cramp writing the check... As Dirty Harry once said, "A man's got to know his limitations". It would have taken me a few months at least to do that, and they're picky around here, can;t have a dumpster more than 10 days, etc. The two pros that did that had it cleared out and the dumpster filled in 3 days. They've run conduit over from my main panel and installed s subpanel for the basement as well now.
As for track plan, I've had the basic outline for a while now (as in a few years). I've posted it. Has to all be redone, once I have truly accurate measurements of the space. but if anything I will have slightly more room than what my old measurements indicated. And I need to fill in details, not just the main line and the primary yard.
A good way to get things done. I have a son-in-law who's tool box consists of a cell phone and a check book, works for him. Looking forward to seeing your project proceed. I also model the Reading but not nearly to the degree that you will. My mom was born in Shamokin, and my brother worked in Reading for a number of years.
I more or less know how to do most of what needs to be done, but a pro can do it a lot faster. When it comes to putting the walls back up, I can hang drywall, but as out of shape as I am, I'd be lucky to get two sheets up and then I'd be done for the day, especially if I was trying to do this after work. So I'll pay someone for that to get it done and out of the way, but the layout itself I will be doing that myself for the most part. Maybe I can Tom Sawyer a friend or two to help out here and there. I will definitely need help handling the sheets of 3/4" plywood until I get it cut to size, that's some heavy stuff.
glad to see that it's finally coming together :)
it's a fair bit of work ..
I can feel the momentum and the excitement building, Randy. We'll keep a sharp eye out for any photos you share. Between two great forum denizens, you and Mark, we should be glad to see two new layouts taking shape over the coming years.
I am very happy for you.
.
I really wish I had news like this to share about my project.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thanks for the update Randy. Its reached the stage where things get exciting.
I remember the thread with your trackplan designs. The space has some challenges in keeping several access points to other things free.
It will be interesting to see if now seeing the entire space if you change much when going from theory to real life layout building.
- Douglas
Well, the support column turned out to be in the second worst palce it could be, so my branch along the stairs is going to get cut short. I was goign to keep the landing and have the stairs make a turn, but when they pulled the old walls away, when the previous owners added that feature, they left the original stair risers in place, so all that has to be done is have the landing ripped off and new stair treads placed on the alst 3 steps to make it come down straight like it originally did when the house was built. That actually gives me a foot more space on that side. Just no wrapping a branch around the end. It's goign to be more like a long siding now, servicing a cement plant. Which is about exactly what would go there on the real thing - the long spur to the cement plant that I never put in on my previous layout (would have been the penninsula in the middle).
ANd I was wondering how to make a multi-deck removeable section to go in front of the firnace and water heater in case they need to be replaced, and just standing there staring at it with the old dividing wall gone it hit me - put it on wheels! Instead og hinged up or hinged down, just make a straight section of benchwork in front of the systems and have it latch on to the fixed part of the layotu at each end. If either needs to be removed, undo a couple of latches, and the section can be shoved down the aisle between the yard and town, out of the way of hauling things in and out of the basement. Simple! And I can build the rollign part along the lines of our club's module transport racks, those things are pretty heavy duty and are very much designed to resist bending and size changes - or otherwise the modules it carries could all pancake down on each other if they fell off their supports.
Pacing things out, with no walls in place, it seems that my basic concept will easily fit, complete with a 4' aisle width around most of it.
Very good Randy. I'm glad you're finally getting to build your dream layout. A little over a year ago, I was in your position, anticipating the building of a new (and finally permanent) layout. Had a permanent building constructed last year in our back yard, all finished, with it's own HVAC system and now, finally I'm working on benchwork. In fact, a fellow model railroader is coming over tomorrow to help me with getting the plywood (1/2" birch in this case), cut and installed and getting the masonite backdrop (already painted sky blue) on the benchwork framework.
Good luck with your new venture!
rrinker All the odl poorly made walls are gone. Next step, waterproofing the walls and epoxy paint on the floor, then new walls with insulation and vapor barrier, new power circuits, and then it will be layout time.
A couple of observations.
It seems like it would be possible to move the support column two feet to the left, provided you could add another column six to 8 feet to the right of it to support the slightly longer span. Both columns could be buried in scenery.
A contractor would probably want to add footers, and that may be more basement work than you want at this point.
It seems like the staircase landing and the turn to the left(side of the photo) is a benefit right now, since the person will be landing in space where the layout won't be. If you straighten the stairs, you will still need to allow for about a 3' by 3' footprint on the concrete for a landing, and it would seem like that would put it in prime layout space.
Yeah, I'm not that desperate for a tiny bit of extra space.
You can;t see under there, but the bottom stair is a foot back from the exposed edge of the platform supporting the landing, so where those vertical pieces are is already a foot of the landing space. You see that lighter colored line (adhesive from the carpet that used to be there) in the middle of that space? The left edge of that will be the left side of a 2x4 stud interior wall. On the stair side of that wall will be a branch line, benchwork no more than 18" wide there. That's over FOUR feet from the base of the stairs to the edge of th ebenchwork - I think I have enough room. That branch will represent what is today a tourist line on former Reading track, specifically that part will be the little town of Kempton. There are about 3 signature items that need to be there, a feed mill which no longer exists, on the wall side, and the Kempton Hotel on aisle side, which is still there. Also on the aisle side was a rather distinctive fence , which is also still there. Got plenty of pictures to work from, both of suitable vintage and modern ones.
That wall will stretch down to about where I was standing and hook to the right to meet up with the exterior wall to the left. There's a rather wide space alongside the door which will allow for at least 12" wide benchwork right up behind the door, which will be somehwere down near the far end of the branch, just a runaround. Inside that new wall, along the right side exterior wall is the single longest straight section in the basement which is where my main yard will be. On the opposite side of the new wall will be more or less downtown Reading, with some street trackage as well as the main line running through.
The new wall, once it gets approximately halfway between the post and the far wall, will hook left and end just as it crosses the mid point under the support beam, at which point the helix starts. The branch will start before the helix and wrap around the outside of it. There's a cement plant on that part of the branch, but I won;t really have the depth, and I don't like the idea of having two cement plants across the aisle from one another, so I may leave that out.
All this talk of basements is making me jealous.
Was I wrong to decline the job offer in Janesville, Wisconsin?
NOPE! It is 39 degrees there right now. I am fine where I am at sans basement.
Randy: I am hoping you have a lot of fun in that space.
I've been to Florida in August - I'm glad I'm here, just a few days of high 90's and humid, not a month of it. It's 50 something right now, but supposed to snow over the weekend? Yeah, sure it will... Never stays Wisconsin cold for more than a day here, and actually never gets as full on cold as it does up there. 39? Not even cold enough for me to wear a coat to go to work yet. My car is in my garage at home, so I don;t have to go outside, and it is warm right away (and even if not, I have heated seats), and it takes maybe a minute to walk from the parking lot into my office. I pretty much NEVER wear a coat unless I have to be outside for more than a few minutes, and even when I do I take the thing off before getting in the car, I feel way too restricted driving with a coat on.
I just wish my basement was bigger, with the garage alongside instead of using up basement space. But, can't have it all unless I buy land and build custom.
SeeYou190 All this talk of basements is making me jealous. . Was I wrong to decline the job offer in Janesville, Wisconsin? . NOPE! It is 39 degrees there right now. I am fine where I am at sans basement. . Randy: I am hoping you have a lot of fun in that space. . -Kevin .
39 degrees is good weather for Wisconsin. Wait and see what happens in January.
Yeah. As a native Wisconsinite still living close by, I can tell you 39 will seem downright TROPICAL come Jan/Feb. Even here in Iowa we will be praying for 25 degrees by January...
As far as the basement, I just went thru the same thing with mine. Tore out old paneling and walls down to the block, cleaned and waterproofed the block, relocated some laminate flooring, installed carpet tile, built a small wall around my electrical box and water meter, and had the entire basement rewired for power and lighting. Then I installed a water softener and whole house water filter system. It's a lot of work!
My wife had been wanting some of this done for years and couldn't believe it when I finally pulled the trigger this year and got it all done. She wanted to know what prompted this sudden burst of energy on my part. I told her that it had to get done so I could build my layout. It was that simple. She now understands the motivating power of model railroading haha.
Andy
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Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/
There are two extremes, but something in the middle ain't bad. I don't think I'd be happy with either Wisc or Fla.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I am 40 miles north of Janesville in a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin. Cold is cold depending on where you are. 70f degrees in the summer in Texas is cold. That basement looks like a great space for a layout. Double deck lift out for utilities. Make sure it is at least 48" wide and as narrow as say 6". Install it with alignment pins and low weight scenery. Have fun.
Tom in Wisconsin