Hello,
We recently finished moving into a new house, and I'd like to run some HO trains. My better half has given me permission to build, but I don't know what to do. Here are my options:
1) Ceiling layout. I don't like this idea as I prefer running $1000 passenger trains, and there's too many holes for me to feel comfortable.
2) A small loop in the game room. I'd have to use 18" curves, and I want to railfan with light switching, is that even possible?
3) The garage. We have a large 2-car garage, and small cars, so there's some space in the back for a layout, but it's away from everyone, so I'd rather not.
This is the game room. The left half is spoken for until our toddler grows up, so I'd get the right half, where I would have to work around a fireplace and bathroom.
Does anyone have any thoughts for what would be the most practical? I prefer railfanning with light switching, and running ~6 car passenger trains.
If you could give some dementions it might help folks give you better advice. Also your lettering comes out rather unclear, on my screen, at least.
Agree, ceiling layouts have lots of problems, access and visibility being the first two that come to mind, along with that horrible drop to the floor below.
18" curves and passenger cars don't often work well together.
Being away from the maddening crowds sometimes be an asset. Other garage considerations would be what the climate is outside your garage: cold, snowy winters, thus need insulation: moderate climate or do you need to have AC due to the heat outside?
Can you negotiate for a shelf around the room? Have it high enough to be out of toddlers reach, but still nicely visible. Folks here have indicated layouts that are 50" or more off the floor, might have to have a lift out/tip up for access spots. Then you could have railfanning on a long rather narrow shelf with loops at each end, hopefully big enough to have larger radius curves and a little switching. If you had a double track on the shelf, you wouldn't even have to have reverse loops.
Give folks a little more info and maybe someone can come up with some better ideas.
Have fun,
Richard
Agreed, 18" curves are prohibitive for running passenger trains...
I live between Pittsburgh and Ohio, so we get snow, but nothing a space heater couldn't fix. The garage is a good temperature in the summer, but I worry about the change in temperature wrecking havoc with the trackwork.
The room is 22'x12'. The enterence is the bottom center/left, there's a 6'4" wide fireplace in the top center of the room, and a bathroom in the bottom right. Since I'm 100% against duck unders, the room is split in half by the enterence and fireplace, and on the right half (where I've been granted use), further split by the bathroom.
I've been trying to lobby for the left half of the room because it would be better for a shelf layout, but no luck yet.
Photo's of the room would be great. But until then, how much space is between the bathroom door and the end wall?
Also when was a fireplace ever a problem?
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
TheWizard Agreed, 18" curves are prohibitive for running passenger trains... I live between Pittsburgh and Ohio, so we get snow, but nothing a space heater couldn't fix. The garage is a good temperature in the summer, but I worry about the change in temperature wrecking havoc with the trackwork. The room is 22'x12'. The enterence is the bottom center/left, there's a 6'4" wide fireplace in the top center of the room, and a bathroom in the bottom right. Since I'm 100% against duck unders, the room is split in half by the enterence and fireplace, and on the right half (where I've been granted use), further split by the bathroom. I've been trying to lobby for the left half of the room because it would be better for a shelf layout, but no luck yet.
Ignore the mess
Lay claim to the garage. It will be your space and not in the way of house space. Everyone is happy. The wife and I bought a house in April and the one requirement was I get the garage.
Ah...take singles approach...like me, take over the house. Nah...that won't work. I was married once. Just joking. Get the garage. Figure out what space you have to work with...being able to accomodate autos...if they live indoors...hint hint. Cars where designed to live outside...hint...hint.
In my strange humor. Go for the garage and make the most of it.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
Put the play area on the other side of the room and then take the bigger half. You could make a 'C' shaped layout? Definitely make it high, and remember kids can throw things pretty high so watch out for flying toys! :D Maybe install some netting to keep things off the layout? lol I've seen some very nice furniture grade layouts and some that even look like they're built into the walls. Get creative (and do whatever it takes to score brownie points...you might get more real estate for the layout!) and start planning.
Just curious, what scale (I'm guessing HO)? What era? What locale will you be modeling?
http://delray1967.shutterfly.com/pictures/5
SEMI Free-Mo@groups.io
Tradeoffs:
If you take the larger end, the child will have to pass by the layout to get to the play area. If the fireplace is used, you probably won't want the child too close to it. Safety first. On ther other hand, it might be a good idea to have him close to the bathroom.
If you take the smaller end, the layout should probably be built high to keep it over the mantel, and to keep it out of a toddler's reach. But that makes it farther for him to get to the bathroom, and he would have to pass by the layout for that anyway.
I think I would vote for the layout in the garage. The fireplace/restroom end could be set aside as a family recreation area, and a large portion of the larger area set aside for a play area. That leaves the garage, but there are some things to consider if you do that.
If you take the garage, your cars might not like being left out in the cold in the Pennsylvania/Ohio climate. If the garage is not large enough for the 2 cars plus the layout you want, you might consider adding on to it or building a separate garage or carport for one or both cars. What is the size of the garage? What is the heat/AC situation in the garage? Will it be practical to completely seal the garage from the weather?
Tom
(edited)
Swapping ends would give you a nice, and useable, area for a layout and still leave plenty of room for the play area. My layout is in the garage, but I live in Florida and don't shovel too much snow or ice. Having lived in Michigan most of my life, cleaning ice and snow off the family car(s) will get old, especially for your wife. If you can get your cars in the garage with a layout in place that would be my second choice. If you want to run passenger trains the 4X8 layout will be a challenge.
Swapping ends is the best answer. Garages tend to be either too hot or too cold, dust and pest control aren't that good. Walking on the concrete garage floor won't be that fun.
Swap ends and make a bent dogbone with one "blob" near the satairs and the other "blob" near the fireplace.
Benefits:
leaves most of the floor open for kiddie play
leaves a clear path to the bathroom
lets you have 24" radii for passenger trains.
kids can sit on the stairs and see the layout even if its high.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
The garage is 1/2 underground and 100% below the house, so it shouldn't be too bad if I keep the doors closed and add a space heater. But it's not weatherproof either.
As far as putting the layout inside, I would definitely have to do a furnature-grade layout. The room is too nice to do anything less.
Scale: HO
Era and Locale: Not decided yet. My previous 2 layouts were generic north east transition era layouts, so that's what I have the most of, but I've been thinking more western and modern for this go around.
Hi,
Take a look at Lance Mindhiem's books on track plans. His layouts are deceptively, good uses of the space. If you are not into switching layouts, you might not notice the amount of thought that went into the track plan....but believe me they are not only awesome uses of the space....they are "buildable."
Unless you are a track laying master or benchwork builder you will find that his plans are not only realistic but rewarding. You would really be surprised how simple stuff like allow at least 12 inches per turnout and never lay track within 6 inches from the wall helps you build things.
-D
As far as appearance of the overall layout, A fascia with an appropriate color, I prefer hunter green, and a skirting in an appropriate color, here again I use hunter green, can give the layout a finished appearance without a lot of effort or expense.
crhostler61Cars where designed to live outside...hint...hint.
I agree, and a garage is one of the biggest space wasters in your house. Take the whole thing, then build an insulated wall on the interior side of that big ugly door. (If you decide to move at some point in the future, this wall can be removed).
If the rest of the garage (outer walls and ceiling) is uninsulated, correct that situation and then finish the walls. Drywall is best if you're doing an around-the-room type of layout and want a backdrop. Otherwise, panelling will suffice. After these alterations, your main problem will be to decide how to best utilise this new space.
Wayne
tI am now in the same predicament. Wife and I relocated last month to a rancher with only a 25" deep unfinished crawlspace below the floor. That's out. My wife insists that I take a very serious and calculated look at building a train room inside the 24' X 24' garage at the end of the back yard. If I want to run trains with curves in the 33+" range, that is my only option...the garage.
Unfortunately, there is a slightly off-center single mechanized garage door on the yard side with a shallow grade concrete pad leading out to the lawn. Great idea at the time, but it's in the way a bit at the moment if I wish to partition the garage. On the other side of the garage, a double mechanical garage door. That will either be blocked or sold and we'll move the single door on the other side to that lane side of the garage.
I won't go on about my own details and plans, but you should consider investing a few dollars in making the garage stable in humidity and temps, and then building perhaps an around-the-wall layout so that your curves can be as large as possible. Use L-brackets and shelving if that is what it takes, or rip 1/2" ply into 20" deep shelves and use them if proper shelving is going to be too costly.
As things look, an in-house layout is going to be so badly compromising in terms of your needs in scale running that you are likely to end up angry and disappointed. That will rub off on everyone before long, and not in a healthy way.
If your garage is unfinished, keep in mind most building codes won't allow flammable materials such as paneling on the walls if it's to be returned to its car storage use. Same goes for the ceiling, although if it's newer, the ceiling and walls that are adjacent to living spaces probably already have drywall on them.
Here's my thoughts after viewing the photo's. If you insist on going HO, the garage would be the only way to go. That being said, I look back to when my kids were young toddlers and the thought of having a MRR was not on the radar. I found myself with my kids all the time, not because I had to be, but because I wanted to be. I had a 5' x 10' sheet of plywood that was filled with a Thomas layout. That was good enough for me and the kids at the time. When my son asked about the trains I had as a kid. I made the perilous journey to the deepest darkest depts of the crawl space and out they came and away went Thomas.
I don't know the situation you are in as far as childcare goes, but even with a full time live in nanny who was off the second we walked in the door, we didn't have spare time.
Here's two thoughts I have had if you do go ahead. Invest in some "N scale" and build a small 12' long layout at the stair end of the room. You would have enough of a layout to be really enjoyed. Once the kids are old enough that they are doing things that don't require your supervision anymore you could start on that garage filling HO empire. I switched up to HO when my kids got older and they always come in to see what's going on.
Second, stick with HO and build modules. You could bring one or two in and work on them in between reading stories to the kids. Eventually you will end up with a garage filled empire made out of modules constructed in the warmth of the family room and in the company of your kids.
Having modules will allow you to continue parking in the garage. Cleaning off cars in winter gets old real fast. I knew a guy that stacked his modules on a rack up one wall of the garage. In the summer he would set it up on the back patio if the weather forcast was good for a few days. In the winter he would leave the cars outside for the weekend and set it up in the garage.
I think if you go ahead with a full built in garage layout, you should finish the room off. You and others will spend way more time in there if it is a nice place to be. A cold garage will not have you, your trains or your cars in it, and that would be a real waste.
Good luck.