It's probably a law!

[SpaceMouse]

No matter how much space you have, it is not big enough for the design you have in mind.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Murphy's!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

SpaceMouse,

Congrats! You discovered one of the indisputable truths in the hobby!! The law I run into all the time is "You'll always run out of paint with about 1/2 square inch still to go."

[Anonymous]

Murphy was a model railroading opptamist.

Bob

[rrinker]

There's a corollary, too: A layout will expand to occupy all available space.

Thus if you have set aside say an 8x10 area in a 15x20 room, sooner or later the railroad will be 15x20.

--Randy

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrinker

There's a corollary, too: A layout will expand to occupy all available space.

Thus if you have set aside say an 8x10 area in a 15x20 room, sooner or later the railroad will be 15x20.

--Randy

I'll drink to that!!! Here's to punching a hole in the wall.[:0][:p][^][8D][;)][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[egmurphy]

I'm kind of glad that space limitations have me trying to build a layout on a 3' x 6'-8" door. Just maybe, by keeping it this small, I might actually get it semi-complete some day. At the current rate of progress (or lack thereof) it's still questionable.

But I sure would like to have just a bit more space to widen out some of these curves, add a little more length to the run, maybe some staging yards, a turntable and roundouse would be nice, and..............

Yeah, you're probably right.

Ed (Murphy)

[rrinker]

ha ha, you THINK you're limited to the door size - until you start thinkign about how you can add shelves around most of the room, heck, only a foot wide, it won't intrude on the space THAT much.... and so on, and so forth.

And Big Boy, stop tempting me so! If I could punch a hole in a wall, the biggest headache in my track planning would go away, just like that! You all might htink I have it made with a 53' run down one wall - the problem is, the WIDEST this space is is 12', and that's only at one end, all because of the wall I would dearly love to punch a hole in. This means barely enough room to put a turnback curve(at a 30" minimum radius - I will NOT go smaller) and maintain a decent aisle width (I also refuse to put in any of those narrow 24" aisles - nothingless than 36" for me). Punch a hole in the wall, and I could have an extra peninsula come out in that area. Or MOVE the wall over 2'... neither of which will EVER happen, lest I no longer have ANY basement, let alone a house, to build anything in.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

"Junk expands to fill all of the available space in your home". Same with layouts!

Bob Boudreau

[tstage]

Thanks to you, Spacemouse, I woke up this morning from dreaming about how I could remedy the steep grade issues on the layout...YOUR LAYOUT!!! (Like I don't think enough about mine. [:)])

Tom

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage

Thanks to you, Spacemouse, I woke up this morning from dreaming about how I could remedy the steep grade issues on the layout...YOUR LAYOUT!!! (Like I don't think enough about mine. [:)])

Tom

There there Tom, My layout will be just fine.

I just added more space to my bigger layout. I have a 2% grade on that one. And all the locos are small steamers.

[twhite]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrinker

There's a corollary, too: A layout will expand to occupy all available space.

Thus if you have set aside say an 8x10 area in a 15x20 room, sooner or later the railroad will be 15x20.

--Randy

WRONG, Randy--
If you have set aside 8X10 in a 15X20 room, sooner or later the railroad will be 24x24. Don't ask me HOW that works, but it just DOES!
Tom [}:)]

[Anonymous]

i HAVE MY LAYOUT IN MY BASEMENT AND IT IS SO BAD THAT I DO NOT ONLY WANT A BIGGER AREA FOR A LAYOUT, BUT NOW i AM ABOUT TO START SEARCHING FOR A NEW HOUSE THAT WILL HAVE A BIGGER BASEMENT. i WANT TO HAVE A HUGE LAYOUT. I sure wish My basement was just mine and not mine and my Fiances. Because then my layout would have taken up the whole basement. I want to remove the washer and dryer so she has no reason to see what I am doing. LOL I just imagine what my layout could have looked like if I took up the whole space. NICE.

[SpaceMouse]

I have a quarter of the basement once I remove the weight equipment and fi***anks.

Right now my mother-in-law lives with us. She is 88 and...

let's just say that there will be another room availible in the next year or two. I will get an office and I'll move the entertainment center in there. That will leave about a 20' x8 section of space availible. Heh heh. But don't let my wife know just yet.

[simon1966]

Spot on. However, I heard an amazing thing the other month. My dear wife, looking at my progress, said un-prompted "You really don't have enough room do you?" Could not beleive it!! Negotiations are now underway for a land grab that includes her silk ribbon embroidery storage area.

[rrinker]

I'm pretty lucky in that rgard. Odd though my space my be, I do have the entire basement except for the freezer and furnace. The laundry room in our house is, thankfully, upstairs. There's the matter of the 'wall' I mentioned, well, the previous owners made some sort of office in part of the basement, and that space is off limits to me. Although that MAY change in the future - it would make a great crew longe, although it's far too big a space, I'd have to rearrange things bit first, plus it has its own outside entrance. No wierdo model railroaders trooping through the house...
Oh yeah, I get the entire basement - from 3 feet up to the ceiling. Gotta have a place to store stuff. I made that concession on the condition that the stuff being stored must be containerized in those Rubbermaid tubs - a double high stack of them conveniently slides under the planned lower level 3' high benchwork, and also are less than 2' deep. Properly labelled, it will be easy to find things yet stay out of the way of the trains.

--Randy

[cefinkjr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by PARKERLEGEND
I want to remove the washer and dryer so she has no reason to see what I am doing.

No! No! No! Your lack of experience as a husband is glaringly obvious. What you meant to say was that you want to move the washer and dryer upstairs to save her having to walk up and down the basement steps. The fact that this will allow your layout to grow by a few square feet is incidental. You're thinking of her! [(-D] [:-,] [(-D]

Chuck

[BNSFNUT]

I have found that the size of your dream layout is always about 20 square ft larger than the area you have to build it in.[sigh]

[jguess733]

I'm trying to convince my wife to move all of our stuff into the guest bedroom, so the master can be utilized for my railroad. So far the only reaction I've gotten is "The look" and a thump to the ear.

[Anonymous]

Just yesterday I went looking at a new Ranch home. Nice 1600 sq ft, nice layout, good sized yard and such. Wasn't anything too exciting till I took a walk down into the basement. 1600 Sq Ft of Virgin floorspace with 12 courses of brick. No I could build a really nice layout in someting like that! I need my KIDS to move out! LOL!

Chris

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by simon1966

Spot on. However, I heard an amazing thing the other month. My dear wife, looking at my progress, said un-prompted "You really don't have enough room do you?" Could not beleive it!! Negotiations are now underway for a land grab that includes her silk ribbon embroidery storage area.

Sounds like you may be in need of a trip to the jewelery store. Be careful what you wish for.[swg]

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by PARKERLEGEND

i HAVE MY LAYOUT IN MY BASEMENT AND IT IS SO BAD THAT I DO NOT ONLY WANT A BIGGER AREA FOR A LAYOUT, BUT NOW i AM ABOUT TO START SEARCHING FOR A NEW HOUSE THAT WILL HAVE A BIGGER BASEMENT. i WANT TO HAVE A HUGE LAYOUT. I sure wish My basement was just mine and not mine and my Fiances. Because then my layout would have taken up the whole basement. I want to remove the washer and dryer so she has no reason to see what I am doing. LOL I just imagine what my layout could have looked like if I took up the whole space. NICE.

You may need a lawyer to draw a pre-nup.[swg]

Seriously, the secret is to design the house yourself. My last 2 houses have had the laundry upstairs, and second entrances to the basement. I didn't really need to be sneaky, but sometimes my purchases came in the back way.

[JBCA]

f you have set aside 8X10 in a 15X20 room, sooner or later the railroad will be 24x24. Don't ask me HOW that works, but it just DOES!

Does anyone else remember the "Tardis"?

If no replies in 24 hours I'll post an explanation.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JBCA

f you have set aside 8X10 in a 15X20 room, sooner or later the railroad will be 24x24. Don't ask me HOW that works, but it just DOES!

Does anyone else remember the "Tardis"?

If no replies in 24 hours I'll post an explanation.

Ah yes, Dr Who. Time And Relative Dimension In Space, TARDIS. It was "dimensionally transendental", meaning that it was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.[:D][8D]

[rrinker]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JBCA

f you have set aside 8X10 in a 15X20 room, sooner or later the railroad will be 24x24. Don't ask me HOW that works, but it just DOES!

Does anyone else remember the "Tardis"?

If no replies in 24 hours I'll post an explanation.

Yes, and I would be much obliged if someone could supply me with one, or at least plans to build one, for my railroad. No, not a model of it, an actual TARDIS which to use for my layout room. ANd quick trips back to my mid-50's era for first hand views of what I am trying to model.

--Randy

[56chevytimes2]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jguess733

I'm trying to convince my wife to move all of our stuff into the guest bedroom, so the master can be utilized for my railroad. So far the only reaction I've gotten is "The look" and a thump to the ear.

I am building mine in the masterbedroom . It's the only place in the house that is big enough to put it that does not get to cold. It a lopsided C and is on both sides of the bed passing behind the headboard. My wife is very understanding. She realized I was nuts years ago. She has her own G-scale and is also into classic cars. And No you can't have her, I am Keeping her. [:D]

Kurt 56chevytimes2

[Anonymous]

56chevy,

Hey, perhaps you can rent your wife out? She could go undercover at premarriage counseling. You know "the key to a happy marriage is model railroading. Nothing is more important than layout space." Then I can look at my fiance and say "you heard what she said, we HAVE to have a layout - don't you want our marriage to work?"

You'll make a mint!

[bpickering]

I've actually "sorta" already made the land grab, on a purely temporary basis. (No, REALLY!)

Now that my mother-in-law has left*, the 4'x5' "luggable" layout is sitting on the bed in the guest room. While this is not permanent, it works well-enough for me, and my wife hasn't made any comments so far. The co-engineer loves it- sometimes he just curls up under the blankets at the top and watches the trains go in circles.

The long-term plan is to replace the weight machine at the back of the family room. After that, the true land grab (taking over the rest of the family room!) begin. :-) Starting that won't happen for a couple of years, though, since right now the co-engineer isn't quite 4, and would want to "help" a little too much.

Brian Pickering

* Actually, since I get along with her better than my own mother, four months wasn't all that bad!

[camarokid]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FundyNorthern

"Junk expands to fill all of the available space in your home". Same with layouts!

Bob Boudreau

So that's what has happened to the top of my layout. I have a pretty big house but my wife (CFO) always seems to put stuff underneath and on top of the railroad. That happens in the summer and when winter comes I have to move it around. I haven't moved it around for some time now and it has gotten out of hand. Don't know where to start to clean it up! Ain't it great!!
Archie

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by simon1966

...My dear wife, looking at my progress, said un-prompted "You really don't have enough room do you?"...

You're a lucky man!