Your Ideal Place For A Layout

[dougdagrump]

After reading "I'm A Lucky Guy" by Elliot it got me to thinking. He was in a position to design and build a home to accomodate both his family and hobby,
Unfortunately we live in an area where median home prices are RAPIDLY approaching $500,000 and very little useable space for adding on w/o very deep pockets. So Cal has no basements either.
This leads to the question: If you could, w/o major additional cost, move and stay in your same community what would be an ideal situation?
What we have explored is finding a former commercial property, school, church, etc. Unfortunately it is the same answer PROPERTY VALUES.[:(]

[Big_Boy_4005]

Doug, it's interesting to see which element of my story you picked up on as being lucky, there were so many. However each positive element had a corresponding negative.

Last week in the "Have you bitten off more than you can chew" topic, Odd-d suggested a concept of just having a small layout. It was like being smacked upside the head. I think I wish someone had done that to me a long time ago.[swg]

[willpick]

I've already got my ideal place down on paper: When I inherit my parents house, I'll be putting a second story on it, it will be one room, 30' x 30' no posts except were the vent stacks have to be. I got a quote of 125K$[:0],so I'm reducing it in half.
Until then, i'll stick to my little 5' x 8' 2 loop pike- although lately i've been thinking about a 2' x 12' timesaver type switching layout using RMT Beeps or K-line Plymouths for motive power.

[Anonymous]

We live in about a 1300sf home with one bath. With two kids one 18 the other 9
that leaves very little room. I decided if I was to have a layout of any kind I would
have to go outside the house. My plan build a14X30 building out from the house.
So I did added sheetrock carpet heat & air and cable for the TV, just for idle time
when waiting on paint to dry or whatever. Anyway I have about a 14x16 layout in one
end which I am trying to make something worth looking at. But I enjoy it and get to
meet new friends at shows and on the forum!
Thanks for letting me be apart of this great group.

[^][:D][8D][:)][;)][(-D][wow][yeah]

[Buckeye Riveter]

Our house has a finished room over the two car garage here in Buckeye Land. (This is the land of low home prices.) I love the room for the trains because of the great quality of sound due to the slanted roof. The steam whistles in the back of the layout can really make a noise. [8D] If your have taken a look at any of the videos I posted, it is the sound that makes them good,.

When the layout was built the mountain was contoured so that it would fit the slant of the roof. [;)] We also made sure at the back of the layout that the trains had plenty of clearence and would not hit the ceiling.

Instead of biting off more than I could chew, [C=:-)] I drew a plan for the layout that has three phases. The first phase is 95% complete with just a little scenery and a dead corner to fill. Phase 2 and 3 will double the amount of trackage and will be built while Phase 1 is still in operation. At some point in time Phase 1 will be shut down for 72 hours (CSX rules) as we reconfigure trackage to run the trains onto Phase 2 & 3.

By doing the phases, Mrs. Buckeye Riveter has been very happy because the purpose of building the layout in the garage room was to run trains, not saw lumber.[:D][:D]

[wallyworld]

I have a five bedroom house with no basement. The boss will not allow in a permanent layout in any of them. I built a 4x8 layout that's portable whose base is made from foam board -very light to lift. I going to build a second module to attach to the first. There's an interesting section on this type of construction in this article. Follow the link,

http://www.gatewaynmra.org/mhslayout/mhstrackplan.htm

[FJ and G]

Doug,

The D.C. area prices are about like they are where you are; but the good news here is that you get a bigger house for your money. I used to live in San Diego and LA, and all I can say is that I feel sorry for people who live there. And to boot, many houses there have no basements. How impoverished!

If I were you, I would rent a jackhammer and small backhoe, and make my own basement. The only trouble is that you might hit an underground oil deposit.

Dave V.

[lionelsoni]

Willpick, if you're talking about sewer vents, those don't have to go straight up. As long as you put in the required slope (I think 1:48) they can go sideways in the floor to a convenient wall, and even be combined into a "vent header". They can even come out through a wall instead of the roof, as long as they end the required distance above the roof.

A water-heater vent, which is actually a flue, can go out through a wall and end right there. However, you must use a special (and fairly expensive) "direct vent" heater, with a coaxial vent, which draws the cool combustion air in through a larger duct surrounding the hot exhaust-gas flue to a sealed jacket around the heater tank.

[cheapclassics]

The ideal place is wherever the better half lets you have a layout :-) As the kids grow up and move out, more space becomes available for trains and other activities. Yes, there are other aspects to life (like soccer), but I do find it easier now that the two oldest are gone to have a railroad actually in the house all the time. The new Polar Express should help the cause as well.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[FJ and G]

Here's an idea for the space challenged. Build a narrow shelf layout about 12 inches wide or so all around the house. Too many doors and windows you say?

Well, well, then simply install drop bridges at each gap.

Too many corners you say?

Well, then simply tunnel thru the drywall, checking for supporting studs and any wiring; you don't want to disturb these!

Still not enough room?

Drill a small tunnel to the outside of the house and get some atlas n/s track that won't rust or UV, and run a branchline outside. If you really are ambitious, you could use the outside of the house as a giant helix and run the trains up from the basement to the first and second floors.

If you want a layout, I guarantee you can find space!

Dave V.

[cnw1995]

You find space we're you can. I started with a 3 ft. by 5 ft. layout on folding table legs I could slide behind the couch when not in use - after taking down the buildings, etc. And cover with an blanket to 'hide' - made for interesting conversations.

After being fortunate to purchase a basement with a house atop it, I've been using the raised crawlspace which takes up one third of the basement space. It's was only used for storage- I've rapidly reclaimed much of it so far - it's a good excuse to clean things out...and since it's full of stones, and covered with a half-inch or so of cardboard from the boxes we used to move in, I can easily put down foam board (though it's not exactly level). I consider it permanent benchwork! You make due with what you have (the rest of the basement is off limits (used by the kids).

[Anonymous]

Right now, I've got a 42" x 60" layout on top of the dinning room table. It has two concentric loops with 4 022 switches configured as cross overs.

It's OK for now and lets me run two trains at the same time for my son. I'm really looking forward to the new train room.

The new train room will be in an addtiion that we were going to build this year but had to put off because of the increase in the cost of lumber. Hopefully, the price will come own next year. We're going to go build the addition next year any way, finishing as much as we can with the money we have. The rest will be done as we can. My priorities are to make sure that the master bedroom, walk in closet, & new family room, as well as changes in the existing space (a mud room, study area, an office & three closets) are done.

The train room & the master bathroom are last on my list. Mostly because the train room is for me & I want to concentrate on the family. And the master bath will probably be the single most expensive room. The train room should be easy to finish, since it's just sheet rock & the rest I'm going myself, so hopefully that will get done, too.

Tony

[jprampolla]

Hi Folks,

I would, in an ideal situation, be sure to have the whole home and layout room on one level above grade, no stairs anywhere for me as I deal with certain joint problems, and for visitors who are older or in wheel chairs. I would make the layout a more manageable size, depending on how much maintenance you need to do. In my case I would make it smaller with a better track plan. And have many windows in the train room for natural light. Perhaps a sleeper sofa for the space to double as a guest room. A half bath off of the train room would also be great.

Take care, Joe.

[dougdagrump]

Since I started this thread I 'll tell you of our first attempt at a new domicile.
First off make note of the fact that we live in the San Diego area. After much surfing thru countless realtors on the net we found a real nice, albeit rather old, L&N train station down in Tenessee. I mean it was in super shape, the entire building was original. We were very close to making an offer when my wife decided she couldn't give up the Indian Casinos and I remembered scraping ice from windshields and shoveling snow(a four letter word). Needless to say we are staying put, so maybe it is time to talk to a contractor about remodeling. A room about 20x30 would be nice for a relatively long but not to wide layout, two mainlines with a few sidings and spurs. I am a nut for running long trains. [:D]

[fjerome]

i sort of did it already. had to go up as no basements in FL. it is all here.

http://homepage.mac.com/fjerome/BAMenu.html

[Kiwi Down Under]

Outside in the garden. Why hide it inside?????.

Tony

[spankybird]

Hi Tony,

Welcome to our friendly forum from the other side of the world.



I would love to do one outside, but my wife says I don’t do enough in the yard now. If I had a train out there I wouldn’t even cut the grass because I would be playing with the trains.

tom

[dougdagrump]

We have talked about one, my wife likes them, but since the coyotes have disappeared we have had major gopher infestaions. They eat everything but weeds, they have even undermined my brick sidewalks that I put in several years ago. They undermined a neighbors tree to the point of it falling over.