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Ask about utility costs and see if you can afford to support the summer cooling and the winter warming in that prospective house. As previously stated, having a workroom, family room where people can relax and possibly a space for the wife's own interests. With the magnitude of that much space it is easy to feel "overwhelmed" and not do anything at all. If it was me, I would break the overall project down to several "towns" and areas such as Yard, engine areas etc and work on it one at a time. Avoid creating too much "Track" if your trains must travel all the way back to the rear and work it's way back to you you may actually forget about it as it may take several minutes or more to make the trip. Try to use onboard sound on the engines so you can track em. Of course if that chugging and puffing suddenly stays in one location then you know that engine may have had a derailment before it really becomes a problem. Consider the wear and tear.. Would you be willing to clean all that track, or fix all those cars? For some people workbench time some times exceeds layout time. If you plan to have several people come out to run your railroad as a operating session, look at your lands. Can you park 6 cars in that driveway and not interfere with normal everyday access? Does your house have more than one bathroom where you may be able to host 6 or more people in the train room without interfering with the rest of the private living space in your home? Will you be able to get that 4x8 sheet of plywood up there? Or will your track in the corner furthest from the heater experience too much contraction in the winter? Is the environment stable as far as dust, mold and mildew? Many things to look at. I only have a humble 2x8 foot with big plans for the future but that 2x8 footer is teaching me what I can use and not use. For example I dont need that 300 car mega yard/division point if I only have 60 cars (half of which is unfinished) One other thing, if people come to run thier trains on your pike, what happens if they show up with a DCC engine (not BLI) and you only have block/cab analog control? Are you able to cool all your power packs and remove the heat away from the operator so the person does not "Cook" as he or she drives that train. A closed route that supports very top speed operations such as may be when a operator brings a 8 year old and his or her train to see how fast it can go... (Trust me, children loves to see them go) without fear of derailments, running off the track onto the floor etc. Will your wife be disturbed at 4 in the morning when you fire up that big boy and drag that 200 car hotshot onto the main for a bit of full moon rip? (Soundproofing) And finally. read and re read the numerous "Rules" that helps teach us what to do and not to do due to past human/layout problems.
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