Greetings All;
After a very long absence I am getting back into the hobby, and my O gauge roots. I will never forget a Christmas morning back in 1970 or ’71 and seeing the Lionel trains by the tree. In the late ’70’s and early ’80’s my late father and I built an HO layout. After leaving home in 1983 the trains were packed up. Thankfully, not discarded. I still have that first set and the extra track and my first 2 ALCO diesels, Santa Fe Super Chief’s. I also have my first 2 HO locomotives, but the crown jewel is my dad’s first Lionel, a 252 from the late ’30’s in beige and terra cotta. My family and I are now 7 years in our house and it is time!!
I had a room dedicated to a layout, but now it is my son’s room as his old room will now be a nursery. So, believe it or not, my wife suggested a ceiling train around the basement and a table layout in 1/2 of the theater room. You can’t ask for better than that from your wife!!!
I did the ceiling layout in Rail Modeler and it is below. This layout will be done with Lionel FasTrack and have Legacy control. I’m not planning on running conventional locomotives.
I have 7 power districts and a thread in the TMCC Legacy Control forum for specifics on that. All this DCC stuff is new to me!! Terry at Custom Signals is drawing up the signal and circuit board plan. I’m going with PRR signals. There isn’t a specific time frame or railroad as there are so many magnificent locomotives from various periods and railroads I want to collect and run.
For shelf construction I am thinking about MDF and will be using wooden L brackets. On top of that will be Homasote then, perhaps, an additional barrier to help with the noise. I’m leaning toward the padding used under hardwood flooring as was suggested by Revitupfaster. I am also giving serious consideration to Lee Willis’ suggestion of spray foam insulation on the underside of the FasTrack to mitigate the noise. I have an ever expanding Lionel christmas train with Fastrack, which really doesn’t get put away, so I am familiar with the noise levels. It gets moved from carpet to hardwood.
The Homasote will be cut short on the wall side of the shelves giving me a trench in which to run all the wiring so it will be hidden, yet ladder accessible. The shelves will run at door/window height with a slight elevation change from the Theater/Train room through the stair landing area, leveling out in the hallway in front of Sean’s room. The straight portion of the siding in the landing area will remain level and I’ll scenic it with a stone wall as the main line grades down. As for the outboard track in the theater/train room, it will be elevated 2 to 2.5 inches above the inboard tracks so trains won't be totally obscured.
For the spray foam I realize it will be some work, and I will have to make sure all track is ready to go as far as wiring for power, insulation for power districts and accessory activation, etc., but I think it will be worth it.
Speaking of wiring, that is going to be a real challenge for me, as I remember it was when I was a kid. I can wall mount all transformers in the electrical closet. That will make some long runs for the buses of some of the power districts. So far in reading posts I am amazed at the level of knowledge and the the help found on the forum. I will definitely be adding posts as I dive in and get back into the hobby, particularly in the controls and electrical aspect.
Anyway, that is the plan as of now. As for the table layout, the diagram doesn’t show it, but to the left of Sean’s room extending to the left side of the diagram legend is actually a walk in storage area. Enough room for a double track helix, O84 outer loop with O72 inner loop, to transition from table to shelf, but that’s a few years away. Please let me know what you think, all advice and comments are welcome and greatly appreciated.
Almost forgot. After a date with my wife to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer NC, and a trip to the Little Choo Choo shop across the street, she boldly exclaimed she wants to learn and work on the scenery. Now that is awesome!!
Jay
