Construction & Layout Design for My New Train Room UPDATED 4-3-22

I'll tip my cap to you once I pick my jaw up off the floor! Your lighting should be amazing once you get some track under it. Your drywall work looks great.

Beautiful start. This is going to be a fun build. Can't wait to see the progress.

Wow. That looks like a fantastic layout. By the way, which control system(s) are you using? Keep it up. Looking forward to more photos and maybe videos in the future. I have future plans for my own layout. Hopefully I can find somewhere to put a layout.

Great start and very detailed track plan!

Keep the progress reports coming.

You are quick out of the starting gate. Impressive.

I will be taking notes. My project will not be as fancy, but I am certainly going to keep an eye on your project, and steal some of the good ideas.

Jeff

You may wish to re think not using Ross switches.  I had some problems with the MTH Scale Track switches.  They look nice but some of the frogs had issues.

Too many other things need attention down the road, I do not need anything as foundational as the switches to be a problem.

I love to see new construction on a layout room.  Looks like a great start!

Looks like an awesome start! I like the idea of putting the wire behind the wall.

Any thoughts of going with Atlas or Gargraves track?

Couple of thoughts:

Does you bench work, aisle size and configuration permit ready service and future replacement of HVAC systems?

Will you have a 3' X 3' code required access to your breaker panel?

The debate over which track was something I struggled with. The Ross switches worked very well on my old layout. The more I have gotten into this hobby the more attention I have begun to pay to scale. If those darn ties were not so big on Ross track it would be the perfect choice. But, I don't even know who, if anyone will produce Scaletrax, given the uncertainty around who now owns which of MTH's old tooling. I hope to be be building benchwork in April. I hope to hear something about the availability of Scaletrax by then. IF not, then I will go with Ross.

Atlas and Gargraves are fine systems. But if I go with Ross I will use their sectional curves, I like the spikes and keep the look consistent with the turnouts.

Tom, you are right. It is tight between the peninsula and the utilities closet. On the drawing it dimension out at 28".  When I start building the benchwork that is an area I will take close look at. I may have to lose the switch engine pocket. I rather not though.

The main panel is in the gangway at the eastern staging location. I framed the subpanel in and it is behind the larger of the two flush panels. This will pass inspection. But you are right, when I build my benchwork there will not be the required aisle to access it. That is a concession I am willing to make though. Great observations! thank you!!

@Tom Tee posted:

Couple of thoughts:

Does you bench work, aisle size and configuration permit ready service and future replacement of HVAC systems?

Will you have a 3' X 3' code required access to your breaker panel?

Thanks Tom. The answers are, yes, and yes. Electrical panel is well away from train area, and furnace/A/C has three sides open and is not too close to planned benchwork. I am thinking ahead, or trying too, anyway.

Jeff

T4TT,  Not  maintaining a 3 X 3  foot requirement is not a matter of personal concession but rather a national electrical code violation that may bring adverse action down the road. 

It would not just be a matter of rearranging the furniture to meet code.

Tom,
I take your point. If I ever sell this house the layout will have to be dismantled. So for as long as we stay reaching the sub panel will require me to reach over the layout. I am 6'4" and have a good reach, but I will have a step beneath they benchwork at that location in order to throw a breaker.

I moved the switch engine pocket and tightened up the benchwork to create a 31" aisle to access the utility closet.

I had a utility problem several years ago and when the service crew came out they noticed a none code situation.  They shut off my service and red tagged the box which  required a inspected compliance to reactivate my service. 

Fortunately I was single and it was mild weather.

I had to reposition one of my yards and three mainline curves to accommodate code for my service panel in this house.

That’s heavy duty.  I hope you build it.

Nice work.

Keeping access to the sub-panel is a question of safety. Ok, you're big and tall and you can stretch and reach it. What if you are not there when something happens?

Stuff happens. Last winter we almost had a oil burner fire and this is a unit less than 5 years old. We have a fresh air intake and apparently some wasps build a nest and restricted the air flow just enough to cause imbalance and the electrodes start coating. Fortunately, I could hear the furnace struggling and not firing so I hit the emergency cut off.  You just never know what can happen and having quick access could save your house.

EDIT: Also, have you actually tried a 31" aisle space? Tight spaces look good on paper and may just work but you're going to live with this for a long time, God willing. I suggest setting up a trial with some boxes on the sides. You may also want some space to just sit and watch trains run, if you have to navigate small aisles to get to different parts you may find yourself visiting those parts less and less.

Good points with regard to accessing the sub panel. I will work on that O72 reverse loop to minimize the reach.

Where are the steps?

What path would a HVAC replacement need?

Alternate  direct outside entrance?

It is really interesting imagineering your track plan,  That should provide some quality operating and running time.

Building my present layout prompted the service panel to be relocated in addition to track adjustment. 

What ever you do keep the track plan as best you can.  It really is not the typical display pike.  More like an operating layout with realistic traffic flow.  Lots of thought.

@Tom Tee

Thank you for the compliment. Yes! I want to play.....build trains in the yard, swap cars with different railroads, drop cars at various industries. I also want my passenger trains to simply run from reverse loop to reverse loop, so I can sit and sip a mezcal and enjoy the view. BUT, I want it to look realistic, or at least as realistic as it can be compressed in the available space.

Accessing the sub panel is important. I can't make the track plan compliant with code, well not at least in a manner I like. I was able to rework the reverse loop and reduce the reach to the panel to 36". To make this change I had to remove either the coal tipple or the WWII Army base. Given that choice I axed the coal mine. I have many of the structures on this plan. I salvaged them from my first layout. I had planned to buy the BTS Coal Tipple, but did not buy it yet. Regardless, I would rather have the base to display WWII armor.

So here is the latest version of the Lower Level..

Here is the revised Upper Level..

The stairs to the basement are at the bottom of the drawing on the other side of the wall of the train room. They are pictured in this drawing with light brown vertical lines. The stairs pictured in the drawing on the train room side are upper section of the stair case. I framed a small closet at that location with a 24" door to maximize available space. The upper level track goes through that closet. The train room is only half the basement. The other half is not represented in the drawing. We have a walk out basement so new HVAC equipment will come in through the slider. The door to enter the train room is a 32". I should have had the builder install a 36" but I missed that change. Still 32" will be big enough to get a water tank or a furnace to the utility closet.

@Dylan the Train Man Sorry I missed your earlier question. I am strictly TMCC/Legacy. I put an electric outlet high inside the utility closet to the left of the hot water tank as you stand at the opening to that closet. I also ran ground wire, data wire, power and LCS PDI cable to a low voltage box cut in on the train room side of that outlet. I plan to put the base up high on the wall in the train room opposite the rail barge and put the SER2 and LCS WiFi modules on the other side of that wall inside the utility closet.

Something you may find helpful.  My hot water heater tank took up a fair amount of real estate so I removed it.

In it's place I installed a Rinnai natural gas tankless and set it in an out of the way location. This change up permitted an aisle way,  a new freight yard and unlimited hot water!

Where on you sketch is the service panel?

WOW ! That's going to be a beautiful layout.

Alex

Awesome design, I like the idea of running the wires behind the walls. Keep us updated on your progress!

Mike R

That is a really nice space and well thought out layout plan.  As to the aisle spacing and access, I found it is difficult to get that really down pat on the plan, but can be worked out in three dimensions when building.  I'll look forward to seeing your progress!

It has been a month since I last posted. I have accomplished a lot of work since then.

I primed and top coated the walls and ceiling. Selecting the right shade of blue was rather difficult.

I painted "wispy" clouds, at least my interpretation of them.

I carried down 26 sheets of 4' x 8' plywood sheets and a many 16', 12' and 10' 2"x4"s with help from my nephew.

I committed to using Ross track again on this layout.

I laid out the benchwork with tape on the floor. Having a drawing on my laptop is NOT the same as seeing it in 3D!

And yesterday I finally began building the benchwork! You will see my priorities. I started benchwork before I cased and hung any of the remaining doors! The two (and only) doors in the pics are the entry from the living room on the other half of Lower Level and the door to my backshop.

SO MUCH MORE work to do!

T4TT,

Great work and the space looks beautiful. Keep the progress coming.

Dave

T4TT, That is a great space for a layout, and you are really doing a nice job on making it look nice!  I'll look forward to seeing your ongoing progress

That's a seriously big space!  If you fill that with RR, it'll be a monster!

Hi John, oh I am filling this space with my RR! I made a bit more progress on the benchwork. I am pretty much confined to working on the weekends but I got a couple hours in this week...

Looks amazing, thanks for sharing!!!

Wow!!! Like some have said, that is a seriously big space!  Although I don't have a layout, you look like your are off to  great start with planning.

That is a really big space. I'm impressed. Your layout will be amazing. Looking forward to future updates.

Man, I love these new model railroad room builds.  Great job!

Very impressive everything! But I have a question. You have what appears to be about an 8 foot wide section that abuts the wall. How are you going to get up and across there to lay roadbed and track, not to mention scenery. And what about repair and troubleshooting after the scenery is in? Perhaps your just more lithe than I, but…

In any event, I hope my work turns out half as nice as yours.

Rubin

@turkey_hollow_rr posted:

Keeping access to the sub-panel is a question of safety. Ok, you're big and tall and you can stretch and reach it. What if you are not there when something happens?

Stuff happens. Last winter we almost had a oil burner fire and this is a unit less than 5 years old. We have a fresh air intake and apparently some wasps build a nest and restricted the air flow just enough to cause imbalance and the electrodes start coating. Fortunately, I could hear the furnace struggling and not firing so I hit the emergency cut off.  You just never know what can happen and having quick access could save your house.

EDIT: Also, have you actually tried a 31" aisle space? Tight spaces look good on paper and may just work but you're going to live with this for a long time, God willing. I suggest setting up a trial with some boxes on the sides. You may also want some space to just sit and watch trains run, if you have to navigate small aisles to get to different parts you may find yourself visiting those parts less and less.

Did you move the panel?

@T4TT posted:

Hi John, oh I am filling this space with my RR! I made a bit more progress on the benchwork. I am pretty much confined to working on the weekends but I got a couple hours in this week...

Outstanding! And wow. 😎

WRW I did not move the sub panel. I did alter the track plan to reduce the reach. It is behind a flush mounted door. If you look closely you can see about 18" above the cleat on the right side of the pic below.

As far reaching items, I am framing in access panels in several key locations, I decided to make the reverse loops on the lower levels O96, they are O72 on the above track plans. I install Kadee couplers on all my engines and cars. I run scale 21" passenger cars, most of which are GGD. I want to make sure that are no derailments on the lower level (most of which is covered). Once I trace the track on the benchwork, I plan on jigsawing out as much as the lower level platform (primarily inside the O96 loops) as possible to ease access to the second level. It feels like a waste to frame it in now with all of the 2' x 2" crossmembers, but I want to make sure that layout in reality is what I have drawn on my laptop.

Beautiful job so far!

Peter