I Hope This Guy's Story is True

Guess you have to move fast at taking over the space so they don't re-claim it. Sounds like that guy had it all planned out ahead of time.

I remember the commercial you are referring to. In it the parents renovated their kitchen and left some of their son's bedroom, although closet sized. Really was pretty funny.

Our kids left to go on their own many years ago. When we built our current layout, we did not have to renovate the house. The renovation you describe above may have a real impact (and not in a positive way) of the resale value of this chap's home.

It was an IKEA ad for kitchen cabinets.

I am tore between using my apartment building space for rent paying tenants or my too many trains, tools, materials, boxes and layouts.

I should just build another building, just for trains and tools.

Removing bedrooms is a good way to keep kids and other relatives from moving in with you.

One friend moved to one bedroom senior apartment to get rid of a unwanted live-in non-working adult son.

I have taken my Daughters room and used it to store all of my trains & train boxes,Now I just found out that she plans to come visit in January. And I told my 22 year old Son  Well we have a couch in the Living room.

My Daughter turned 21 this past September and she lives in Iowa and I live in Illinois. so I figured why should I change things.

rtr12, he did; the man had a plan to do exactly what he did; he just never told anyone.

You're right; the son was left with a tiny space with a single bed or cot.

Carl

You always hear about young people moving back home in their 20s and 30s to live cheap, I'd always wondered how common that really was and how some people reacted to it. The old-school parents of friends of mine would have turned them away at the door, I'm certain. I have a feeling that much like how the media says 2/3rds of all kids are morbidly obese (just watch the kids getting onto and off of a school bus the next time you get caught behind one to dispel that theory), I think this deal of so many young adults moving back home might have been embellished to a great degree. I stayed with my parents much later in life than I should have (I was born and raised in a college town and couldn't afford rent on a service-related job anywhere in town, so I went back to schol, got my degree and became an Army officer and then left home for good) but there's simply no way I'd have lived with my parents into my 30s without working somewhere.

Especially NOT telling the kids! I think it's funny because I worked with a few guys over the years that had adult kids still at home, some were 30+. They would come in every morning complaining that the kids were still there. One guy was divorced, he re-married and moved in to her house to get rid of his.

I know one guy who has taken over his entire house for trains including the living room.  Yes, he is married.  I know several couples who have taken over their kids recently vacated rooms for trains, quilting, etc.

My wife and I have a 3 bedroom house.  The master is used for sleeping, one is the office and the other is used for our eBay business.  The layout is in the attic.  Family guests stay at a nearby motel at their own expense.

Now that everyone is an adult, we all prefer to have our own space at a motel rather than staying in a relative's home.  At a motel you can set your own schedule, shower when you want, and watch what you want on TV, etc.  The ability to leave in the evening and return in the morning also prevents some family friction.  Most visits last 3 days or less.

Joe    

Man, my Mom doesn't think that way at all. Every time we've gone to visit my parents (who still live in the same house I was born and raised in), we've stayed at a hotel because my wife wants it, not that she's twisting my arm at all. But if I went alone, I think my Mom would go nuts if I said I was staying at a hotel, no matter how much I'd want to for the reasons stated above!

I have some before and after shot of my train room the first shot was the living room and the second shot was two bed room's, this all came about I was going to build a garage 40'x40' with a upstairs for the train room but my wife  passed away in 2009 so could not afford the garage so had all this space wye not use it, by the way my wife always joked that she would not be surprise to come home one day and find some wall's gone .

Guy

Yes, I was able to take over a vacated bedroom in our previous home.  In it built a J-shaped N-gauge layout that filled the room.  It was ideal: Carpeted, recessed lighting, a phone jack.  Bathroom right across the hall.   The O-gauge and an HO were already in the cellar and I was starting a G-gauge in the garage when we decided to move.  But we bought this current home with building a layout in mind, so all is good.

I keep hoping! 32 year and 21 year old sons still at home.

Don

My small layout came and went as my father moved in with us, then passed away, then my sons split from one room to two as they aged. Now my oldest is out of college, working, and has moved out to share a house with friends. The room is empty, the track plan is on paper and I told him I'm giving him a few more weeks to make sure his new arrangement works out, and then if he comes back, he's on the sofa!

I have heard of people giving adult "leeches" a one-way bus ticket to someone else's town. That says a lot.

You must be very accommodating. I could not wait to leave home, and did it as soon as I was financially able.

At 32 he may be there for the duration.

Maybe it's time for a one-way bus ticket out of town.

I had always planned on a layout in a finished basement. A few years ago I had the basement finished. It came out so nice and spacious I didn't want a layout there. One section is a train book library with some of my engines on display. Perfect!

I have never understood this. I, and my sisters and brother had no intention or desire to return home after college. I never gave a thought about any of our 4 kids returning home after college, because in our minds, it wasn't a option.

I hope I don't have a "failure to launch" with my remaining two boys.  So far I'm 2 for 2.  

When Ralph Kramden married Alice they moved in with her parents just for a short time till he got on his feet.  They were six of the most miserable years he ever spent.

I have two daughters, oldest is 19 in community college, living at home but getting ready to move out to a university. i don't have plans yet, but this gets me thinking I should prepare some soon, although I don't mind her returning to help her get established. A train room sure would be nice...

I would not want to use living space for a train layout. Here in the NE, most just have layouts in the basements, in rooms that we construct for that purpose. You never know when you will need a spare bedroom for a guest.

 Both sides of my family are split on the idea of staying living with a relative at their home. One side rolls with the masses, "Grow up, get out, don't come back". The other side says "Friends visit, Relatives visit, Family lives together". Guess where I'm more comfortable. Why is living with or close to the people you love automatically considered some kind of failure today. Privacy? It is over rated compared to a family atmosphere. I left home at 17 but landed at "family" homes more than once till I was ready and able again. Ive known a few "basement dwellers" as friends too. Every case kept their parents out of the nursing homes, and devoted years to their care. So go ahead chase um off . My home is open to my family and friends anytime. Good times, bad times, it never mattered, I always knew where one of my "homes" was, and that I was welcome, and so I now do the same for others. That said, if you don't work outside my home and contribute money, you work on the home within your abilities. All contribute or move, no exceptions. "I'm am King, and do know how to file eviction papers" Lazy leaches are bred not born. 

The OPs story? I bet its true...One room, in one "family home", was the train room. Then it belonged to an Aunt, who when ready moved out. Three or four days later an unexpected debut at a family gathering! A wall was gone, paint, paneling, rub rails, and carpet installed, chandelier hung, a 10 seat dining room table was sitting where her room was. My Grandpa made a joke that my Aunts dropping jaw was just wanting to be filled with turkey, "but you don't live here, you have to wait till last...after the dog...Here doggy!" ..... and for years Thanksgiving dinner was served with a few less tv trays  (still didn't fit half of us, but using a knife didn't require an "excuse me" anymore).

The next 30 years time, the room became a sewing room, tv room, & then a train room again for 3 years. Four months ago, a new wall was put up and it is a bedroom again now.

I have the whole basement for my layout.  The bedrooms have always been saved for children and visitors to use, especially during holidays.  We have had some joyous whole family Thanksgiving and or Christmases at our house.  Love it.

.....

Dennis

There's the key - "as soon as I was financially able."  Finding employment that provides enough income to afford independent housing can be exceedingly difficult depending on where you live.

I look back and realize now just how lucky I've been!

What we did and were expected to do has undergone a radical change.

I lived at home for my last year in college. When I graduated, my parents took off for the summer in their Airstream (my father was a professor at the time). By the time they got back in August, I was gone. I'd started work, found an apartment, and moved out with all my gear. I went overseas a couple of years later and only went back for visits when I had home leave. I cannot imagine living with my parents as an adult.

I do have sympathy for young people who just can't find a job because there aren't any. Times have changed since I was in college. There isn't that much work around. I still remember one time when I was around 20, I sort of quit and sort of got fired from a job as a porter on a used car lot. On my way home I stopped at the grocery store and noticed a help wanted sign in the gift shop next door. I walked in, talked to the owner, and got hired on the spot. I was out of work for all of two hours. I don't think it would be that easy these days. Still, there are entirely too many kids around who major in something useless in college and wind up working at Starbucks and mooching off their parents because they don't make enough to live on their own. 

This is a good point. I think it is much more difficult to get out on one's own these days. Education costs are climbing faster than new model train prices, so is food rent and everything else. You can't just get through high school and find a good paying job any more. At least it isn't like it was when I was just leaving home, most of those jobs are gone or demand more education now days. Of course pay was a lot less back then, but it also went a lot further. I worry about my grandkids. I was also very lucky as you said, they are not going to have the same opportunities I did.

.....plenty of work and jobs in our area........-jim

The key is that you have a basement or enough room on your property to construct a train room.  In CA there are almost no basements and most homes are so close together that expanding a home is almost impossible.  The garage is used for cars, storage or the train room.  Therefore, the only option may be a spare bedroom.

In my case, I use the attic.  It is far from ideal because the ceiling goes from 10 ft. high on one side to 3 ft. on the other side.   Access is by a pull down staircase.  It is better than nothing however.  

Joe   

AFV had a great video of a daughter who returned from college and found no trace of her room.  Dad had removed the door and trim and sheet rocked over the opening.

Hello guys. I live in a house that dose not  have a basement. I have a craw space. So that the reason my layout is in the Breezeway and then enters the Garage through a hole that I made in the back corner. So my house has 3 small Bedrooms, 2 small  Bathrooms. A kitchen and a Family room. That's why I had to keep all my trains in my daughters small bed room. It had nothing to do with her. She loves living in Iowa close to wear her mother lives. And that's wear her Brother plans on moveing  back to.

Oh, you gotta keep those pink walls once the trains are in there!

I feel the same way about..oohhh, nevermind.