Layout placement encourage/discourage operation?

It certainly does.

When I had my house, the basement was cold and dreary.  In the winter it was difficult to sit down there and operate.  Now in my current location the basement is finished, still a tad chilly, but a better environment for train running.  Since I am down there practically every night working out I run the trains a lot more in a better enviroment.

Next place will be even better as I expect to purchase a home with a finished train room.

Which is why I believe you should finish your train room if you can.  Make it as inviting as possible.

Art

I'm going through that analysis right now which has raised the debate of inside the house vs. outside in the back yard. You definitely want the layout somewhere that's comfortable and accessible.

Matthew,

You are correct! I have two older layouts that were built in by-gone eras. One is at 32" the other 34". My newest layout is a 44" off the floor built in a U-shape. I find myself using my newer. At my age no more crawling on my hands and knees at last.

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Which is why I believe you should finish your train room of you can.  Make it as inviting as possible.

I like well lit basements that are clean and dry, warm in the winter, cool in the summer. But I prefer that they remain unfinished. 

My layout is in the attic.  Access is by a standard attic pull down folding staircase.  This was the only place in my home where I could build the layout.

One side of the attic is 10 feet tall and the other side is about 4 feet tall.  The sloping ceiling has proved to be a significant challenge for me since I am over 6 ft. tall.

I had a contractor put in a floor and lighting.  I finished the walls the ceiling.  The layout is OK when it comes to comfort level and access but I wish it was better.  I know I would spend a lot more time in the attic if it was more comfortable.

Many of my friends in my age group (65 +) don't have the agility to climb the ladder to my train room.  Some exceed the ladder's weight limit.  This has limited my ability to share my trains with friends.    

I have found that people who build layouts in a comfortable area get a lot more work done on them than those who don't.  I believe that finishing the train room and making it comfortable should be a top priority before layout construction begins.  I think that Jim Barrett's current OGR series on building his new home layout brings this point out.    

Joe

My 1st layout (HO) was out in the backyard in a 12x16 shed.  The shed was heated/cooled and had plenty of lighting, but the trek out to the shed was cumbersome at best during the day and torture once the sun went down.

Oh yeah, I also had a squirrel problem, the little buggers just wouldn't go away!

I converted to O after a few years off and moved into my 24x24 garage once I erected a wall to give me an 7x24 (with a 7x8 work area) room for a layout that was 7x16.  This was better, again heated/cooled, but even the short trek out to the detached garage turned into a chore.

Both shed and garage layouts had to be heated/cooled for about 1/2 hour before it was comfortable to run trains.  I had a Railking RS3 with Locosounds that would not run below 50 degrees!!!

Now I have my layout in a 12x12 upstairs room.  I hope the stairs don't come to bite me as I get older, but if they do I have a downstairs room the same size I can convert if needed.

I've to the layout of a fellow forumite and they way his house is built makes you feel that you're in a separate building that is not part of the house, but in reality you're in the basement.

My 24x24 garage would be ideal if it were attached to the house and I didn't use most of the space to park the car and store all the other junk I have.  I would have to cover the concrete floor with rubber anti-fatigue matting for prolonged running sessions but is could be done.

All the responses have great reasoning with the good, bad and ugly facts of model railroading.  Sometimes, it boils down to where space is available, and can be somewhat permanently allotted to a hobby (whatever it might be).  Accessibility, comfort, and lighting all are major factors.  Squirrels are absolutely forbidden!  I think everyone will agree.  The little buggers know how to use tools.  I have witnessed them taking apart every "squirrel proof" bird feeder I have ever owned!  And they can climb down uncapped chimneys right into your basement, and on to your layout.  Think of how much fun they have while you are counting sugarplums in your head.  

If there is space within your house, and an agreement can be made to use it for your trains, then make it the best you can, and you will find time to enjoy it when you can.

When I am in my workshop or trainroom something runs, which means about 340 days per year.  But what runs is a function of the things you ask about.

I built my track with large curves and clearance sufficient for a JLC Big Boy.   I kept one on the track and tested each day's completed track before moving on.  I figured it that loco had no issues nothing would.  

Seven  years later,that trac is still just where I built it, but to run any big scale articulated such as that JLC BB, I have to

1. remove three buildings too close to the track,
2. remove two nice looking tunnel portals,
3. remove a bunch of small stuff like twenty-five trees too close to the track, a junkyard fence in an industrial area, and several vehicles posed in vignettes.  

I just wasn't thinking when I laid out all my buildings and such, and franly i like the look to much to change it.  It only takes thirty or forty minutes to remove it all, but then I have to put them all back.  So the usually I run stuff that doesn't have dramatic boiler stick out, which means none of my dozen or so big guys ever run.  The only articulates I ru are the V CC2 (nothing has to be removed) or the Mallet (one building, and I then let it find the few trees it doesn't like for me ).  

My layout is in a separate building with my workshop. That isn't an impediment to running trains because the building is air conditioned, fully finished with drywall and ceilings, and even has skylights and ceiling fans. It's a comfortable environment - bright, sunny, cheerful, and dry. It is about a one minute walk from my back door to the shop building. I spend quite a bit of time out there, working on trains and other hobbies.

My layout is running, but not quite far enough along yet that I consider it ready for full-time operation. So, the stage of completion and alternate priorities are an obstacle to running trains; the location of the train room is not. As of now I use the layout more for testing locomotives than for running trains (I run trains at a local museum layout so I'm not train-deprived.)

My first comment is this is a wonderful topic. Secondly, layout placement does effect my running opportunities. Because of a builder mix up during the early construction phase of our home while I was commuting a long distance, the planned location for the layout over the garage had to be scrapped. In order to get the size I wanted, I had to construct a separate building. I am not complaining as the space that I realized from this change of plans was bigger, but since the building is away from the dwelling, weather can be a deterrent to train operating conditions if you consider the brutal Maine winters. It is just not as convenient as if the layout was in our home.

Good afternoon

Having the whole basement devoted to trains makes it very convenient. Temperature and humidity controlled from the house thermostat. Probably would have never finished the layout if it wasn't that convenient. The workshop for the trains is on the main floor with plenty of windows.

Clem k 

I had my choice.....wait a few years until I finished paying tuitions and finish off my attic.....OR.... have one in a smaller area in the basement.   I chose the former and am very satisfied.

The 6X16 layout I have in the basement is more than I can handle and is easily accessible. Furthermore, man's best friend, Max is my constant train buddy. 

A big negative on an attic layout is that if you are an early riser (I get up every day at 0430, work or not), you tend to wake everyone else up who is trying to sleep if you are puttering around in the attic.

Peter

I've always been a basement person.  Four of the six houses I've lived in, have had some kind of layout. The first house doesn't really count, because I was very young when we moved from there. The fourth house was a fixer-upper, and by the time I had everything cleaned up, we moved. The fifth house, I was just getting started, when we moved again.

That brings me to the sixth and final house. The layout is really just an expanded version of the design from the fifth house, like double. For the last two years, I've tried to work on the layout, an average of 2 hours a day. I'm currently averaging closer to 3 hours per day, and the effort is starting to yield results.

I've been running trains quite a bit more lately, since the construction has progressed. If it wasn't so convenient, I'm not sure I would even do it at all.

The only negative to having a big layout in a finished basement is the constant worry about basement flooding.  I think my present basement is very safe from that standpoint, but you can never feel completely safe.  A torrential rain followed by a long power failure is the Achilles Heel of all basement layouts.  My last flooded basement was a 17" rain followed by a 12 hour power failure.  Result?  43" of water in a finished basement.  Layout wasn't built yet.  Am thinking about a whole house generator or at least a portable one as I'm home most of the time.

Art

Safely in a spare bedroom and sized right. No more gargantuan layouts that become a maintenance headache and a dust catcher. No switches. Flat as a pancake. No pre-construction of room required. I spent too may years in dank dark basements full of mildew. I am enjoying it while I can. Learned from forty years of errors. Heat in the winter and a.c in summer is a blessing. Being an empty- nester has its perks until they wheel me away. 

Here are a couple of photos that I took of a purpose built train building next to a guy's home.    I have forgotten the exact size.  I think it is about 80 X 40 feet give or take a few or many  feet.  The building also houses a shop area, a crew lounge and a train box storage area.  

The building was built by a contractor but the layout was built by the owner with occasional help from friends with wiring, etc. Getting from the home to the building is not a problem year round here in CA.  The building has full climate control.  

I would find this layout too big to build or to maintain if it was mine.  It would also be too expensive for my budget but that is another matter.

Sometimes smaller is better.   I would like a layout that is larger than my layout's 20 X 8 feet but not as large as this.  My purpose is to run trains not to do constant maintenance.

Living in Wisconsin, I have always had a basement, rarely an attic except crawl space.

A basement therefore is just another room in the house. So, down the basement we go. With having it in the basement, I don't use any living space on the main floor.

It does not matter where, so long as you have access to all areas, and can detail, clean and add scenery COMFORTABLY ! A walk-in layout is terrific.

Sure does I would think. Although the train room is very small I have two windows and a nice outdoor view so I can plop down in my desk chair, flip the switch on the power strip and we're up and running. I especially enjoy the "morning coffee run". 20 minutes before getting ready for work I enjoy a cup of coffee and some train time.

My layout is in a 3 car garage, the trains take up at least 2 of the car spaces. I live in the Dallas area so weather is not a huge problem. My opinion of cold is 40 degrees or less and hot is anything over 95. Trains can run most anytime as all doors are open when running.

Brent

After retiring from Fl to TN, and our 2nd residence then became the primary one. It is small and a train room was not up for discussion.

So I built a 16'X34' climate controlled separate building about 70 feet from the house back door. It was half trains and half Harleys. After about 4 years the Harleys got their own building and now it's all trains. TV, phone, climate controlled, Computer and refer. It just can't get no better for me. I spend a lot of time fooling around in that room. Especially in the winter months.

My only negative is a few minor domestic disputes with my better half threatening to put a bed out in the train room and throwing me out of the house because she never sees me. It's a wee bit better since I installed a intercom to the house.

9 separate loops on a 5x8 bench in o scale?I must not be reading correctly.