Moving Murphy bed layout to the attic?

I have some extra time today to work on the layout and I want to haul the Quiet Brace to the attic. Is there any reason why I shouldn't cut it into smaller sheets? Like, cut the 4'x8' into 4'x4's? It would obviously be easier to carry and I wouldn't risk touching the painted walls in the house. That product can leave some nasty marks on paint.

Cut is to the size[width] of your benchwork top--33"x whatever?,etc, which will make it easier to carry upstairs. A few more joints in the lengthwise mode shouldn't be a problem.

   I know the  problem as I carried both sheetrock and plywood up 16 steps to my attic. I simply cut the sheetrock in smaller increments to land on 16" centers for wall studs as well as the plywood for the 1x4 16" o.c. grid joists in the benchwork framing. Your quietbrace will be over plywood I assume so it can land randomly.

You are making good progress.

Hey, with the Skylight tubes you have a built-in tunnel configuration and a mountain[Chimney Rock Mtn.] 

I tried several track plans and here is my latest. It's done in Anyrail 5; I don't know how to make a jpeg of it. It allows me to run two trains at once and I can jump from the inner to the outer track. It looks pretty good on paper but in reality it's going to require some hand cut track sections to make it work.

I had played with the idea of "no switches" but I think this will give me more possibilities.

Any feedback?

Just realized that Anyrail 5.5 has a jpeg converter built into it.

What I would do with that space - is fit in wider curves where possible, and use easements going in to the minimum radius curves. And smoother continuous compound curves instead of O27 sections with straight pieces in between. Add a long siding or two so you can park extra trains and run them alternately for variety. I'm thinking of re-working my 3x12 and you might want to take a look at my comments there. I had to hunt around to find myself a bunch of O54 curves (and a few O42 curves) in the O27-size rail, and I'm glad I have them now cuz I think the easements make the curves and trains look better.

Its great to see all the work \ progress documented since the last time I visited your thread. Like a lot of threads, it got lost in the posting traffic.

Your planning and creativity is paying off despite the naysayers such as yours truly having concerns about attic spaces. In this case its a fine and enjoyable experience to be proven wrong. That space would ( maybe) work great for an On3 layout and the reason I say that was Ace's comments..about track curvature as I always wondered if that scale with HO track and O scale equipment allowed for tighter curves. This is perhaps a bit off topic but the layout itself is still to be installed..but all this talk about available space and layout design brought up the question in my mind.

Been a while since I posted on this thread so I thought I'd add a few things. Here's the final lower track plan:

The desk makes a nice work bench and I have a computer/TV as well as a telephone.

Heat is still a problem on days in the high 80s or above.  I'm determined to use my 6k window ac because it's so quiet; I have a 10k I could use but it's pretty loud. Noise reverberates in this little room. Anyway, today I wrapped the outside of the room from head to toe in Attic Foil, a radiant barrier. Hope it helps; I'll let you know later as it's only 71 degrees today outside

I've added a few scenic things, too.

I picked up a small can of "brown" paint at Lowes and started to paint the Quiet Brace but when it dried it looked orange. (see last photo) I guess I know now why it was on the "we goofed"  table for $3.

That's all for now. It's been slow but fun.

Do you have central a.c? There might be other options for air conditioning...

Yes we have 2 gas packs but the ducts are under the first floor.Only the air returns are in the attic. Good idea though.

Can the flow in your hvac be reversed for the season? My pal has an old house with ducting designed for heat only(returns up high). He is able to flip his blower physically around so the new ac comes out of the returns for the summer. The cold air falls to the lower floors very well. 

Adriatic, my system can't do that. Reminds me of an  air exchange system in a commercial building. I've got my fingers crossed for the Attic Foil to make the difference.

You got it! I did some industrial HVAC too. I've been in air handlers which were so large I could run in the fan like a hamster on a wheel. If you look for a supplement unit check out the Mitsubishi compact home/industrial units. They made some great units, but not a lot of companies push them. A bit more money, but small(for most your outside unit is about size of standing console dehumidifier), light, very very quiet, very btu capable for size, reliable, very easy on electricity. Appliance white or sand color. Portable or permanent installations options, the permanent controls and cooling coil resemble a "window shaker" but about 2.5" thick and just hang on the wall like a picture. AC pad, electrical, two outside holes for the copper line set and control wires, four wall anchors for the mount, connect, and hang your done! The easiest installs I ever did, only had to service one(control console blower,1hr), we received many thank you's later.

Think "the little engine that could". Any how, good luck, stay cool! 

"I picked up a small can of "brown" paint at Lowes and started to paint the Quiet Brace but when it dried it looked orange. (see last photo) I guess I know now why it was on the "we goofed"  table for $3"

Hey, is it a "dry dirt look" or are you creating a shoreline to the bridge? You know that "brown"/"orange" paint looks like sand along a river shore in the photo to me. Is it too orange and the camera isn't getting it? Ever see a clay lined cliff shores? Orange. Vertical streaks of black and blotchy red wash over orange clear down the sides of the 2x4's and you got a simple cliff instead of plain 2x4. Do the edge of the plywood black for a layer of rich earth, then dry brush strait down them? Just dreaming a little for you

Time for an update on my attic room layout.

First, I haven't done much since last summer, but I have changed the track plan so that I can run two trains at once. Here's the old track plan: first pic below

I liked this one because it gave me a lot of action in the space I have to work with but I couldn't run two trains on it. I've been trying to figure out how I could improve it without a major overhaul and this is what I settled on: second picture

Sorry it isn't larger and a few pieces are missing because I could only use 50 pieces of track on Anyrail. I'm not very good with software but you can see that I'll need an additional 6 inches of woodwork along the right side...and I'll need a bridge on the inside corner.

Using a 1"x6"x6' piece of lumber I should be able to attach the needed base for the straightaway. The corner needs lumber, too, because I want it to support a K-Line fisherman/piling accessory that the track will pass over. I have a short plastic Lionel trestle bridge that I could use and I can get another one because it will take 2 ten inch sections of track for the bridge...or maybe I could use the trestle bridge with a girder bridge? The trouble is they will join between the 2 K-Line pilings and that will look funny. Any ideas?...maybe a 24" trestle would look better?

Opps...I didn't mean to post when I did. Anyway...

"OK, on to my mountain: I have delayed finishing it because I know I don't have th artistic skills to make it look really good but I put some paint on it today. It's drying now."

I stopped painting because the mountain got so wet but I'll do some more tomorrow. As you can see there will be water leaking down the middle of the mountain then into a small pool. I'll use Scenic Express Water Gloss for that.(see left side of the last pic) Then the water will flow into the K_line fisherman accessory which uses real water. There's a separate thread that explains how I repaired the fisherman so he would rock back and lift the fish out of the water.

That's all for now.

Here's the same mountain after I ran a black tempera wash over it:

My children have named it Mt. Levi Levi is my middle name.

Here's a short video of a Beep on the outside loop.

Looking good!

New trestle bridge given to me for Father's Day.

I've been working on the track that goes through the bridge. The engine hesitates there for some reason. Also, I'm working on the inside track loop because it just doesn't line up right. Anyway, my new Williams J runs great!

Hi Bill 

Great to see you back at layout work and running trains [through a mountain tunnel no less]. Good job with "Levi Mountain", that was a tough one to handle in disguising the sun tubes. 

I look forward to seeing your future progress.

I just found this post. You certainly have accomplished a lot. Especially prepping the room. The layout is really coming along.