Great looking room John. No drywall/ painting, etc. Just a blank canvas. Can't wait to see what you build.
I think this is the first time I've see columns at the entrance to a work room, does that mean that you have to hold a screw driver with your pinky out? 
I too long for the day when I can put "for sale" signs on the lawn mower and snow blower.
Good luck on your move John. It's gonna be great!
Meanwhile, here's an interesting problem for you to cogitate on.
What sensor arrangement would you consider to allow you to identify a particular engine?
As you very well know, we usually just identify that 'some engine' has been detected at some point on the layout, but what if we wanted to answer the question: Which engine is it?
Thanks for your really informative posts over the years.
Ray
Well, you can go for the Lionel LCS Sensor Track and the LCS system. For non-sensor equipped locomotives, you pull a sensor equipped boxcar. 
FasTrack LCS SensorTrack 6-81294
REA Scale SensorCar Steel Reefer 6-83519
Lots of folks have adapted the sensor track to non-Lionel track, including me.
OK, Thanks John.
Looks like this is something particular to Lionel. All my stuff is MTH DCS, so it would require a new setup, I guess. Or are you saying I could somehow use this LCS Sensor Track with my MTH locos?
Ray
Your new home looks great! All the best in getting everything moved in soon.
Jon
Congratulations!! Looks like a great train space you will have too. It's also really good you are only going a few miles and have the 3-4 months extra time to get moved and I think you may end up needing every minute of it too. We moved about 4 years ago after being in our old house for almost 35 years. The stuff accumulated in that time was just amazing! Couldn't believe it all fit on our old house. We moved only about 8 miles and that helped, but it took a lot longer than we had figured so the extra time will be great to have! We had movers do all the large and heavy items, they were very reasonably priced too, not bad at all. Should have had them do more.
Anyway I wish you the best of luck and hope everything goes well in your move. Also hoping you enjoy your new train and work spaces. It's a big undertaking, but you will be happy when it is all finished! After that long in one place it will still be an adjustment, even if you really like the new place!
Forgot to add, I think you will really like your Mianne benchwork too! Great stuff!
Hi John: Wow and wow. The room is huge.
Hope you are taking recommendations:
1. Paint the walls a sky blue and paint in the clouds, before you start the benchwork.
2. Oliver Wood Lathe for your wood shop.
Have fun and Good Luck: Gary
that is gonna be some train room John!.....enjoy it!
I am considering how to prep the room before I start the layout, I've seen where others have been climbing on the layout to do the work. 
I'm still debating on the wall lights, I may remove at least some of those. Since the previous owners just painted all of this, they left paint, so I can patch the holes and touch-up before moving on.
That is really nice John. I've not seen a basement room in a condo that appears so nice in 4 years of being a real estate broker - and we see a LOT of houses!
What is the approximate size of your room please?
Congratulations on the new home. I put a new room on a 185 year old home instead. I know you will enjoy the building of your layout from scratch with all the electronic savvy you have stored in those little gray cells. Looking forward to hearing all about it.
Well, the whole room is around 40 foot long, but the space for the trains is probably around 22-24 feet, there are the two areas at the ends that I won't have track. The one end will have my workbench and parts storage, the other end will have a TV and some seating. Of course, I have to find a spot for our secondary fridge, and it'll keep my beer cold and on-hand. 
Right before they sold the house, the previous owners put almost $100,000 into upgrading all sorts of stuff. All the bathrooms and kitchen are brand new. I didn't understand it as they just got market price for the unit anyway. I can only imagine that it REALLY needed it for some reason.
Here's a couple of shots of other parts of the house. All the floor covering everywhere has been replaced, amazing!
The light fixture has to go!
That's a fabulous room John! Congrats!!! Can't wait to see what you have in store for it. When you get tired of moving stuff and prepping your new room, give me a call. I may have something in our basement around that time which will give you LOTS of inspiration!
David
Dave, I don't think I can afford to go the way you went, but I am eager to come up and check it out.
You're always welcome, John.
gunrunnerjohn posted:Well, it's finally happening! We just signed up for the long awaited move. We are downsizing from our existing place to a condo. The good part is, I get my long awaited train room, and it's empty and ready to build! It has storage a nice large room for the layout, and even a powder room. Being a daylight basement, it has an outside entrance and even a window. In the back there's an unfinished room that I'll do my woodworking in.
The seas have parted at last!
Green with envy..Me and my fiancee also downsizing soon(condo and a lake house where the layout is..looking at properties Pa, both Carolinas and central Fla.GRJ you have inspired me
Congratulations John! I'm happy for you!
-Greg
John, that is really a great looking room for a layout. I'm happy for you, its always exciting to be able to finally get that new train room. Hope to be able to keep track of your progress when you finally get started.
Cheers,
Very nice, John! Love it! Like the others have said, plan it all out first, then do it. Are you going to add track lighting overhead? Not having lived in a condo, do you have any restrictions on what you can do to the room?
Also, what is the bump out in the corner for?
Chris
LVHR
John, best of luck on the move and I hope you really enjoy the new place. Building a layout is both frustrating and a lot of fun. I'm sure you know that. Keep your priorities in order and remember that sometimes you need to come first.
Gerry
Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to it. After 28+ years here, it'll be an adjustment to move, I'm here sorting out stuff in the closets that I forgot all about! I'll be working eBay and Craig's List out to unload a bunch of stuff!
Chris, the bump-out is hiding a sump pump, so I have to allow the ability to access it.
John best of luck!
Very nice John. What are the chances that the walls would already be painted sky blue. That bathroom is awesome and big enough to put a layout there too. You can run trains while you soak in the tub with that cold beer. LOL. I'm interested in the leaf blower if it's a STILH.
Best of luck in your new home John.
The new place looks great - congratulations and good luck, I just finished a move and it really was quite a chore!
Absolutely gorgeous! And those additional Mianne deliveries will be so much easier to accommodate with that easy walk-in access! (As well as the expected open-houses to keep tabs on your progress! )
Congrats!
Congratulations John and good luck. Look forward to the build.
Andy
Wow, everything looks fantastic John! Really nice!
Dave Zucal posted:I'm interested in the leaf blower if it's a STILH.
No luck, it's an Echo.
I know this will be a lot of work, but I'm hoping it'll last us a while.
CONGAS JOHN!!!!! Wow you are gonna have fun now!!!! Enjoy!!! Are you still in the same neighborhood?
I'm only about three miles away from my existing house, almost around the corner.
Great looking basement John. Good luck on your move and new layout. Look forward to progress reports.
John,
Great train room, and a beautiful place overall - congratulations!
I hope the 'train room' does not remain so pristine for very long; and yes, by all means - Paint The Walls First, or very early on. That's what I did when I built my layout, and I not only painted the walls sky blue with clouds, but also mountains, terrain, and buildings to serve as backdrop to what I knew was coming.
Looking forward to see progress pictures soon.
Alex
Sadly, it'll be a short delay while I do all the stuff to move this place to that place before I'm allowed to get back to any significant time with the trains. However, that will come, likely in the spring after all the smoke (and snow) settles. It'll be around the same time as the big fire sale for snow blowers, leaf blowers, etc.
Congratulations on a new home, I hope you and your wife will enjoy it! Your pictures certainly show a huge space with much potential! I'm sure you will do it justice!
John,
An all around beautiful house. The 'train room' is almost beyond belief.
Best of luck with everything.
Tony Atkins
Given your handle and mention of a powder room, I will be sending this housewarming gift to hang over the door.
What, me worry?
Alfred E Neuman posted:Given your handle and mention of a powder room, I will be sending this housewarming gift to hang over the door.
You will want to be careful handling what I send back! 
If your sump pump doesn't have a battery backup pump I would seriously consider getting one. We never had one until moving to our current home in Aug. 2013, it was a new home. Got a backup pump installed right after moving in. A couple of months after the year warranty was up the main pump failed on Thanksgiving during some pretty heavy rains. The back up pump saved the day. We got the main pump replaced the following week after the holiday. That experience left me wanting a backup for the backup pump! 
I have a battery backup here, and I'll likely do it there as well. I don't want any water in my trainroom! Another option is the water powered unit, but you have to make sure that your outlet is not blocked. I might do one of those and just have it shoot outside about a foot, just enough to get it away from the house. The good part is with a daylight basement, that end is at ground level.
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