Nice Cool Basement on a Summer Night

Here is the latest photographs, Arnold!  I do have Homasote and cork down now where the tracks still on the table are, but it is a real mess now smoothing the cork. 

You think up the best topics for discussion!!

It's warm and humid here also. My garage (layout) is not any cooler that the other areas of the house. No trades today so it will stay in the high eighties. Two hurricanes on the way. Should start seeing some changes in a few days. Our cat knows where to stay cool, Now if I could only run trains underwater....Don

Mark Boyce posted:

Here is the latest photographs, Arnold!  I do have Homasote and cork down now where the tracks still on the table are, but it is a real mess now smoothing the cork. 

You think up the best topics for discussion!!

Mark, that village you put together is looking real good, and your benchwork looks like you will be able to have a subway running underneath everything. Keep cool tonight, my friend. Arnold

Mark Boyce posted:

You think up the best topics for discussion!!

Agreed, Mark! Great topic Arnold started!

I'm happy to see progress, even if it is slow sanding work.

Lew

By the way, I forgot to mention that the CSX diesel in my above video is an MTH Proto 3 smoking diesel that came with a set, maybe about 5 years ago. Love the sounds that make it seem like there's a real diesel locomotive in my nice cool basement. Arnold

My basement layout is a nice quiet cool place to work on hot summer nights. 

C&Osteam posted:

My basement layout is a nice quiet cool place to work on hot summer nights. 

Gorgeous!

scale rail posted:

It's warm and humid here also. My garage (layout) is not any cooler that the other areas of the house. No trades today so it will stay in the high eighties. Two hurricanes on the way. Should start seeing some changes in a few days. Our cat knows where to stay cool, Now if I could only run trains underwater....Don

Now who lives better than Don's cat by the poolside.

Don, you can run trains under water. Instead of a subway, you can build something unique: a "sub-water." LOL, Arnold

Thank you Arnold and Lew!  The lower level will be a turnback loop simulating the town of Elkins, West Virginia.  There will be a fiddle yard in the open just to the left of the lower loop. The upper town will be Thomas, West Virginia, the town on a hillside at the top of the mountain!

Actually there is a storm coming through. It is already down below 70 at 7:45.  I'll send it on east!!  

Mark, are you going to do a subway? I'm thinking a buying a set of these old style MTH subway cars and install a pantograph on top. I would use it as a tourist line to take people to the mines and ghost town. Don

Mark Boyce posted:

Thank you Arnold and Lew!  The lower level will be a turnback loop simulating the town of Elkins, West Virginia.  There will be a fiddle yard in the open just to the left of the lower loop. The upper town will be Thomas, West Virginia, the town on a hillside at the top of the mountain!

Actually there is a storm coming through. It is already down below 70 at 7:45.  I'll send it on east!!  

Sounds like a great plan, Mark.

Maybe one day I'll bring my MTH subway to your house and run it on the underground division of your layout. Arnold

scale rail posted:

Mark, are you going to do a subway? I'm thinking a buying a set of these old style MTH subway cars and install a pantograph on top. I would use it as a tourist line to take people to the mines and ghost town. Don

Great looking subways cars, nicer than mine.

scale rail posted:

Mark, are you going to do a subway? I'm thinking a buying a set of these old style MTH subway cars and install a pantograph on top. I would use it as a tourist line to take people to the mines and ghost town. Don

Don, Now those are subway cars I could get to like in a hurry!  Tourist line could certainly be in the future!  Every railroad needs to keep exploring new ways to generate revenue!! 

Arnold,

It has been very warm in Connecticut this summer and I have only one window air conditioner upstairs. So, I have sometimes retreated to the basement during the afternoons and amused myself by running trains.

MELGAR

I had to retreat to my "nice cool basement" for a few days.  Our central air crapped out last Friday and it wasn't fixed until Monday evening!  

The temperatures you ask?  90's with high humidity all three days!   What a time for the A/C to crap out!

Lookin' good, Mark - love the WM cars !

Been very hot and humid in Boston, too, for the past few days, but with rain and relief supposedly on the way tonight.

Mr. Cribari,

Great video as always. Thanks for sharing. It makes me feel like I have visited your excellent layout, even though I will probably never get the chance in real life.

GRJOHN, I think air conditioners are programed to go down when you need them the most. We are not getting a brake in the weather either. Both Erick and Flossie are headed are way. Going today to get supplies. Tomorrow will be moving trains up. I went with Allan Miller's suggestion and put all railroad equipment that sits low in big plastic sealed boxes. Don

Well Don, that's much uglier than a little hot air, that's for sure!

A/C is back, and I'm talking to the companies to see about a new system, this one is 20 years old.

John, sounds like you got good use out of your system, 20 years is good. Unless something changes before Monday it looks like the second hurricane will hit us direct. Not good. Don

Not good is putting it mildly!   I hope you get lucky before it makes it there and it goes somewhere else.

Along with a generator, for years I have thought about a backup HVAC system as well. Probably won't happen, but nice to think about. 

Don, sure hope the hurricane misses you, maybe it will turn a bit one way or the other before it gets to you. 

Aw man, you guys are making me jealous, all this talk about going down to a nice cool basement and running your trains is just  a kick in the pants.  I don't have a basement or even any type of layout in which to run my trains.  Bummer!!  And then to top it all off, my wife is working in Dallas and we have the house on the market because she wants to be where the grand baby is.  So for the last 2 months, I've been doing nothing but packing all my trains and stuff, all by myself.  It's only the dogs and I and its really hard to get the energy to do all the house packing when there is no help.  My Lab gives me moral support and she makes sure that she is always laying in the middle of where I have to walk.  It is very slow going.  Then to top it all off, my two favorite Mexican Restaurants said they didn't want to relocate to the Dallas area.  That was a real kick in the fanny.  I guess that would give me a reason to return home every once in a while just so I can have some REAL Mexican food and satisfy my cravings.

Don, I hope you all survive the on coming storms and you don't suffer any really bad damage.  I hope all goes well and your trains stay safe and dry.

All kidding aside, Arnold great topic and thanks to everyone, its made for some great reading so far.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well Don, that's much uglier than a little hot air, that's for sure!

A/C is back, and I'm talking to the companies to see about a new system, this one is 20 years old.

You might want to keep that 20 year old HVAC system if you can. I had a new furnace and a/c installed 3 years ago. The fan wheel for the blower exploded on the hottest days we have had here in Indiana.  The company that made the unit didn't have one.  The repairman finally found one.

scale rail posted:

Both Erick and Flossie are headed are way. Going today to get supplies. Tomorrow will be moving trains up. I went with Allan Miller's suggestion and put all railroad equipment that sits low in big plastic sealed boxes. Don

Sorry to hear that this is happening again, Don, especially so soon after the last one.  Your plan sounds good, but this is never good when you have high-end video equipment and model trains of the caliber of yours.  Not to mention the house and furnishings.  And the automobiles.  Hope this pair does not score direct hits.

Thanks Tom, as of now the word is it will run along the North coast of the big island of Hawaii and hit us right in the nose. Hope things change. Don

Sorry Arnold, didn't mean to hijack your wonderful thread. Let's get back to "Nice cool basement" thread. Don

No need to apologize, Don. Glad you brought up the hurricanes so our thoughts/prayers can be directed towards you.

JEM, it occurred to me when I started this thread that not everyone has a layout or a basement. I decided to go ahead because those of us that have them can post photos/videos of them, thereby sharing them with everyone, including those that don't have a basement or layout.

Below is a long coal drag pulled through town by an MTH Railking Proto 2 Pennsy Turbine:

Whenever I run a coal drag like this, I think of the song, Sixteen Tons, sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford. LOL, Arnold

Arnold,

Great video as always. Keep them coming.

feet posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well Don, that's much uglier than a little hot air, that's for sure!

A/C is back, and I'm talking to the companies to see about a new system, this one is 20 years old.

You might want to keep that 20 year old HVAC system if you can. I had a new furnace and a/c installed 3 years ago. The fan wheel for the blower exploded on the hottest days we have had here in Indiana.  The company that made the unit didn't have one.  The repairman finally found one.

The wiring to the motor start cap exploded in mine on the 95 degree 95% humidity day, and I went from Friday to Monday evening without A/C, so they can fail at any age.  FYI, they don't fail when the temperature is 70F, they fail when the temperature is hotter than ...   Also, mine is still using R22 Freon, and as of the end of the year, that is turning into unobtainium.  Right now, the quotes for R22 charging in our area are $140-$160 a pound!  If the system has around 4-5 pounds of Freon and develops a leak, you not only have to fix the leak, you also have to pay $600-$700 for the Freon to refill it!   I'll also be moving from 10 SEER to probably 16 SEER, a significant energy savings, and the system will have at least a five year P/L warranty, and a ten year parts warranty.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

feet posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well Don, that's much uglier than a little hot air, that's for sure!

A/C is back, and I'm talking to the companies to see about a new system, this one is 20 years old.

You might want to keep that 20 year old HVAC system if you can. I had a new furnace and a/c installed 3 years ago. The fan wheel for the blower exploded on the hottest days we have had here in Indiana.  The company that made the unit didn't have one.  The repairman finally found one.

The wiring to the motor start cap exploded in mine on the 95 degree 95% humidity day, and I went from Friday to Monday evening without A/C, so they can fail at any age.  FYI, they don't fail when the temperature is 70F, they fail when the temperature is hotter than ...   Also, mine is still using R22 Freon, and as of the end of the year, that is turning into unobtainium.  Right now, the quotes for R22 charging in our area are $140-$160 a pound!  If the system has around 4-5 pounds of Freon and develops a leak, you not only have to fix the leak, you also have to pay $600-$700 for the Freon to refill it!   I'll also be moving from 10 SEER to probably 16 SEER, a significant energy savings, and the system will have at least a five year P/L warranty, and a ten year parts warranty.

Going from 10 to 15 or 16 SEER will be a big efficiency plus. You also might need to re-size the system, especially with more time being dedicated to a new train room !  I went with a premium brand 15 SEER Trane system (Carrier, Lennox and Trane are considered premium brands) which has worked well over the last five (5) years or so. It uses a "ramping" up and down system when it's turned on and shut off so there isn't as much wear and tear on the parts. I also opted for a wireless thermostat which is nice if you don't have a zoned system, because you can locate it where it gives the best balance. I believe it came with either a 5 or 7 year warranty. My installer also offers their own labor warranty if you sign-up and pay for their annual service inspection (about $150/year). I'd do some research and see what system, size and efficiency rating best suits your needs.  

I'm considering a second system for the basement area.  This will help with air distribution on the upper floors with fewer demands for basement climate control.  It's pretty hard to balance a system with three floors.  I will only be considering name brand systems, and it's useful to research if the "name brand" has fallen on hard times. 

In my previous house, I made the mistake of buying two Amana systems!   Turns out that they just slap their name on it now, the systems were made by Goodman, not a high quality manufacturer!  I won't trouble you with the litany of issues we had to sort out, suffice to say we went through six outdoor units to get two that worked properly!  It's a nightmare that I don't care to repeat!

Arnold, That is a nice coal drag!  Yes indeed, I can hear Ernie singing it now!

I'm playing carpenter.  Thirteen feet of shelving, 5 feet high.  

Lou N