Paradise in the Basement

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Strap Hanger, speaking of Paradise by the DashBoard, were you rounding third, and did you make it to home (plate)? LOL

And are you hoping for the end of time? LOL

Your layout looks like a very interesting one that is full of fun.

LOL!  Thanks Arnold. Too much libation last night to round any bases, LOL! Love  your fun layout as well. It was nice to see the dockside section in the photos above. I’d have no problem hanging out in your basement with that layout!

While I an focused on a small niche in the hobby, I love to see folk's layouts be they small/large, simple/complex, traditional/scale!

My wife and I are currently living in an apartment while our retirement home gets built, so ALL of my trains are carefully packed away and are in storage.

Hasn't stopped me from playing with toys, however.  While my trains are away, My little paradise is the 12'x8' 1:32 digital slot car set in my office bedroom.

Jim

Still under construction, but at least trains are running and I can imagine what it will look like all fleshed out with some scenery, buildings, etc.   I guess we can call this a basement, but I think the tax man thinks it's living space because of the walkout.

I parked a few things on the TT, got to have a place for the Wienermobile!

Moving forward with the freight yard expansion.

@boomer0622 posted:

This is my little slice of "basement paradise"  in Northern Va.  I started this train room in 2015.  However I built the double helix in Flroida about 5 years earlier.

Wow Boomer - Great action!!    

Cheers, Dave

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Still under construction, but at least trains are running and I can imagine what it will look like all fleshed out with some scenery, buildings, etc.   I guess we can call this a basement, but I think the tax man thinks it's living space because of the walkout.

John, you have a great space!  Anxious to follow your progress!

Cheers, Dave

John, you do have a nice space, even at the current level of completion and functionality, your layout is very pleasing to look at without scenery. Do you plan on having a scenic background along the wall?

Joe

Joe, I'm thinking of building flats with my cloudy sky backdrop that I have waiting in the wings, that would be along the second level.  The grade has a yard behind it, so I haven't decided how that would be done yet, I'm actually mulling over the possibility of stacking another yard above the existing one to add more yard space.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Still under construction, but at least trains are running and I can imagine what it will look like all fleshed out with some scenery, buildings, etc.   I guess we can call this a basement, but I think the tax man thinks it's living space because of the walkout.

I parked a few things on the TT, got to have a place for the Wienermobile!

Moving forward with the freight yard expansion.

John, I think the lower level of your layout in your 1st above photo will be great for a subway. Arnold

You can never have enough yard space.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

John, I really like the curves in the bench-work and the upper platform.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

John, I think the lower level of your layout in your 1st above photo will be great for a subway. Arnold

Well, I could put a subway on the inner loop there, the outer loop is part of my mainline.  The track closest to the edge is my shop maintenance track, I can fire up locomotives there and drive them out onto the mainline for testing.

@ironman1 posted:

You can never have enough yard space.

Truer words have never been spoken, I wish I had planned for more yard tracks from the beginning.  I think no matter how many times you do this, you never cover all the bases!   Hopefully with my freight yard extension and maybe stacking three more in the back, I'll have sufficient yard space.  Not really enough, but sufficient.

@jd-train posted:

John, I really like the curves in the bench-work and the upper platform.

You can thank @Tom Tee for that, he came up and talked me into some expansion and all the fancy fascia.  I can't begin to thank him, it really is way nicer than my initial plans, it's nice to have great advice in time to use it!

Smoker's Paradise:

More smoker's paradise:

Can you guess what my favorite locomotive feature is?

Paradoxically, I'm a non-smoker, but I used to smoke a pipe about 50 years ago when I was in college and law school.

@Arnold D. Cribari

Arnold:

This is a GREAT thread!!!!! I am a little late to the party, but, here are some of my photos of the layout over the years. Currently, the layout is pulled apart and undergoing MAJOR renovation. I hope you all enjoy this retrospective of the Great Northeastern Railway, The standard Railroad of the basement.

Arnold, I think I am now suffering from second hand smoke!!!!  Do you know a lawyer??? 

@Arnold D. Cribari

Arnold I always enjoy your topics and the inspirations to us all to enjoy what we have and how good we all have it.  With all the "doom and gloom" that is spread in the world and sometimes in our own hobby, you always manage keep a nice bright inviting glow above the train table in the basement!!

For years I've had a leak in my basement when the washing machine goes into its rinse and spin cycle. It turns out that the leak happens because the pipe needs to be replaced with a wider one where the water exits the washing machine and empties into the pipe. I have a relatively new washing machine that causes the exiting water to flow with more pressure than the original pipe can accommodate.

For a while, I thought that this leak could be incorporated into the layout as a geyser or waterfall with real water, enhancing the paradise aspect of the layout and basement.

More recently, I've grown sick and tired of this leak, that results in dampening a nearby switch track and puddles on the basement floor. I have a good dehumidifier, but am tired of mopping up puddles and wringing out towels a couple of times each week.

Real water, dampness, and excessive humidity don't go well with electric trains.

Today, I am thrilled to have a good plumber in my basement to replace an inoperable sump pump, replace the above-mentioned pipe with a wider one and fix the leak.

A dry basement will definitely make my layout more like paradise.

Arnold, Your paradise will be like Heaven when the water problems are corrected!!

My West Coast 2200 foot two story home has neither basement nor high enough (5’) attic, so my layout shares "Paradise" space in the first floor family room.

@OddIsHeRU posted:

My West Coast 2200 foot two story home has neither basement nor high enough (5’) attic, so my layout shares "Paradise" space in the first floor family room.

Hi OddIsHeRU, I have the same issue. West coast homes, at least in California, typically don't have attics or basements! I also have a two story house with no basement and a attic that is only good for some storage. My layout is also in the living room and is shaped to fit into the bay window. People watch from outside all the time, especially at Xmas when the tree is setup in the middle of the layout. Very nice looking layout by the way, thanks for sharing it. Happy modeling!

Richard and WesternPacific2217, I think you both did a great job building very nice layouts in limited space.

Unlike both of you,  I do have a layout in the basement, but I only have a half basement, so my layout space is also limited.. In order to make my layout more interesting, the trains run around three walls in the playroom and laundry room in the basement. My favorite thing about my layout is I tunneled through the wall between the playroom and laundry room so the trains leave the playroom and return through that tunnel for a nice dramatic effect.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Richard and WesternPacific2217, I think you both did a great job building very nice layouts in limited space.

Unlike both of you,  I do have a layout in the basement, but I only have a half basement, so my layout space is also limited.. In order to make my layout more interesting, the trains run around three walls in the playroom and laundry room in the basement. My favorite thing about my layout is I tunneled through the wall between the playroom and laundry room so the trains leave the playroom and return through that tunnel for a nice dramatic effect.

I really like your baseball field, nice job! I'll bet it looks totally cool at night with the flood lights on! I wish I had a basement! :-(

Great thread Arnold!  I really enjoy the beautiful "train caves' and layouts featured here.

My tiny slice of paradise is only 16 in wide by 8 ft long.  Its a seasonal layout (comes down in the spring and summer and back up for the fall and winter) that occupies a section of our den.  This is my first O-Gauge "layout" and I hope to have time to expand it this season.  It has two key features - a coal tower scene and a depot scene.  It's an admittedly modest pike, but brings me hours of enjoyment none-the-less.

Here's the coal tower scene with a line-up of Pennsy power.

Here's a couple of pics of the depot scene.

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Hi OddIsHeRU, I have the same issue. West coast homes, at least in California, typically don't have attics or basements! I also have a two story house with no basement and a attic that is only good for some storage. My layout is also in the living room and is shaped to fit into the bay window. People watch from outside all the time, especially at Xmas when the tree is setup in the middle of the layout. Very nice looking layout by the way, thanks for sharing it. Happy modeling!

I'm losing it!!! I forgot to mention that the name of my layout is "Paradise", so named after Paradise, California. So, Paradise in the Living Room. Southern Pacific had a branch that ran through Paradise from Stirling City to Chico (25 miles) to transport lumber to the Diamond match plant in Chico. It's a bike trail now. I wanted to pay tribute to all those folks that lost their life's (85), homes and businesses in the November 8, 2018 Camp fire that almost completely destroyed Paradise, Magalia, and Concow (20,000 structures burned to the ground). My Dad lived in Magalia for 30 years until he passed in 2010, and I would visit every month. Unfortunately my Dad's old house also was burned to the ground. I'm sort of glad he wasn't around for all that! One of the fun things I did with my Dad was The Feather River Canyon, just 20 miles from Paradise. We would fish, watch UP and BNSF trains negotiate the canyon, and be total bums in such a beautiful place! May Paradise, Magalia and Concow rebuild and live on.

Great topic as always @Arnold D. Cribari! Love all of the photos of the layouts and rooms, especially @Mark Boyce with his WM layout! I have not been on the forum in a while so here is the latest on my slice of paradise! Hope you all are having a great summer.

Chris, thank you very much!  I have been pleasantly surprised at how many folks call out my under construction layout for a like.  I am itching to get some scenery built.  I've seen several of your videos, and you defiantly have a paradise layout room.  I have two daughters, now 30 and 28, and they still are an influence on my train hobby.

Chris 1985, beautiful train layout.

Chris,

It was such a pleasure to be taken on a video tour of your train room, trains and layout, which are, indeed, a slice of paradise.

What I found special about it was seeing how gorgeous you keep the entire room, including your couch and  what is under your train tables, as well as the layout itself.

You have everything so neat, clean and well-organized.

I call layouts and train rooms like yours Divine Perfection.

Arnold

Here are a few shots of my last layout, built in a garage converted to living space and now dismantled.  The lower (outer) track ran Flyer and two upper ones were 027.

Looks great, @TrainsRMe  Do you plan to build another layout.

@TrainsRMe posted:

Here are a few shots of my last layout, built in a garage converted to living space and now dismantled.  The lower (outer) track ran Flyer and two upper ones were 027.

TrainsRMe, outstanding layout, thanks for sharing it.

@Chris1985 posted:

Great topic as always @Arnold D. Cribari! Love all of the photos of the layouts and rooms, especially @Mark Boyce with his WM layout! I have not been on the forum in a while so here is the latest on my slice of paradise! Hope you all are having a great summer.

Hello Chris, AKA RBP Trains good to see you post in OGR. I watch your YouTube channel whenever you add content and you're always entertaining, and I'm a subscriber. I had to laugh out loud at the video where you had been up most of the night doing something to your piece of Paradise, and you looked about ready to pass out! LoL Now that's dedicated to record a video after and all night model train binge. Thanks for all the fun videos, I know it's a lot of time and work to make them.

For me, this Paradise in the Basement thread has also become Paradise on my Smartphone. I always visit this Forum on my smartphone.

For some of you folks, it is Paradise on your Computer, or Paradise on your i-Pad.

I congratulate all of you who have posted such gorgeous photos of your layouts. It will be nice to revisit this thread and contribute to it, periodically, over time.

As we continue to make adjustments to our layouts as our concept of model train Paradise evolves over time, it will be nice to share additional photos with each other.

For me, one thing is very likely to remain: Baseball & Trains, but I may do things in the future to improve it:

Arnold

Arnold, all the shots you've shown us are great, but I just love your baseball scene with all its details.  Thanks for starting this thread.

Some pictures of Paradise in my Basement

@John E K posted:

Some pictures of Paradise in my Basement

Great set up! Thanks for posting, what are the streets made of? Track plan?

@BobbyD posted:

Great set up! Thanks for posting, what are the streets made of? Track plan?

Thanks. I brushed on the streets - Craft Smart Dark Gray acrylic from Michael’s. The track plan is a layout featured in CTT March 1994 with two extra sidings. I need to draw it in a proper layout program to share.

Here are some photos and a video of my project this morning renovating the area in and about the new black hose and white pipe:

Arnold

PS: My next project will be white clouds along the white pipe, so stay tuned.