More money than you wanted to spend. I have a garage layout always, something to improve on.
You are correct on your first step.
1: Seek advice and you came to the right place.
Brent
Have a mind set to keep the room neat and clean. It will have a huge impact on your enjoyment.
Romiller
I have my layout in my garage and I fully agree I have a refrigerator directory across from it and beer quickly in hand. No train room is complete without it.
1 - floor - sealed, no dust
2 - insulated
3 - HVAC
4 - Light; general and track about 18" out from the layout. Dimmers on both. I use LED
5 - Power; two circuits on the same phase switched by the door. With good grounds. Another circuit for vacuum cleaners and power tools.
6 - cooler for cold beverages
7 - place to get rid of excess/used beverage. (you only rent it)
8 - seal cement to keep moisture out and dust down.
9 - floor covering, comfortable for feet and keep noise down.
Dan
TRAINS!
Don
PS all the other suggestions are good too.
Kids, big kids, little kids, old kids, young kids. After all you will need someone to enjoy all of that non digital stuff that you haven't touched in a long time. When they get to understand it all you will have a fan for life, and your world,will have been enriched. Rich
Originally Posted by rail:
TRAINS!
Don
PS all the other suggestions are good too.
DUH!! I was wondering how long it would take for someone to realize something important was missing!! 
Originally Posted by loco-dan:
1 - floor - sealed, no dust
2 - insulated
3 - HVAC
4 - Light; general and track about 18" out from the layout. Dimmers on both. I use LED
5 - Power; two circuits on the same phase switched by the door. With good grounds. Another circuit for vacuum cleaners and power tools.
6 - cooler for cold beverages
7 - place to get rid of excess/used beverage. (you only rent it)
8 - seal cement to keep moisture out and dust down.
9 - floor covering, comfortable for feet and keep noise down.
Dan
Very sound advice, especially #7. For lighting, invest in warn-white LED-based lighting as the florescent lighting tends to cast a yellow pallor over everything and incandescent lights generate a lot of heat.
