05-18-2009, 11:14 AM
If the space were mine, I wouldn't waste it by reserving it for a car. 
I'd close-off (or replace with a wall) the main door, replacing it with a man door on the southeast front corner, then construct a hallway from there to the door to the house. Make the hallway as wide as required for tool and toy storage, workbench, freezer, etc. Provide a separate door off the hallway for access to the trainroom. 
If, however, you have to cater to the car, you might as well lose that 2'x2' "bump" beside the freezer: even as a short leg of an upside down "L", access to it will be limited if the car is inside. I'd then build a wall around the perimeter of the remaining shaded area, placing the access door at least 6' from the north wall. Because of the overhead garage door, you'll need to drop the ceiling to accommodate the doortrack on the west side, although, beyond the inner end of that, you could revert to a full-height ceiling. The 6' width of the room thus created will allow a complete loop on either end of the room, with the connecting tracks squished closer together to allow aisle space. I'd still go with a two-level layout, (each level independent of the other) then design one (probably the upper one) for continuous running, the lower one as your branchline. If the upper deck is near eye-level, the lower one can be situated so that it's comfortable to operate from a rolling office chair.
Even if the additional cost of that wall delays layout construction by a year, I think that, in the end, you'll benefit greatly from having a dedicated space for the trains. Under-layout space can still be used for storage of regular household items, too. :mrgreen:
Wayne
I'd close-off (or replace with a wall) the main door, replacing it with a man door on the southeast front corner, then construct a hallway from there to the door to the house. Make the hallway as wide as required for tool and toy storage, workbench, freezer, etc. Provide a separate door off the hallway for access to the trainroom. If, however, you have to cater to the car, you might as well lose that 2'x2' "bump" beside the freezer: even as a short leg of an upside down "L", access to it will be limited if the car is inside. I'd then build a wall around the perimeter of the remaining shaded area, placing the access door at least 6' from the north wall. Because of the overhead garage door, you'll need to drop the ceiling to accommodate the doortrack on the west side, although, beyond the inner end of that, you could revert to a full-height ceiling. The 6' width of the room thus created will allow a complete loop on either end of the room, with the connecting tracks squished closer together to allow aisle space. I'd still go with a two-level layout, (each level independent of the other) then design one (probably the upper one) for continuous running, the lower one as your branchline. If the upper deck is near eye-level, the lower one can be situated so that it's comfortable to operate from a rolling office chair.
Even if the additional cost of that wall delays layout construction by a year, I think that, in the end, you'll benefit greatly from having a dedicated space for the trains. Under-layout space can still be used for storage of regular household items, too. :mrgreen:
Wayne