01-03-2014, 01:49 AM
Spent a couple of days in my train room this Christmas vacation, to get it ready for the fun stuff. The ceiling was paneled earlier this fall, but the walls and floor was in a rather poor condition. After scrubbing and painting the walls and laying new flooring, it was finally time to start building the benchwork!
As I'm building the layout in modules, I'll have a separate frame with storage shelves under the layout, much like the benchwork I did in Vigdis' room. How ever, deciding on a suitable layout height isn't as simple as it sounds. For a single level layout, I've found that a railtop height of 140cm (55") is great for a standing operating position, whereas 105cm (41") is perfect for sitting down. Plus, the FREMO standard calls for a railtop height of 130cm (51"), so if I want to be able to attach freestanding modules towards the center of the room without building an extra set of legs, I need to take this into consideration as well...
Anyway, I've toyed around with the idea of having a second deck as a possible future extension, and yesterday I did a mockup to experiment with different heights:
![[Image: 3593_w1200.jpg]](http://www.hjemstad.no/pics/2014/01/3593_w1200.jpg)
The pic shows the lower modular deck at 100cm (39") and the upper deck at 150cm (59"), I chose these heights as a starting point. To represent the upper deck, I retrieved one of my old layout sections from the attic. With its 10cm (4") height, it resembles an upper deck construction perfectly.
As clearly shown in the pic, there is plenty of room between the decks, I have no problems getting my head and shoulders (not the shampoo...) in there to do some work. It may seem that the upper deck is a bit high compared to the low ceiling height of only 190cm (75"), so the question is whether I should lower the upper deck by 5cm (2") or raise the lower one accordingly. Lowering the upper deck will give some more space up there, but it will block some of the view of the lower deck (only the rear part, behind the track) when standing. Raising the lower deck will give a perfect height for seated operating, and the blocked view isn't as noticable since both decks are a little closer to eye level.
I've never worked on a double deck layout before. Those of you who have, what are your experience and what do you recommend?
Also, I'm wondering whether I should build the framework to match the lower deck right from the start, or if I should go with a higher single deck layout now, and just lower the framework when/if I get to add a second deck at a later stage.
What do you guys think?
PS: I've also posted this in my other thread http://www.bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewt...3&start=15.
As I'm building the layout in modules, I'll have a separate frame with storage shelves under the layout, much like the benchwork I did in Vigdis' room. How ever, deciding on a suitable layout height isn't as simple as it sounds. For a single level layout, I've found that a railtop height of 140cm (55") is great for a standing operating position, whereas 105cm (41") is perfect for sitting down. Plus, the FREMO standard calls for a railtop height of 130cm (51"), so if I want to be able to attach freestanding modules towards the center of the room without building an extra set of legs, I need to take this into consideration as well...
Anyway, I've toyed around with the idea of having a second deck as a possible future extension, and yesterday I did a mockup to experiment with different heights:
The pic shows the lower modular deck at 100cm (39") and the upper deck at 150cm (59"), I chose these heights as a starting point. To represent the upper deck, I retrieved one of my old layout sections from the attic. With its 10cm (4") height, it resembles an upper deck construction perfectly.
As clearly shown in the pic, there is plenty of room between the decks, I have no problems getting my head and shoulders (not the shampoo...) in there to do some work. It may seem that the upper deck is a bit high compared to the low ceiling height of only 190cm (75"), so the question is whether I should lower the upper deck by 5cm (2") or raise the lower one accordingly. Lowering the upper deck will give some more space up there, but it will block some of the view of the lower deck (only the rear part, behind the track) when standing. Raising the lower deck will give a perfect height for seated operating, and the blocked view isn't as noticable since both decks are a little closer to eye level.
I've never worked on a double deck layout before. Those of you who have, what are your experience and what do you recommend?
Also, I'm wondering whether I should build the framework to match the lower deck right from the start, or if I should go with a higher single deck layout now, and just lower the framework when/if I get to add a second deck at a later stage.
What do you guys think?
PS: I've also posted this in my other thread http://www.bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewt...3&start=15.