Good News...And Bad News
#16
MountainMan Wrote:On the contrary, I'm grateful! Thumbsup

Maybe sometime you can tell me how you did it.

My current thinking is to go along the left-hand wall with a small peninsula somewhere around the middle, although that doesn't seem too imaginative. I may have to conduct further negotiations with my wife re dedicated right-of-way! 8-)

That seems like the most likely area, yes - perhaps with some kind of lift-up/lift-out/swing gate across the path between the main door and the area in front of the walk-in closet, and some trackage along the right wall below the walk-in closet.

N scale or H0 scale? Continuous run a must, or point-to-point a good option ?

Smile,
Stein
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#17
MountainMan,
I have some Ideas but before I submit I need to know if the gold lines on the JPG that is posted are accurate or if the room is indeed the true dimensions you listed. I don't have any way to view anything except the JPG.
I have been up against something similar at my new place.
Charlie
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#18
My pleasure MM. Glad I could help you.

Loren
I got my first train when I was three,
put a hundred thousand miles on my knees.
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#19
steinjr Wrote:
MountainMan Wrote:On the contrary, I'm grateful! Thumbsup

Maybe sometime you can tell me how you did it.

My current thinking is to go along the left-hand wall with a small peninsula somewhere around the middle, although that doesn't seem too imaginative. I may have to conduct further negotiations with my wife re dedicated right-of-way! 8-)

That seems like the most likely area, yes - perhaps with some kind of lift-up/lift-out/swing gate across the path between the main door and the area in front of the walk-in closet, and some trackage along the right wall below the walk-in closet.

N scale or H0 scale? Continuous run a must, or point-to-point a good option ?

Smile,
Stein

N-scale, point-to-point primarily with a mainline through the town that defines the connection to the outside world. Majority of traffic between town yard and factory. I'm considering ways to exit to a hidden staging yard so that made-up trains can arrvive at the town, be broken down, and distributed suitably while manufactured goods leave the factory and head out to the world.
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#20
Charlie B Wrote:MountainMan,
I have some Ideas but before I submit I need to know if the gold lines on the JPG that is posted are accurate or if the room is indeed the true dimensions you listed. I don't have any way to view anything except the JPG.
I have been up against something similar at my new place.
Charlie

The lines were accurate when I "drew" them, but appear to have shifted "upwards" about one foot along the bottom edge. :?
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#21
Wow! In N scale, you should be able to get a pretty good-size layout in this space. I'd suggest a simple lift-out for the entry door and the bathroom access. The entry door should be re-hung, if necessary, so that it doesn't swing open into the layout room.
If the closet isn't being used as such, remove the doors and consider it part of the room. If the closet still needs to be used as a closet, would it be possible to move the doors to one of the two walls which are not inside the layout room? You could then fill in the existing door opening, and have another blank wall.
If the patio doors don't need to be used, I'd treat them as if they weren't there, building the layout and the backdrop to more-or-less (more is better, in my opinion) Wink Goldth cover the entire opening. If the patio doors do need to be useable, I'd suggest keeping the layout in this area 2' or 3' away from the wall, then providing another lift-out (of a more manageable width) to gain entry to the "access hall" thus created.
Finally, the window is a very minor obstacle - my choice would be to cover it completely with the backdrop (fill the opening with something that doesn't look too objectionable when viewed from the outside - if you move or remove the layout, Eek the window would still be intact and easy to restore to its original purpose and appearance). Incidently, I'd treat the patio door problem in the same way - if they're not needed, cover them over completely in a similar temporary manner, or, if you need to leave them useable, make your backdrop on this side of the layout (with the hidden "access hall" behind it) a ceiling-height one. By covering the outside openings, you gain control over layout lighting and keep prying eyes from even knowing that there's a layout here, a good thing if theft or vandalism is a concern.

Wayne
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#22
just a note on a peninsula: remember they can be split down the middle by a divider. you can come out from the wall, and go around the divider/backdrop and then go back to the wall.

You can either continue onward, create a loop or just use the "back" for a yard or other storage...
~~ Mikey KB3VBR (Admin)
~~ NARA Member # 75    
~~ Baldwin Eddystone Unofficial Website

~~ I wonder what that would look like in 1:20.3???
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#23
Excellent ideas! The divided peninsula is a good one, either with a drop or an actual ridgeline that could host other activities. I also plan to show an active mining and refining operation elsewhere by installing an aerial tramway dropping down to deliver ore to the existing industry. I have the tramways drawn out and I'm working on powering it so that full hoppers come down and empties go back up.

Reworking doors and such unfortunately isn't feasible, as this place is a rental, and we need the closet as a closet. However, since the entry door swings in and to the right, it probably won't be much of a hindrance.

I'm personally leery of lift-outs and duck-unders because of a) my lack of advanced skills, and b) my age. I don't duck like I used to.

I agree that the window is going to have to be covered, but I will need to think about ventilation in the summer. If I leave the door open, for example, I encourage an entire herd of dogs, both large and small, to wander in a kibitz. I could always cover the window with a photo-mural of myself looking back out and holding a shotgun at port arms... 8-) Or maybe just a candid shot of our Rottweiler.

I just spoke to my wife, and she said the entire room is MINE!! (Of course, my elation is tempered by the fact that the room is full of stuff that will have to be stored somewhere... :? yard sale?) There will be a brief pause while I savor the moment, unlikely to be experienced again in my lifetime, before moving on.

Thanks all of you for your thoughts, ideas and inspirations.
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#24
I think I would consider the room a 10 x 10 for the layout. I would reduce that by 2 -3 feet along the area in front of the walkin closet and the patio doors. Put your work bench in the corner opposite the entry door next the the walkin closet wall. The window I would cover with a back drop, and then design the layout to be around the walls with it narrowing to a draw bridge or swing bridge in front of the bathroom door. To avoid duckunders put the entrance into the layout either in front of the patio doors or in front of the walkin closet. I think I would put the entrance in front of the patio doors so that you can easily enter the layout from outside, but you may want to put in a wall there to provide some insulation for the layout during winter. Being from Southern California where REALLY cold weather gets down to the high 50's sometimes and perhaps into the 40's at night, I'm not familiar with really cold weather.
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#25
Russ Bellinis Wrote:I think I would consider the room a 10 x 10 for the layout. I would reduce that by 2 -3 feet along the area in front of the walk-in closet and the patio doors. Put your work bench in the corner opposite the entry door next the the walk-in closet wall. The window I would cover with a back drop, and then design the layout to be around the walls with it narrowing to a draw bridge or swing bridge in front of the bathroom door. To avoid duck-unders put the entrance into the layout either in front of the patio doors or in front of the walk-in closet. I think I would put the entrance in front of the patio doors so that you can easily enter the layout from outside, but you may want to put in a wall there to provide some insulation for the layout during winter. Being from Southern California where REALLY cold weather gets down to the high 50's sometimes and perhaps into the 40's at night, I'm not familiar with really cold weather.

Excellent considerations. We live in the middle of the Monument-Divide weather machine, with temps that go to 100 in the summer and well below freezing in the winter, and this is a solar home. Heating and cooling are serious considerations as the house is fed by a solarium that covers the entire Southwest front of the house and opens, by patio door sets, into the Living Room and Master Bedroom as well. This particular set of doors opens directly to the outside, but that side of the house can get hot in the summer, and too much heat is BAD. I was thinking of using something like a water heater insulation blanket to cover the inside of the patio doors, which would allow the doors to be used, be easy to remove as needed, and could be covered with a suitable drop to enhance the scenery.
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#26
MountainMan
Here is what I would use for the layout area. It would be an Island type with 30 inch asiles around the outside. For N scale you could utilize the area I have marked yard with a track around the outside with pretty broad radius for the size, and still access all doors and windows easily, no duck unders either.
Charlie


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#27
That's an innovative plan! I'll chew on that for a while. Thanks. Thumbsup
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#28
Ditto to what Charlie has posted. Cheers

Use the spaces on the walls in between openings, windows, etc. for hanging your railfan shots, Model Train calendars, etc. And/or build or buy a nice set of display shelves for unused equipment and all that well-meaning railroady stuff folks who have heard you like trains have given you.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#29
ocalicreek Wrote:Ditto to what Charlie has posted. Cheers

Use the spaces on the walls in between openings, windows, etc. for hanging your railfan shots, Model Train calendars, etc. And/or build or buy a nice set of display shelves for unused equipment and all that well-meaning railroady stuff folks who have heard you like trains have given you.

Galen

... all that well-meaning railroady stuff folks who have heard you like trains have given you.

Isn't that the truth... 8-)
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