I will be moving to Oklahoma this summer and I will probably only “get” the garage as avalible space for my layout. However, I am concerned about the summer heat and dirt and dust from the garage door opening and closing all the time. Please share your thoughts and ideas on building garage layouts dealing with Oklahoma heat.
First off, Welcome to Oklahoma! Second, if you don’t like the weather when you get here, just wait a minute, it’ll change. That said, a climate controlled and enclosed area is really needed. Temp swings and blowing dirt can be a real problem.
If you get the whole garage, you can limit the opening and closing of the door -that would fight the dust problem, also you can get an air purifier to help some too. As for the heat, if it is a newer house or a newer door it may be insulated or you can put some sheets of pink/ blue foam, I had a friend who did that here in Oregon so he could keep the garage heated in the winter for wood working. Another option is to get one of those R2D2 looking portable AC units like this one http://www.homedepot.com/buy/appliances/air-conditioners-fans-dehumidifiers/lg-electronics/9-000-btu-portable-air-conditioner-22712.html
My layout is in an uninsulated garage in Northern MI. If your garage is insulated you should be better off, but if it isnt, well its going to be deathly hot in the summer. In northern MI the best modeling time for me is spring and fall, summer is to hot, winter to cold.
As for dust, I only notice it on rock castings and roads. If scenary looks dusty, some sprucing up with ground covering would help.
Got any more questions please feel free to ask
Is the use of the garage exclusive to the layout or is it shared space with “outdoor” storage? If the latter, dust, humidity and temp changes will always be a problem.
Beyond that, you need to consider what materials you will use for the benchwork and sub-roadbed. Dimensional lumber is most likely not a material of choice. Plywood and/or metal studs will be preferable in climate challenged layout spaces.
That’s where mine is. It fills the entire two car garage.
There are three things that you need to do to the garage:
Insulate, insulate, and insulate!
Walls, ceiling, doors, around the edges of the garage doors, etc. You will be amazed how much difference it makes. I am in North Carolina. I am not sure how our climates compare, but my well insulated garage is a reasonable temperature year round. I need only a couple of fans to keep it cool in the summer, and I use a kerosene heater for just a few days in the winter. Before the insulation it was unbearable in the summer and very cold in the winter.
OK temps cant be any worse that SoCal, Winter lows here are low 30’s at night to mid 50’s daytime and summer temps can top 110.
When I started the first layout was in a drafty uninsulated garage that was cold as heck in winter and hot as heck during the summer. When we rebuilt the garage we also insulated that and its made a BIG difference, Winter temps will stay in the mid 50’s during winter, and mid 80’s during summer, if I added a heat pump AC unit I could maintain year round house like temps. But the insulation makes a huge difference. Like Phoebe, I only use a small electric heater in the winter and a fan in the summer.
As for dust, as long as the layout is raised and not on the floor it shouldnt be a problem, especially if the door is only raised when your in there. Just keep a good shop vac around and occasionally vacuum the floor up.
When we were kids on Long Island, dad built us a layout 8’x8’ which hung from the ceiling by ropes. He bought a winch to lower the layout. We were using American Flyer trains, and no we could not reach the middle, so we did not put any tracks there. We never did build any scenery, but we did change the layout frequently, perhaps even once a month, so dust was never a problem. Dad built the control panel with two transformers, and with plugs for blocks and switches we could reassemble anything very quickly.
Even way back then (can you say 1950s) the LION liked his passenger trains the best.
ROAR
Also, you might locate a February 2012 Model Railroader for the 4-page O Scale “Big City Railroading in a Garage” to see what can be done in a garage with dimensions of 18’x21’ where one car can still comfortably park in the middle of this U-shape layout. Here’s the February 2012 MR Video Preview.
If this is what you can do with an O Scale point-to-point layout – What “railroad empire” could be done here with N Scale using dogbone-ends instead of point-to-point?
For what it is worth, this MR issue is dedicated to what can be designed in tighter spaces, and another article, “3 Big Scenes for a Small Space”, illustrates on page 54 how to create forced-perspective depth through buildings beyond the backdrop.
This may further help to better visualize, and; how to more effectively plan remodeling, dust reduction, and climate control in your given space.
Thanks for all the help. A friend of mine might let me rent his house, he was telling me it is an “energy effiecent house” and the garage is insulated. OK summers can get up to 110-112, they are very hot! Winter is mild, but a little cool for working in the garage so I might have to get a small electric heater for the winters. That is easy enough though.
Another garage guy here. Not everybody gets a bowling alley sized humidor to put a layout in.
In addition to what others have already posted is some cheap carpet - an old tear out is perfect. This will do several things for you 1) The padding will have the legs and back thanking you 2) It keeps the cold off the feet in the winter 3) helps with dust control. If you get a free old tear out you can always pitch it if it gets too beat or dirty.
A good read is http://www.layoutvision.com/id42.html
If you have a garage for your layout, take the time and money to finish it off properly to help protect your layout.
It is amazing sometimes that guys will NOT finish off a space, but yet spend what could be thousands of dollars on a layout to keep in a dusty area.
Insulate the walls, ceiling and put in sheetrock, tape, mud and paint {primer first}. If the garage door seems to “leak” see if you can get a better one to help seal out dirt. If you have a window be sure to get a window AC to help keep heat down. Also a winter wall heater might be in order.
A layout can be an investment. By the time you add up benchwork, tracks, trains, scenery items and structures,you may find the thousand or so doallars I mentioned! Be sure to leave spacings at period intervals for heat epansions as I have read to many times about bucking trackwork in high heat areas.
GOod luck and have fun with the hobby your way!
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A concrete garage floor will generate dust forever. A couple of coats of garage floor paint will make a big difference.
Mine is painted.
You will be renting this house/garage, or renting an extra house just for your trains? If your trains need a roommate, lemme know!lol Well, since you are renting, finishing a garage (by the way, what size is the garage?) might be expensive. I agree with everyone, finish the space COMPLETELY, then build a layout (yes it’s a drag but in the long run will be better).
Might I suggest a modular or sectional layout, if you don’t want to finish the space first. Later, when you realize you should have finished the garage first,remove all the modules, finish the garage, then reinstall the modules in your finished space.
Good luck, don’t forget to post pics of your progress! 
If you can reduce or eliminate opening the vehicle door of the garage, and seal around its edges, dust can be kept under control - even if your garage has vents that can’t be closed (where is your water heater, and does it burn natural gas?)
Here in the dessicated desert I’ve insulated the east-facing door and the south wall of a garage that was drywalled and floor-sealed before I bought. Air temps range from sub-freezing in January to 120 plus in July and August, humidity is usually single digit and forest products are a non-starter for benchwork below the subgrade level. Even plywood assumes, `Interesting,’ shapes when it dries out.
I’ve been building, and running, in my double garage for six years now, and the temperature is a discomfort to me but not a problem to the models. I can’t say how much DCC equipment might be affected - I’m one of those fossils who prefers analog DC. A large fan, circulating air below the track level of the layout, helps keep things bearable when the temp gets ridiculous. The fridge full of cold water and diet drinks is also a convenience. During the (much shorter) cold season, a small heater right where I’m spending time is less expensive to operate than keeping the entire space working-warm would be.
Hope this helps.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on steel stud benchwork)