I think it is an admirable idea to make a layout for use in a hospital. I would like to offer a suggestion before going too far down the route of building something. First make some enquiries with the hospital Biomedical Engineering Department. Some hospitals are sticklers for electrical safety testing any electrical device that is going to be in a patient care area or even a public area of the hospital. Of course their primary job is to check medical devices, but it would be a great shame to fall foul of a Biomed department which wants to rigorously apply medical safety standards to the model RR. I have met some Biomed guys in my time who would enjoy nothing more than refusing to let the layout be used, no matter how good the intention.
When my friend and I were in Halifax this past May, the IWK layout was the first one we visited as part of the openhouse tours for the Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders’ convention. It is an amazing layout and extremely popular with not just the patients, but with the families and hospital staff as well.
The volunteers who maintain and run it are a very proud bunch (and justly so). They’re also a very talkative lot ! We spent nearly triple the time we had planned listening to their stories. [:)]
I think such a layout is an excellent idea for children’s hospitals or long-term care/rehabilitation centres. It is an excellent happy distraction for the patients and families who often have very little joy in their lives otherwise.