I have two potential locations for a model railroad. One is a carpeted bedroom with three windows. The other is an unfinished basement with a painted floor. I was going to use the bedroom but then saw a feature which warned against the UV rays and indicated you had to block all windows. Which location should I use?
The basement for sure. More room the happier you will be.
LION has his layout on the third floor. The windows are new and block UV since this building is also the library building, and they wanted all of the windows to be the same.
This is an older picture of the LION’S Layout with his big clasroom windows in the background.
ROAR
Carpets make a softer landing when trains decide to jump off the table for no apparent reason. On the other hand things like coupler knuckle springs fall into all the black holes in the fabric of the carpet, never to be seen again.
Depending on the height of the windows having three of them could really limit the layout design.
They make UV coatings for windows.
How’s the humidity in the basement and is it constant or changing a lot? What about basement lighting? Are you going to have to add/modify it or do you need to do that in either instance?
Are the basement walls sealed or are they going to be constantly sifting dirt into the layout room?
All of these things could be points to ponder.
Making scenery can be very messy. It would be easier to clean the basement floor than the carpet upstairs.
You have more things to consider besides UV issues.
Is the basement a dry one? If not you will need a dehumidifier or two to keep moisture down.Moisture is not friendly to small moving parts.Musty smell or moss growing in corners is a bad sign.
Is it a clean basement? Dust and dirt are enemies to small moving parts! You will need to keep it covered to keep dust from the floors above from settling on it, unless it is ceiling-ed. Even then, dust will appear.
Is the basement temperate for you to work in? My father, for insatnce, can’t stand the “cold” of his dry basement at the age of 80 any more.
Can you stand to stand on the concrete for periods of time? I cannot with a bad back, so some sort of covering would be needed for me to work in a basement {I’d dearly love one to try in!}
Stairs, cna you climb them often? Will you as you age? I can’t any more}
Lots of space gfor a big layout, or expansion of one.
On the other hand, is the spare BR big enough for your pike? THe one you really really want to build?
It can get dirty too, so the covering may be needed there too. Hot air heating/AC tends to distribute dust too.
Can’t you just get the window shade film and soap and water it on the windows to cover the issue of any UV, how about curtains?
WIll the closets in the BR need to be accessed often? Or can you block them off permenantly?
What will the wifey think of having a BR “taken away” from general use? Or will it not be missed as a BR?
Wuill you have room for a “workshop desk” in the BR too to work on your train projects?
Carpets have a way of eating up small detail and crucial parts! But are nicer to stand on when workin’ on the RR…
In the end, what matters most ot you will dictate where you build. You CAN build in the BR with the idea that if it doesn’t work out, you can move it to the basement.So make it "po
If you’re building the same size in either place then use the bedroom. You can use shades or UV coating to deal with the window/UV problem.
OTOH if you can build a bigger layout in the basement and you want to, then the question is: how suitable is the basement? Mine is really just another floor in the house in terms of heating, AC, humidity. The ductwork has openings in the basement, the walls are insulated, and the heating and AC is sized to handle the basement as well as the upstairs. It’s not finished but there are many solutions for that. However, if your basement is not like the rest of the house then what do have to do to bring it up to habitable? Is it worth it to you?
Good luck
Paul
fluroescent lights put out some UV light as well, so you may stiil have some in the basement. It is a trade off. Incandescent lights put out more heat and cost more to run; fluros cost less to run, have a bit of UV and you have to decide what color value of lamp to use. You can run incandescent lights on a dimmer, not so with many fluroescents - the dimmable ones cost more.
Hi,
What Galaxy wrote…
Basement, more room for expansion. [swg]
Rich
When one of my switching layouts was force to cross a window I used a old fashion window blinds behind the curtains…No problems in the 5 years that layout was in use…
Sorry,guys,but,I think some of you invent problems when layouts need to cross windows.
There is several easy fixes beside a nasty basement.
I have carpet in the train room and small parts do get lost. Its one of the reasons the doggie is not allowed in there and I use a basin when working on rolling stock etc. But it is climate controlled which means I run all year round even in summer (when not in the pool). OTOH one of my first layouts was in a basement but it too was dry and at least relatively cool. What ever you decide you will be happier in a climate controlled room IMHO.
I wouldn’t even bother worrying about UV effects. That thread was talking about outdoors in semi-direct light.
If mere proximity to a window was enough to do it, then trucker tan wouldn’t be a thing.
I don’t believe window blinds are so ‘‘Old Fashion’’, I have them in every room in the house,except the living room,they are the mini vinyl black out blinds, If you want dark,you got dark…My layout is in my finished attic,with heat and A/C,The only thing that these 70yr old bones are starting to feel,are the 14 steps,to get there,LOL,Can’t have basement,water table is too high…
Cheers,
Frank
I’d opt for the basement, unless you have serious climate issues. In most cases it will give you more options for designing your layout and possibly expanding it later. I have been forced into the basement and the environment in the summer is probably better than where I’d prefer to be. My problem is that I set up my “temporary” layout in a small temporary room. Be sure to get a ceiling of some sort, even just luan, to keep dust and dirt from falling onto the layout. I am temporarily on hold doing much improving to the layout, until I install a ceiling to protect it. Due to pipes, etc. I will have to put in a drop ceiling.
If you have leg issues walking on concrete, you can get runners to go along the walk areas of your layout, if you don’t want to put down some other material all over the floor.
Good luck,
Richard
Would the SPF suncreen that you would apply onto your locomotives and rolling stock for protection also work on the scenery and structures? Or would you need a higher SPF due their prolonged exposure to the suns UV’s?
[:-^]
Happy Modeling!
Don [(-D]
NITTANYLION,
I’m going to have to disagree,with you on the trucker tan,my best friend ‘‘MARTY’’ who is 73,drove a truck most of his life,like I did and his left arm is Sun damaged dead skin cells which won’t reproduce,it looks terrible in the summer,mine is not as bad as his,but I still have.it…Never under estimate UV rays from the Sun…
Cheers,
Frank
Apply with chalk and you’re weathering with sunscreen. [swg]
My train room is upstairs. It’s got carpet, heat and air conditioning, and it’s bigger than the basement. At one point, I asked my wife if she’d rather have me build the layout in the basement, with the understanding that the decision was final. She gave me the train room, which is more out of the way. I think her real motive was that she wanted the basement for all her art supplies and general junk, and realized that the train room, despite its “faults,” would actually look nicer than her mess.
One thing about the train room I don’t like is the angled roofline. This takes space away, as the layout can’t use the full width of the floor. Also, a backdrop against those walls is not practical.
I’m nearing retirement, and we’ll probably relocate to somewhere smaller, in a state with lower taxes. For my train room, I’m hoping for a nice, big basement.
That’s not disagreeing, because I didn’t say it wasn’t a thing.
I was saying that if mere proximity to sunlight was enough to UV bleach plastic, then truckers wouldn’t get the left arm tan. They’d be getting a whole body tan.
There was a summer I got sunburn on my left ear and arm from a long road trip and didn’t even get any sun on my right arm. If just being “in sunlight” because of sun coming through glass was enough, then my right arm would have been sunburned too. Or people could just sit in a sunny window in winter to tan.