I have being Dismantling my Layout that was half finished over the past few months as we were looking for a New Home and Finally found one.[:)]
The Basement for my Daughter & My Play area is 36’ long by 15’ wide in the Rec Room and the other Half I’ll probably go through the Washer/Dryer Room and extra small Room in Basement. How High would you build a layout with One Child/Possibly Two now the Wife tells me[:O] as I can’t keep it Overwhelmed in the RecRoom. My thoughts were 45"-55" High with a 16"-24" Shelf going alongside the Outer wall of the Recroom and at the end of the Recroom; try making a Folded Dogbone for continuous Operation.
Cats are needed around a MRR much like children are, he he he.
45-55" sounds good for your ability to work on it, not so much keeping it out of the way of the kids. I have no kids and my layout is 46" high so that I don’t have to bend over so much to play/work on it.
Remember if the kids are playing in the room they may run into/bumpthrow something at/on your layout with something or themselves if you use leg supports. If you use shelf brackets only it will reduce that likelyhood of bumping into legs.
I would also strongly recommend you use a plexiglass panel about 4’ high all the way around the edge of your layout to prevent “falling off” of trains/items should they bump/throw something on it, or if you get careless with the kids while runing your trains. It will provide a clear see-through barrier for accidents.
To get the kids “involved and learning” to “play with” and “respect Dady’s trains” you could start them with some Thomas the Train wooden train set/layouts, or with model electric thomas the tank engines as they age. A small layout built for their heigth {again with a barrier at the edges for safety} will get them “involved” and hopefully teach them respect for the trains.
The plexiglass thing is a great idea. I have young ones too and I have kept the layout on hold until the basement play room is played out. Probably in a couple of years.
Well, if your going to be sharing this room with your daughter then you may want to consider building an around the room shelf layout with a 24" wide shelf give or take at around eye level or a tad below. The tricycle motors have a way of reaching thing that you would think be beyond their reach. Especially if there’s something as cool a choo choo running around up there. I can remember walking into my son’s room when he was maybe 4 and him stacking things on top of his toy box building a tower so he could reach his objective. When I asked him what he was doing he just pointed to the ceiling and said I want my plane. Ok now no more airplane hanging form the ceiling dad bad idea until he get a little older.This way you’ll truly have a dual purpose room that is until either she throws you out so she can hang with her friends either that or discover boys and then you’ll have the whole basement to yourself.
Thanks for the Info; That PlexiGlass idea is a Great idea & I will be definatley using Brackets. Right now she wants to help me work on the trains as I built a couple modules and gave her some of my old Tycos and she’s pretty enthusiastic about it. She does seem to understand that Daddy’s trains are not childs toys and is very careful. One time I brought a 4x2 piece of plywood in the house and she went and brought me one of my Athearns, carrying it with both hands and disappeared again for a few mins and I heard a Help Daddy as she was trying to bring the Box I built to carry my DCC system in. I thought that was impressive that she new what I needed at 3 years old but of course the DCC is way up on A shelf now just in case. Every once in awhile I bring out the Blueline and she was so excited the first time she had an [oops] [(-D] …Now when I bring it out and she makes a Bridge for it to run under.
I like the idea of having a small layout for her (3 1/2 now) as she seems to understand the DC Power pack (Forward,Reverse & the Throttle as I was trying to teach her with an old Tyco that still works)
I know in that recroom I can unforunatley see some things flying on the layout and will probably break off pieces of Buildings that of course won’t make me happy.
The plan is to go along the outer wall in the RecRoom; at one end have a Folded Dogbone, comes back around the outer ledge; then through the laundry room and then a 9 x 9 foot room in the back of the house that I may get some of.
You could always plan for more than one level for the future. Build your lowest height right now and as she grows taller than in the future add more levels. This way it might be years before you even need anouther level but if it comes time to build one you will know you have a way to connect it. I always plan this way so i do not have to tear up track in the future.
The best for your situation is to box girder a shelf layout at 24" wide, give yourself as much room as you need to work on the layout and then do another box girder above for future expansion. Use the uppermost space for storage for now and put a plexiglass front that can be removed easily. Now you have a bomb proof layout that is easy to keep clean and lots of storage at this stage of your life. The dog-bone ends work great and that is what I have. I also have a track on the regular straight areas 3" in from each side which gives me lots running options.
My dad designed a system to prevent damage when the other set of grandkids show up. (They’re not called Sluggo and Crew for nothing…[:O])
Before:
After:
The doors are hinged at the top, and swing up when in use, down when needed. This covers things up in the common areas of the basements, where the grandkids are allowed access when they spend time, and sleep in the basement. There are also two room areas that have doors which get locked.
Thanks for all the info Guys; some ideas I’ll definatley be using and That is Simply an amazing job Mike; I don’t think I’m that crafty but we have a small Basement Bedroom that may need help. I was jotting things down at work on downtime over the weekend on possible expansions &/or 2nd Level in years to come; The Modules I built are 48" by 16" (only a few for now of course) which could easily be expanded by buildings, more track, etc…and Yes I was trying to figure out how a 2nd Level would fit into the plans easily but Height Level is Still a Question…
The padlocks are small and black. Used on the white paneled areas.
On the other section with the framed Masonite panels he used small keyed cabinet locks. These are the little silver circles at the bottom. Lower the section, then twist the key to lock it in place. The two room areas also get locked up.
No pit bulls needed. He’s not really an animal person anyways.
