After a long hiatus I am resuming the construction of my 5’4" x 12’ HO scale layout. I had a thread going on it several years ago but I can’t find it so I will start anew.
The layout was put on hold because of back and leg problems which prevented me from working on it for more than a few minutes at a time. Our circumstances have changed significantly such that I am now in the position of being able to pay for a professional layout builder to do the trackwork and wiring.
I am currently in the process of signing a contract with Peter Lloyd-Lee. You may have seen his numerous You-Tube videos. He has built some amazing layouts. My layout is tiny in comparison to most of the layouts that he has done.
I’m going to use this thread for two purposes. The first will be to seek your advice on a variety of details like what switches to use in the control panels. The second will be to document the layout construction process. Be aware that the construction will not be done until sometime during the summer of 2024. The garage in which the layout will reside is not heated and we have cold winters so I’m not going to ask Peter to work under those conditions. I have a small space heater which will take the chill off, but I refuse to run it when the garage is not occupied.
My first question is about the control panels. FYI, I need to be able to operate the layout from a seated position with a minimum of standing and walking. For that reason, there will be a total of four control panels, two on each side of the walk around layout. For control purposes the layout will be divided down the middle lengthwise. One panel on each side will control the half of the layout closest to it, and the other panel(s) will control the half of the layout on the opposite side of the benchwork.
The panels must be as small as is reasonably possible, and I need to have bi-colour LED indicators on both of the diverging routes. I am too stupid to be able to remember w
Dave) You aint foolin me! Your only working on your layout now because you finished your snow plow and you need something to run it on. [(-D] [(-D] [(-D]
J/K - and best wishes to a good finish asap so you can get to running trains!
Here is the current track plan. I have spent many hours refining it using 3rd PlanIt. I know that 3rd PlanIt’s track component library is accurate because I have done some testing, so there shouldn’t be any nasty surprises when the track is being laid.
There are two parts to the benchwork, both of which will be on casters. One is the main layout which is 5’4" x 12’, and the second is the yard which is approximately 3’ x 10’ plus a couple of extensions where the yard will connect to the main layout. The two parts will be built so they can be separated and moved about individually. The reason for that is that I have limited space in the garage and I have to maintain room for storage, woodworking occassionally, and my paint booth and workbench. When the layout is in use I want to be able to walk around it comfortably, but when it is not in use, I want to be able to push it out of the way.
The main benchwork is built. I have not started construction of the yard benchwork yet. Before I can do that I need to get rid of a whole bunch of extraneous stuff that is taking up space in the garage.
Little things always go wrong in planning but your layout is loose enough that if one pops up it, only you will notice the change even if you gave someone your curent track plan. Glad you are able to finally build your layout.
Dave, is there ANY way you could find some kind of insulating material to throw against the walls? I don’t know where you live, but if you get nights as low as 10 deg F, your construction will need to be carefully considered, especially how the tracks are kept in alignment and adhered. And, in the summers, humidity might do nasty things.
I can see not wanting to waste energy and money heating a building or room that isn’t being used much. Believe me, I get it. But, if you can spring for maybe $200 for insulation, even as little as R-15, you could heat the place enough to keep it at about 6-8 deg for maybe $40/month, and that’s for four/five months.
I put this forward because I have had hobbies and pastimes galore. What is unwieldy, heavy, uncomfortable, complicated, unreliable, and/or remote in any way, will quickly pale and get little use.
We are in southern Ontario just north of Toronto. Winter temperatures routinely get into the -20s C and often below that. The garage is already insulated and drywalled and the garage doors are insulated as well, so that is already covered. However, the garage does get cold during the winter months because there is no built in source of heat. As I mentioned, I have a small space heater which will take the chill off if left to run for several hours but I don’t like to let it run when I am not in the garage.
You make a very good point about the temperature swings potentially causing problems with the trackwork. I hadn’t thought about that.[D)] You have inspired me to investigate having a proper heating system installed in the garage. I’m pretty sure that my electrical panel would have the capacity to handle a heating system (and possibly a cooling system) because we had the panel upgraded not too long ago.
Dave, I’m glad that you’re going to seriously consider Selectors suggestion. For some reason I thought that your garage was uninsulated. Looking on the interweb, I see that Bradford, Ontario does not have “temperate maritime climate” and is in fact both hotter and colder than here.
The Club was not only uninsulated but had inadequate heating and cooling. A couple of problems arose because of this; building bench work and laying track that was reliable no matter what the temperature was, (it was doable), and especially in winter that most members found it too cold to run trains and preferred to huddle around the heaters in the kitchen/meeting room, gossiping.
With the amount of effort that goes into building a layout, at the very least, one should be able to enjoy it when one likes. As I’m not a heating engineer I can offer no ideas but hope you can come up with an efficient solution, you deserve it!
¼ [2c] Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
As you point out, things can get quite hot here in the summer as well, so a system that both heats and cools would be ideal.
Several companies in Canada offer so called ‘split’ systems. These do not require any ductwork and they take up very little space both inside and outside. They are available in dual purpose heating and air conditioning styles. The interior component resides on a wall in a central location in the room, and the exterior unit can be mounted ‘almost’ anywhere but the closer to the interior unit, the better. Costs range considerably but the garage is only about 600 sq. ft. so I don’t need a massive unit.
Dianne spent about three hours in the garage on Tuesday afternoon identifying things that we can get rid of to make more room for the layout. Her brother has offered to sell my Shwin pedal tricycle which has virtually no operating time. I couldn’t ride it comfortably because of the angle at which my feet sit relative to my legs so it has been sitting in the garage for several years. We discovered that we have three full cases of paper towels so we are going to deliver two of them to our kids who have a new baby. I’m sure they will use them up in no time. There is a lot more extranious stuff but I won’t bore you with the details.
Nope, not going to happen! We haven’t had a car in the garage for years. The last one was my '69 MGC GT and it was completely disassembled.
If all goes to plan, the layout will have a detachable yard that will take up a fair amount of space. There will also be two large storage cabinets for train stuff.
The garage also serves as a paint/woodworking shop and storage for garden supplies and tools, as well as storage for items we buy in bulk (like paper towels[swg]).
I have decided to go ahead with the installation of a small (12,000 btu.) heating/air conditioning system. The garage is approx. 600 sq. ft. and the unit will cover up to 750 sq. ft. It should be a fairly straight forward installation since everything will be on the same level. My only concern is that I’m not sure if the panel has sufficient capacity, but installing a sub panel if needed shouldn’t be an issue. We shall see!
On another layout front, I have always wanted Rapido’s ‘Canadian’ passenger train in the maroon and grey livery. I actually rode on it from Toronto to Vancouver and back in 1965. I have managed to find seven cars for it. I have:
Two coaches (on preorder);
Two sleepers;
One baggage/dormitory car;
One mid train dome car;
One observation/dome car (it’s in the action red livery but I have a set of decals to convert it to maroon stripping).
I have more than enough InterMountain and Rapido F series engines to fill the bill, so I’m all set. I don’t want a longer train because it would look awkward on my small layout. All I need now is a bull elk to stand beside the train, oh, and some snow.[swg]
