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 Timing

Before layout construction, after Railroad Beginning, standards and plan.

Try to plan your Railroad before you detail your room, location and size of area required. Your Railroad definition can be reviewed to Clinic #1 "Model Railroad Beginning".

It is important to fit the Railroad requirements to the layout location.

The Model Railroader usually has access to left over space, very often not his ultimate dream space and very often not an ideal shape or location. The following comments are meant to create ideas to better select space options and deal with what is available. The geographical location of your layout home will dictate the typical space available, eg northern homes have basements but southern homes do not. The prioritization of space will require family negotiations and problem solving before an agreement is reached. The typical priority decisions are: eg In the northern climates the automobile is prone to rust. It will rust if kept in a garage or not. If the ideal layout space that is available is the garage, then leave the car outside to rust. Life is to short to not enjoy your hobby in order to save a rusting automobile from the elements for no improved end result.

The basement, attic or out building all have heat, cooling, dust and humidity concerns that need to be dealt with.

After you have defined your Railroad and all its requirements you need to prepare the space. Make sure the space is dry on the floor and walls since water will always do damage and make humidity control impossible. Make sure your space is warm in the colder months and cool in the warmer months. Cool also means the ability to keep it cool when you have a crowd of bodies in the room. The comfortable temperature and all the other aspects of comfort mean your operators will be comfortable and relaxed in order to enjoy the operating sessions. If your railroad room is uncomfortable in any way you will have trouble keeping a regular attendance of crew members. Dehumidified space (by dehumidifier and/or air conditioning) is important to comfort as well as the structure of the layout support system. It is the wood and other moisture absorbing materials that expand and contract with the humidity changes and there by pulls your track work, rail joints and scenery apart, (usually each season change you notice the effects). The sealing of the room sides, top and bottom if appropriate, will help with humidity, and dust control. A poly-barrier in the ceiling prevents the dust from the sub-floor above from dropping on the layout.(Even if you have a ceiling). Accessible space around the Railroad is necessary for construction, operation, operator space, comfort, and visitors. Remember people come in all sizes. The enjoyment of the Railroad is with people so this is very important. Entrance accessibility is important for visitors because of dirt and wet tracked in, people with physical restrictions, (eg size, walking difficulty, limited eyesight, tall people). Make entrances direct, open, and not to steep in the case of stairs.

The floor of the Railroad space usually is concrete. Sometimes it is wood. It should be sealed to prevent dust generation using sealers or paint. The next concern is the finish appearance and comfort. Paint, tile, hard wood and all the other floor coverings satisfy the appearance. Economy says paint is the cheaper way to go, if you are covering the floor with carpet for comfort anyway. Carpet can be in the aisles only or cover the whole floor area. The carpet best chosen is low pile to reduce dust generation and entrapment. When you vacuum it make sure the dust is reduced as much as possible. Vacuum before a crowd and after a crowd.

The wall prep should include a poly-barrier to help dust control and humidity control. If it is an outside wall then insulation is a must for heat or cooling. The walls should be adjusted and placed to suit the Railroad space design requirements. Also the walls are generally used for scenery backdrop painting or the suspension of other materials for a backdrop. Walls can be inserted just as scenic barriers for the viewing effect. Usually the walls are drywall construction. Attention needs to be given to coving corners and wall to ceiling areas. This is effective for scenic reasons. If you use valances then wall to ceiling coving is not required. Walls can be used as part of the support mechanism for the Railroad. It is easier to have the walls correct and painted light blue (or any other color requirements) before the support structure and Railroad are constructed.

The ceiling is very important for dust control and cosmetic effect. It should have a poly-seal above it for dust and humidity control. If heat and cool is a factor then insulate it. The ceiling is part of the cosmetics and therefore the color should blend with the Railroad. The valance for lighting and cosmetic effect should be part of the ceiling plan. The use of a valance focuses the attention to the action just as a stage does in the theatre. The valance should be patterned after the layout edge arrangements and aisles throughout the room. A valance with thickness and curved to suit the aisles (no square corners) is most effective. The suspended ceiling in the aisle-ways will be higher than the suspended ceiling behind the valance. The ceiling behind the valance is made up of translucent plastic light panels to spread the light evenly.

The electrical power supply wiring needs to be installed prior to wall and ceiling finishing. The basic wiring for the room may or may not supply power where you want it for construction and maintenance of your Railroad. Power for tooling should be separate from room general lights so that a blown circuit will not leave you unsafely in the dark. Remember Railroad rooms have no windows. The Layout lighting should also be on a separate circuit for controlled effects such as day/night.

Layout cosmetics cover many aspects of the whole project which need to be brought together for an overall effect. The edge finish on the layout needs to be curved and flowing to make the layout more pleasing to the eye and also make the space look larger. The cloth skirt below the main edge needs to flow smoothly. Wood below tends to be cupboards or some sort of paneling which has definition and detracts from the layout scene. The use of a cloth skirt is a smooth and flowing drape with leads you attention to the scene as in a theatre where they use cloth drapes to frame the scene. The drape, the edge face, the valance, the carpet, the ceiling, control panels and other details all have to be a complimentary color to the layout scene. If it is western desert the browns and tans are good colors (gives a hot feeling). If it is eastern Pennsylvania with green foliage, maybe greens are more appropriate. Coal country may mean grays and blacks. Black can be to severe by itself although it is a good eliminator from sight. Control panel reduction or elimination helps give a cleaner appearance to the layout. With the modern channel type controls, radio controls, and computer controls the smaller panels along the edge of the layout can be eliminated. Blocks, and turnouts are all controlled remotely and indication of turnout route can be done with the switchstand as is prototype. This has the effect of the crew now focussing on the trackside where the action is and not an artificial panel. The yard turnouts on a panel with indicators and matrix control is harder to eliminate but can be miniaturized and placed in non- prominent locations.

This discussion has been the collective ideas and points to consider for building a Model Railroad. The source of ideas is from group discussions with senior and beginning modellers. The evidence where these ideas have been at least considered and some portion put into practice resulted in very impressive Model Railroad presentations.

The excellent example of this type of application is shown in the Kalmbach book "Model Railroad Planning 1995", page 68, The Cat Mountain's new look.

 ©

Enjoy Model Railroading

Bill Ackland MMR

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