Garage Layout Version 2

[cteno4]

Just now, James-SNMB said:

I told my wife that although they may appear to be solid, model trains are actually a gas because they expand to fill the room that they are in.

Murphy’s law #2 of model railroading 

and corollary 2.1: Because the trains are a gas, they will seep into every available space in the house eventually.

 

1 minute ago, James-SNMB said:

It also never fails that my ambitions will slightly exceed the available space, regardless of which space I'm considering.

Murphy’s law #3 of model railroading 
 

and corollary 3.1: You will find yourself wanting to buy a larger home or add a major addition in order to build a bigger layout...

 

jeff

[James-SNMB]

You're making me nervous there... I can see how this hobby could take over. I'm just trying to remind myself to keep it small until I manage to "finish" that layout before moving on. Maybe I can delay some of those laws from taking effect.

 

Serious question though, @cteno4, are you happy with the 2'6" reach limit you've imposed on yourself? I assume this is a compromise you've reached with lots of experience. How's it been working at the far edges? Is it quite reachable for doing most work, or is it still a stretch for some of the finer tasks? I'm considering a 48 inch wide table that I can walk around (so 24 inch reach), but it is still tempting to go a bit wider to fit the big curves.

[cteno4]

It’s really a mix of your body size, how good your back is (this is an issue for some), height of the layout, do you want to try to use devices (ladders or lean over rigs) to reach deeper, etc. Im 6’4” with long arms and a good back and even at 2’ reach in it can be pain for any length of time. You have to be aware corners can get really deep to get into. 24” deep sections meeting will result in a 34” reach to the corner (actually a bit more as you can’t belly up fully into the corner like you can on straight sections). Far reach also usually means you need to support some weight on the layout itself, if only in the emergency situation, so requires you engineer your layout top and support to deal with that.
 

Best thing to do is do some playing with temp tables and set some stuff up and try to do some work at different depths to find your limits before diving into a big layout and regret it later. 
 

another option is to do the layout sectional so you can pull it apart to work on deep areas, but that can be harder to fit into some spaces. If you are just doing a large table think of making multiple tables you could pull apart. Another option is to make scenery sections on the deep places you can pull out as larger pieces to work on and just drop in.
 

like I mentioned I learned my lessons on large exhibit models in 3/4” scale that were usually on 40” tall tables as we needed to usually look at stuff edge on a lot.

 

jeff

[James-SNMB]

Thanks. It's about what I feared but it's nice to be able to learn from the experience of others. I will take all of that advice.

 

I'll keep pressing ahead with my current 41/47 inch x 78 inch layout, and play around to see what my limits are. I'm 6'2" but I sure like to get my face in nice and close when I work. Probably best to keep it is skinny as as I can.

 

@Mutley, sorry for temporarily hijacking this thread! Carry on. Looking forward to see what comes next.

[Mutley]

On 9/3/2020 at 2:45 AM, James-SNMB said:

Thanks. It's about what I feared but it's nice to be able to learn from the experience of others. I will take all of that advice.

 

I'll keep pressing ahead with my current 41/47 inch x 78 inch layout, and play around to see what my limits are. I'm 6'2" but I sure like to get my face in nice and close when I work. Probably best to keep it is skinny as as I can.

 

@Mutley, sorry for temporarily hijacking this thread! Carry on. Looking forward to see what comes next.

 

All very useful stuff and very relevant to me for the next version of the layout!

 

The current setup has had a stay of execution as we have changed tack and are now buying a completely different place and it's going to take a bit longer to make the move.

 

No garage, but the good news is that there will be a dedicated railway room in the house.  I very cunningly let my good lady wife work out which bedrooms were going to be for us and the kids and she came to the conclusion that the railway would be "relagated" to a room that is 15' x 14'.  As you can imagine there is no complaining coming from my direction 😃.

 

Not many trains running over the last week or two as work has been pretty exhausting, but I feel a filming session coming on maybe this weekend and will post my efforts in due course.