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CHAPTER 1
So, you want to build a model railroad, eh? You have picked out your favorite railroad, managed to get the wife to grant you a bit of space in the home,and you have the entire layout planned to the Nth degree-all in your head of course, why sketch it out? You just KNOW it will work. Right?
Well, what are you waiting for? Get yourself down to the corner hobby shop and buy a coupla bags full of trainsets and track and some buildings 'n' stuff! Then hustle on over to the nearest Munerds Lumber for some boards
'n' plywood and 5 pounds of nails. Gotta make it strong, after all, you just might need to crawl on top of it to reach that far corner.
So. Now you have everything you need to begin creating your
empire: location,benchwork supplies,track and trains,buildings. Sounds simple so far, doesn't it? Well, it is NOT! There have been numerous model railroads built just about to the preceding "guidelines", and very few of them gave the builder any pleasure at all.
My HO scale Belle River and Buchanan Railroad got its start as just one pine board shelf in my basement spare room. The shelf was just an experiment, I was an N scale modeler that bought a couple of pieces of HO scale rolling stock, can't even remember what or why right now, it was 3-4 years ago, I guess. Well, the pine board shelf grew, 'cause my collection of HO started to grow. The stuff just looked so good, I just had to buy more, and before I knew it, I had a complete train running around the entire room. The "benchwork" that started out as a shelf was added to with odds 'n' ends of plywood and boards. The track plan just sorta developed itself as I went along, no particular theme in mind. Buildings were added, mostly used ones from a local hobby shop, some from train show flea markets. As time went by, the crudely built early sections were replaced with new construction. The track plan settled down, I had a theme; a freelanced short-line connecting railroad, serving two towns; Belle River, and Buchanan! Because the origional starter shelf was just that, a shelf, the railroad is about 5 feet off the floor, allowing storage space under it. It has no scenery, the track is laid right on the plywood, and has been collecting dust for about a year, maybe more.
Why? Because I did not plan things properly before I started, thats why. That is the reason for this article, I do not want some one else to jump right in without planning the proper steps first. If you would like to see some photos of how not to build a layout,-Click Here.
Here is my list of steps to make building a home layout that will keep you happy with your new hobby.
Step 1: Secure a location in your home for your railroad. Married? Consider finishing off a project or two for the wife first. A happy wife is easier to bargain with.
Step 2: Make an accurate scale drawing of the space you will use. Show all windows, doors, outlets. Adequate electrical outlets are important! Do not plan on using extension cords, have more outlets installed if you think you don't have enough! Hang on to that drawing, you will use it again.
Step 3: Check your overhead lighting, you will want the entire layout space lit up real good, trust me on this. Working in a dim lit corner with an automotive trouble light is no fun! Consider having several light fixtures installed, with a dimmer switch. Why? Well, if you ever want to simulate a sunrise to sunset operating session, dimming the lights does that real good. Put in a second lighting circuit with blue party bulbs, and when you dim the main lights, and turn on the blues, Well! the effect with illuminated buildings and locomotive headlamps is spectacular!!
Step 4: Did you finish off the ceiling after putting up new lighting? No? Do this!
Step 5: Wall treatment. What do you want on your backdrop? NOW is the time to do something about it, before you start building the benchwork. Do the walls need extensive treatment, say like your space is located in the basement, and the walls are real rough and ugly? Fix them up before building any benchwork. Do this!
The reason that my home layout has been neglected for so long
is because I did not follow the above guidelines. Heck, I was new to the hobby, and too eager to get the trains running. Now I need to try to build and paint a backdrop to completely cover the basement walls from joists to the top of the benchwork. The house is quite old, and the walls crumble, the old cement creates HO scale falling rock zones. Not fun.
Remember what I said about the lighting? Well, mine is not what I really want, I have flourescent lights. Dimming them is quite expensive. Wish I had put in incandescent lights! Oh, and the ceiling? Open floor joists. Got any idea how much dirt falls on your layout from open floor joists? Try it sometime, you will wish you had followed Step#4!
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Well, it has been quite some time since I started this article, truth to tell, I don't move very fast when it comes to writing articles! So, to continue.
The problem of finishing off the train room after having built the railroad sometimes has my brain running in circles trying to figure out how to do it without removing the layout. I have been exploring ways to build solid shelving and/or cabinets under the layout, and how to install a backdrop and ceiling, and several trips to a local home improvement headquarters has revealed some very promising possibilities. Further work with pencil and drawing board will tell me whether this will work or not.
The skyboard problem will probably be the easiest to solve. At the moment, I am planning on installing 1" thick blueboard as a backdrop. The distance from the track to the ceiling joists is 24", so 4x8 sheets will be used economically.
