This plays a major part in what you can achieve so I will go through the options I considered at this taxing stage, ranging from bedroom, then loft, garage, shed, dedicated building, barn and garden. In part 8 - I follow up with a brief look at utilities, insulation & ventilation, security, windows, roof type and insurance. In part 9 - I conclude with what I chose as the appropriate, cost effective option for me, you will have your own choice, but remember you want some cash left over to build the railway! Bedroom None big enough and the master has more enjoyable uses! Loft I ruled out the loft because extremes of -5C winter and +40C high summer did not appeal and using a loft ladder when I approach 70+ will somewhat reduce the appeal further. Modern houses can have prefabricated roof frames which create impossible to use lofts, my house being nearly 90 years old is relatively uncluttered structurally, but very draughty with plenty of low heavy timber on which to rearrange my skull contents. Loft conversion maybe, but no, too expensive, with an inevitable flat roof (which I hate, they soon leak) and although it could be connected to the central heating it would still be expensive to heat in winter and difficult to cool in the summer. Garage or shed Well, garage was too small and the sheds, hmmm, decomposing would be the best description. Maybe a new shed or garage? Dedicated building That's a whole new ball game, dare I go that route, it would certainly stop the house being overrun and promote domestic harmony. Brick built requires planning permission where I live as they are classed as permanent structures. Wood and pre-fabricated concrete are classed as temporary and only need planning permission above a certain height. However they require building regulation approval if the floor area exceeds a certain size. I'm not going to give specific details here as these can vary with geographical area and current regulations, you must check these out before contemplating anything significant otherwise flouting the rules can resort in a compulsory demolition order! Barn or Garden I don't have a barn, the garden I prefer to keep as a garden, although I did muse on OO in the garden or even O. Personally I think I'd have gone for O outside but no way could I have built anything for intensive operation in the garden. So indoors for me. So which type of building? The most expensive option is a dedicated brick built building but the price tag is ouch. So that leaves a compromise based on a customised shed or garage configured to be a dedicated building. My preference was to go for the customised pre-fabricated garage configured to be a dedicated building, in my book engineering is the art of compromise as no one material can do everything and solutions must be affordable. Image, my Victorian rework of a European sand drying house. Next, when using a separate dedicated building for your railway a number of additional factors should be considered. Continued in part 8, Jim. Index of Articles with Links
I guess it's like viewing houses Jim, "Location, location, location!" In my case I chose the loft for my 00 gauge layout, useful as I'd already converted, fully insulated and plasterboard lined it, fitted a Velux roof window and connected to the central heating system, all I needed to add was a decent sized dehumidifier, and I ended up with a space 16.5ft x 12.5ft, admittedly accessed by loft ladder, and I'm 74 but can still get up there without problems. Snags? Well, the roof is a double hipped one so I have 4 sloping sides, but as the bungalow is almost 100 years old, it has oversized roof timbers and 9ft high ceilings so no real problems, unlike many modern properties. That's only part of the story though as now I'm embarking on an 0 gauge layout, that's got to be in the garage which also houses 2 cars (I'm 'old-fashioned' as I like our cars to be garaged!). Luckily it's fairly large at 32ft x 14ft 6ins but I can only manage a 'U' shaped end-to-end layout, 'horses for courses' I suppose, a garden layout is out of the question and as I'm married to a fairly keen gardener, going down that path would be grounds for divorce, and I'm happy as I am. Another downside to a garage layout is that it will be a 'warm weather only' one, but as a consolation, during cold weather I've always got the 00 gauge layout to fall back on unless I decide to sell it all and go for an 0 gauge in the loft, I'd still be limited on the curves though, so life is a compromise I guess and we all find our way through as best we can. Keith.
Hi Keith, I'm more of jungle manager than a gardener, I like my almost woodland ramble affect including daffs, crocus, tulips and bluebells springing up all over the grassy areas (lawn and flowerbed, nah), as many trees as possible, ferns and undergrowth fight it out, so It did not want to spoil it. These old roof structures are spacious though, not sure how long I'd manage our loft ladder, I think if that had been the route I had gone down some years earlier I think a proper set of basic stairs would have been installed by now, with an option for a stair lift Garage for cars, good grief, I don't even bother about having one now let alone occupy valuable railway real estate, I would only do that if they were vintage, but I gave up on that idea many years ago, having had two ordinary cars badly damaged by hit and run drivers. Curves and train lengths in O gauge are what made me stay with OO, but the detail possible in O is Jim
Living in a rural village with a poor bus service and no idea how much longer we'll have one as the Council has cut the subsidy, a car is a virtual essential so needs must. We've had two cars for many years now and it's very useful at times, we don't smoke or drink so enjoy running a decent car. I always wanted a Citroen DS as a classic car but good ones are well outside my budget now. Keith.
Having done OO to some success now and O gauge (not really successful as a teenager) outside, the one down side is having to clean track almost every day/running session as the nickel silver track tarnishes. The steps forward in the amount of pick ups on RTR OO locos does ease this (with the blue Pullman with 48 wheel pickup it hardly ever has an issue even after a few weeks on DCC!!!!) but clean none the less. Outdoors also can limit the scenery, but if you have a gardener in the household, sometimes that could be embraced, giving some miniature plants that foucus around the lineside. (So it’s not always grounds for Divorce!) The real down side is you can often get carried away with the extra space outdoors can offer and have to consider budget over looking the dogs danglies with scale length trains. Andy
Andy When you laid your OO track outside did you lay it at ground level or raised as for indoor baseboards? Larger gauges can look really good at ground level but raised is better as you get less flexible. I did see in the model railway press many years ago how one such garden railway was made easier to operate by digging out a trench by the side to walk in, which was paved and brick edged by the owners son to alleviate that issue. Jim
The O gauge was built at various levels due to contours. It began on a raised embankment, bricks sided by slate and then the soil built up. This was simply a passing loop. It then entered the shed at floor level (bad idea looking back as it curved across the floor to exit the other side) when then came out in to the garden at ground level above the pond. It then ran in a cutting and on to a bridge. after the bridge it ran on to a newly built raised bed about 7-8 bricks high. the OO is at working height and all on posts. (Thankfully no losses yet! )
It's good if you can blend the railway with embankments, never liked the thought of supporting poles or framework around the garden. Before my wife to be appeared I was considering a run at near ground level with OO (DC) exiting the back of the garage, going up the garden and back again into the conservatory, probably just as well I didn't, I much prefer keeping the garden as it is. Luckily it is quite a long garden so space was available for a large shed, especially after removal of the old garage that was there. My multiple level railway is quite high in places so on non-scenic sections I have hardboard safety walls to catch derailed stock and lichen hedgerows elsewhere acting as a 'soft trap', the laminate flooring is very aggressive to falling stock. Jim
