BUILDING THE TRAIN LAYOUT

It should be noted that I built my house to house the trains. Therefore, it is no coincidence that I had a 2,000 square foot rectangle with which to work.

READYING THE ROOM

It took a while to get things ready before I could actually get some trains running.  I wanted to complete all the “dirty work” first – anything that created loose dirt, saw dust, etc.  The process was as follows:

Finish the basement

In order to finish the basement I had to complete the following:

· Install additional breakers in the electrical panels (12 all together)

· Run power lines down the 3 support columns

· Drywall and paint the walls

· Seal and paint the concrete floor

· Install insulation in the ceiling for sound proofing

· Build a drop ceiling

· Install 23 florescent lights with rapid start, non-electrical interfering ballasts.

Build the train table

Building the train table was almost like building a small house (well, maybe not that bad).  It is composed of 2x4s, 1x4s, and Luan (1/4” plywood).  Because of all the sawdust, I decided to build the entire table and supports for the mountain areas at one time.  This allowed me to clean up once.

Run power to each section of the train table

I next ran two electrical boxes to each of the seven main sections of the train table.

Surface the train table

Finally, I applied my surface to all areas of the table.  I used the same ceiling tiles that I used for the drop ceiling except I placed them upside down so the smooth surface would be exposed.  These were then painted white so I could draw on them and later add different color paints.  The reasons I used ceiling tiles is that they are somewhat sound absorbing, fire resistant, easy to cut, easy to push the small nails into that hold the track down and light weight.

TRAIN TABLE FEATURES

I needed to keep a few practical things in mind that centered around access.  People need to be able to easily view the trains and I need a way to get to enclosed areas in order to fix any problems:

· Viewing Access

To allow for viewing access I made the space between sections and around the outer edges at least four feet wide.  I also built two elevated platforms with steps and rails to allow small children to view the higher areas of the layout.

· Repair Access

I needed the ability to get to hidden sections of track (those sections in mountains) in order to fix a derailed train, etc.  To do this I constructed the mountains support areas so that large holes existed for me to access any hidden areas of the layout.  These are reached from under the table. I also added lighting in these enclosed areas.

· Getting Under The Table

As one gets older the ability to bend becomes more difficult.  The table height is such that I can sit on the floor and work under the table without hitting my head.  For those cases where there is a need to lay on my back (placement of motors and hooking up wires), I made a dolly (similar to an auto mechanic’s dolly) that supports my head and allows me to “roll around” under the table.

· Waste No Space

There is a lot of open space under the table that I did not want to go to waste.  There is a good deal of train and non-train related stuff that needs to go someplace.  Therefore, all wiring is run through holes in the 1x4 support sections of the table, making three foot high sections available for storage.