My layout in the making

[dynamite25]

Not much will be happening on the layout as it will be dismantled and moved into my bedroom as my sister is coming home to stay and will remain in my bedroom for afew months till my dad has got the car sorted and moved,then the garage will be bought and built and the layout moved out there and then will remain in there.

 

[new to trains]

surely its easier to move your sister into the garage !!!!!!

 

[dynamite25]

Just be having a think and to be honest i ain't sure whether to go for the metal garage or two wooden sheds joined together as i can get two 10x8 sheds from argos and have 6 months free to pay them.

Garage good points are it's cheaper and is easy to erect also fireproof and good for security,the bad points are i would need a wooden floor fitted and the whole thing insulated which will cost abit to do,it would need a concrete floor for the garage to sit on which is alot of money too and that with having power installed in there.

Shed good points are it will be the size i really want it will be alot easier to insulate it and cost less,the shed can sit of paving slabs which will be cheaper than concrete and has more windows fitted,bad points are it ain't fireproof not good for security but i would fit a better door to deal with that and would cost me £350 more than the garage but has a floor already fitted.

 

[new to trains]

what about other shed suppliers, screwfix.com for example if funds are limited, they supply sheds at very competitive prices, or another local shed supplier that can make something up to your specifications ?

i moved into a house 4 yrs ago that needed alot of renovation, the first thing i did was build a huge shed in the back garden - to store equipment in when renovating the house, i also knew when the house was done this would become my modelmaking studio, it has a fullsize solid wood front door and 4 double glazed leaded windows, The base is concrete as i knew that one day i would bolt down my circular saw and lathe ! the framework is all timber made as a frame in 2 by 4 timber, it then had double glazed windows fitted ( these sealed unit windows came from a house where they were being removed as they were building an extension- i picked up the door and window windows off ebay for £20 ) but as i was making the timber frame i could make the frames to suit the windows i bought !

the shed is insulated and lined out on the inside with timber board so it is snug in the winter,- however with power installed i have a heater too !

i also have a little beer fridge and my tools and two 8 ft benches, the shed would be around 10 feet wide and about 24 ft long - even with all the materials and the windows and door i think the cost of building it was no more that £ 420 for materials including the electrical consumer unit and RCD. but i did take 4 full weekends !

it is worth considering that if you want a custom home for your layout... ( and lets be honest your layout is worth more that £420 ) then maybe it is worth investing some time and building your own shed/ building that fits your needs exactly....

buying maybe the easy option but if you then have to spend time ' modifying' it then maybe its worth doing it all from scratch...plus if you buy lengths of material and stuff from a builders merchants and construct your own then its often cheaper in the long run than buying a pre made shed kit.- maybe you can call in some favours of f mates to give you a hand in the build ?

anyway whatever you decide to do - good luck !

 

[dynamite25]

With buying the two Walton Groundsman Apex Sheds from argos which are 10x8 and with extra timber i can make a 18x10 shed from them both and with not working due a back problem,and getting them on a argos card and having 6 months to pay it of is better for me and my dad as he is buying the second one.

As to buy them outright it would take me till april next year to save the money up for one and my dad too and i can't wait that long to get the layout running again.Also my layout is only 14ft long x7ft 5" wide x 6ft wide so i will have extra room for a work bench in there.

 

[dynamite25]

Well the layout has been removed from the room apart from two sections which is the 6ft piece and will be removed tomorrow as my sister is staying at home,but i hope to have my new railway room built before christmas or just after.As my dad is putting the body back onto the chassis tomorrow if it ain't raining which i hope it doesn't as that will mean it will take longer for him to do it if it rains to much.

 

[dynamite25]

Big news is we will be building are own shed as it will cost between £550 - £650 depending of cladding thickness for a 18ftx10ft 4" shed,so it will built the second week in jan which is the 14 as thats when i will have the money as i got the cost down alot and now i don't have to wait till april.

I have decided with a friends help that while i wait to save for the shed is to make a modular layout to run my trains on,and then it will be connected to the main layout when it is re-erected in the shed.As i was thinking of adding a 14ft country scene to my layout which will also have the return incline from the upper level to the lower level.

 

[john]

That's going to be a big layout, looking forward to seeing it in the making

 

[dynamite25]

The country scene will be 8ftx20" and a 6ftx20" station scene with afew other buildings and it will be connected to the main layout i started in my sisters room before it got taken down last week,and when it is fitted into the shed it will be higned,so i can drop it down to walk down the shed to the other end of the layout as there will be only a 1ft gap between each part of the layout when the layout is used so that part will have to be higned for access to each end of the layout.

The country and station scene will be connected by 2 single track lines to the upper level via two removeable bridges i hope to have a track plan soon for modular country and station scene and how it will be connected to my main layout.

 

[dynamite25]

Well i have bought the timber ready to get started but first i need a trackplan and i have looked high and low through all my train modelling mags and books a haven't found anything yet,but i am going to my local libary to see what books they have with trackplans.

 

[dynamite25]

Well i re-did the pricing for my shed and it will costs us £750 for the shed that includes all the timber,roofing felt and all the hardware from wickes,but we will need to spend £50 to £60 for the foundations for the shed to sit on before we get the timber for the shed.

But we are trying to get a price list from are local timber merchants to see how much it will be from there but they keep saying that they have none in.Also it has been put back to the 4 feb to get my shed built due to christmas coming up soon.

 

[new to trains]

Way To Go !

 

[dynamite25]

Well on the modular layout front is that it is going to be 16ftx7ft 11" but not sure on the width yet i am still working on a track plan but as soon as i have one i wil post it on here for yall to see,i have seen a layout on the net which i like some parts of it but some parts i will change to what i want to have.

 

[dynamite25]

Well heres my track plan i have added it to my main layout to show what it will be like as one layout.But i still have to put the return incline in on the layout. Also the modular layout will be 80mm higher than the main layout as it will join the upper tracks on the main layout.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/dynamite26/Myupdatedmodularlayout.jpg

 

[dynamite25]

Also just found out that i can only fit about 11ft and not 12ft in the bedroom as my other layout is in the way and i can't move it anywhere else until the shed is built,so it might be back to the drawing board to come up with something else to fit on there or i might just leave it all together till my shed is built.

 

[dynamite25]

Been a change of plan as my review is up in january for my Incapacity Benefit i might lose my money if i no longer qualify for it which i know i still do,but they might decide i don't any more so that means i won't be having my shed for my layout and it will have to stay in bits.

So now i am going to build a 10x6 modular layout instead of building an add-on modular layout for my main layout and i will spend the money on the 10x6 layout,but if i do still qualify for it i will get my shed and have my big layout in there but carry on the same design i started in the begining fot main layout but still have this 10x6.

So i will have a layout to work on when it is summer in the shed and one when winter comes in my bedroom.

 

[wonwinglo]

Steven,quite a dilemma but I can see that you have contingency plans to get the best solution sorted,I dont think that you will have any problems in either direction,best of luck from us all.

 

[dynamite25]

This is the area i will have which is 10x6 and is made up of six 4x2 boards with a 6x2 gap in the middle and all track will be cut at baseboard joins so it can be stored away when not in use as it will be over my bed when i use it,i want a 2 mainline layout with some sidings and a through station and also a small diesel depot to house 3 or 4 locos i have been looking to see what i can find but haven't yet.The points i have are 14 R/H and 4 L/H i have plenty of straights and curves.

I am also trying to come up with one on my HVR2 program but is a slow process if anyone can give me any help in designing one with the track i have available to me i would be very grateful for the help.

Heres a pic of the baseboard layout

 

[dynamite25]

Or i could do the baseboards like this which are 3x2 and 8 in total.

 

[dynamite25]

The second layout as shrunk to 8x6 because of storage problems and that i didn't know that i had that much stuff when i moved my desk over to the otherside of my bedroom,but i will have a track design where i can extend it in the future if i want to.