Seaboard Central 2.0

[peteski]

I should caveat that I'm a strong believer in white ceilings for a train room.  My white ceiling blends very nicely with my Behr "Morning Haze" blue such that the wall/ceiling transition washes out in photography.  It helps keep the room bright and the light diffuse.  Dark ceilings are great for bars where you don't always want a lot of light...   

It is amazing that we are in agreement . . . again! 

[Dave V]

It is amazing that we are in agreement . . . again! 

I sense a great disturbance in the force...

EDIT:  Dave, since I know you're modeling the "northern South" and haze is a daily occurrence, I'd suggest Behr "Morning Haze" for you too.  I remember you're colorblind (red-green?) so if that's an issue, I can vouch for the color.

[peteski]

I sense a great disturbance in the force...

Ah, Star Wars, the force awakens . . . it all makes sense now!   

[davefoxx]

Thanks to all who have replied!  I appreciate each and every one of your responses.

I've taken a good look at the room.  While I would like to take the path of least resistance, ultimately, for me to be happy, I'm looking at a fully finished room, which means fully studded out and drywalled with a drop ceiling and a finished floor.  The more I look at it, there is no easy way to box in the sewer pipe without framing a wall under it, but, more importantly, installing the wall angle for the drop ceiling will be nearly impossible without stud walls on all sides.  Sadly, though, the layout will probably need to be disassembled into its door sections, so I can move them around the room while I work.  Yikes.

@Dave Vollmer, I have liked the color you used on your walls since you first painted them.  I agree that it's a good hazy color, but it's also a neutral that won't have to be repainted when you sell the house.

As for ceilings, I am a proponent of light-colored ceilings to brighten the room.  Regardless of color, I have no interest in spending days and days trying to paint all of the nooks and crannies in those joist bays with the pipes and electrical wires in there, while trying to keep the paint off the layout.  I much prefer a drop ceiling, and, for comparison, the finished part of our basement doesn't feel too low to me.

DFF

[mcjaco]

Then what are you waiting for?




 

[davefoxx]

Then what are you waiting for?




 

Money, time, the upcoming holidays, the wife's authorization . . .   

[dnhouston]

And probably not necessarily in that order 

[mcjaco]

That last one is the worst of all hurdles.   

[Dave V]

I don't know, I know we all joke about it...but I'm lucky in that I have a very supportive wife.  She does get annoyed that whenever we move, there's a substantial additional square footage requirement for the next house because of my hobby (which in the vast basement-free parts of America means giving up a bedroom), but otherwise when it comes to making room or layout improvements she "gets" it.  It helps that her dad was also a railfan and so she's used to train-related stuff invading every family outing as well.

I wonder how others deal with non-supportive SOs. Thankfully I'm not there, and Dave, I doubt you're there either.  And, if you need additional arguments, finishing off the basement (especially if you drop in a bathroom) substantially increases the equity of the home.  That's why I designed my train room with a 6x7walk-in closet...on the one hand, it's a great workshop area that's out of sight during layout ops, but OTOH it also means that the train room can be considered a 5th (and oversized) bedroom.  We have a full (albeit small) bath down there too.

[peteski]

DFF,
It is good to see you making this decision (even though you will now have to do some additional work, dismantling the layout).   You will not regret it.

[davefoxx]

Thanks, Pete.  I agree that I won't regret it, but it will take some time.

I'm considering putting the layout up on those plastic furniture glides and see if I can slide the layout in one piece (except for the staging yards).  If so, that will really minimize the damage to the layout, although, truthfully, the only "damage" would be flextrack cut at the section joints.  There's only a half-dozen screws holding the sections together, and the wiring is already designed that I won't even have to cut one wire.

Heh, thinking about it, if I do have to disconnect the layout sections, I could easily revert to the original single HCD section that is Aberdeen and Southern Pines (gotta have my roundy-round train fix) until the room is finished.  If I did that, I might be able to remove (1) the Raeford/Hamlet section, (2) the Southern Ry. return loop, and (3) the staging yards from the layout room, which would make construction in the room much easier without having to work around those portions of the layout.

DFF

[peteski]

DFF, your plan sounds very doable.  While I haven't been following this thread's every post, now I found out that you already made a good decision to have the layout construction done in a semi-modular way.  Again, a smart idea which will already pay off.  I love to see a good plan come together! 

[Santa Fe Guy]

Great decision Dave. Once you get underway you will wonder why you didn't do it ages ago. My wife and I will be celebrating our 50 wedding anniversary next year. I now call her my fun and finance minister and she has always been supportive of my hobby. It makes it easier to come home with a new loco LOL.
Have fun Dave and enjoy the new venture.
Rod.

[Dave V]

How long do you plan to be in that house?  'Cause as soon as I know for sure I'm here for the long haul I'm tearing down the Juniata Division and building a wall-mounted layout.  The HCD thing is fun, but if you can go around the walls and have a reasonable expectation of staying put, I'd do that...

[OldEastRR]

Since the I-beam sets lower than the ceiling joists, that may complicate the ceiling placement. However, as a novel idea, put ceiling tile up against the joists and leave the bottom part of the I-beam exposed. Paint it black, and letter "Seaboard Central" across it like it's a prototype plate girder bridge over a roadway!