South Jersey, July 1944

[VonRyan]

I didn't expect to be starting a layout so soon, especially since up until a week ago my basement was nowhere near ready for any kind of railroading.

A few weeks ago the call was put out to the N-Trak club I belong to from one of our members that the layout she and her late husband had built needed to come down in preparation for selling the house. The layout was nowhere near finished, but there were a couple sections that had track and ballast completed already and were worth saving. Not wanting a perfectly good railroad to go to the landfill, I laid claim to the "Industrial" section of the layout.

This past week has had me focused on getting "my" corner of my home's 105-year-old basement ready to house a proper railroad. I had already cleared out the old pouring table and workbench left over from my grandparents old ceramics business. But the walls still needed to have old clay splatters scraped off, and the old cardboard ceiling needed to come down as well.

This area of the basement holds a lot of meaning to me, as it's where my grandfather built my first N-scale layout for my 4th birthday back in 1999. It was a 15' long unsceniced dogbone, but it gave me many years of enjoyment before my involvement in the hobby became more serious.

Saturday saw me taking down a portion of narrow plywood shelf that my grandfather had put up to hold that first railroad, and while he would've wanted me to unceremoniously yank it out of there and just trash it, I couldn't help but pause and shed a few tears over it. It's been almost 18 years since I lost him, and every day I wish he could be here again so we could do this together. He never got the opportunity to build a model railroad of his own, so my interest in trains is what gave him a way to get involved in the hobby again.


This is my basement as of this morning.
Still a few things to be done before my piece of layout arrives this coming Saturday, but for the most part it's ready to go.

[Philip H]

Cody,
Your grandad sounds like a stand-up guy.  And I have no doubt he's been right with you every step of the way.  Cherished people and their memories have a way of doing that.  The basement corner looks well done, and I for one look forward to seeing you adapt the layout to your space and interests.

[MK]

Cody, what a great story!  I'll be following this closely.

[VonRyan]

Thanks guys!

Most of what I've gotten done has been in 2-3hr bursts in the evenings after work.

Tonight's agenda is more plastic up on the ceiling, start nailing 1x2s to the bottom of the joists, and roughing in some of the layout lighting.

I'll also be writing out some of my ideas for the layout itself so everyone will be able to start to get a feel for the direction I'm heading with this.

[VonRyan]

Just finished up for the evening. Didn't get as much done as I was hoping.
Other than another section of plastic sheet put up, and a few 1x2s nailed up, I was at least able to get some of the layout lighting (which doubles as a space heater) roughed in. The lights are just on an extension cord right now, but later on I'll be hardwiring them in on their own circuit.




The agenda for tomorrow evening is mostly just cleanup and preparations for bringing in the layout section on Saturday.

[MK]

You using the plastic as a vapor barrier?

[VonRyan]

You using the plastic as a vapor barrier?

No, just as a dust barrier. A lot of dust comes down from the beams and floorboards above the layout space, so the plastic is just a first layer for keeping dust to a minimum. The 1x2 I'm nailing to the bottoms of the joists are so that when I put up a proper ceiling of either Masonite or black foamcore panels, I won't have any interference from the old X braces between the joists, which tend to have ends that extend below the joists in a number of places.

[VonRyan]

So as the title says, the basis of the layout is southern New Jersey in July of 1944. The Second World War is still in full swing, wartime traffic is still a big factor, railroad equipment is working longer and harder between regular services, and fuel rationing has made it so that there are less cars on the roads thus more people are on the trains.

The focus of the layout is primarily the PRR and the PRSL, but some CRRNJ traffic will be featured.

The overall plan for the layout is for there to be a fair amount of industrial switching, and single-track running.
Operations will be a factor in how the rest of the layout gets planned out and built.

There'll be provisions for continuous running, but that'll take some figuring out first. Likely it'll involve a small lower deck, which would at least allow me to have a staging yard of some kind.

There'll be a small yard somewhere on the layout itself as well as a small engine house and such.

Ultimately, my goal is for a layout that can keep a few guys busy operating for a couple hours or so, as well as being a place to just sit back and run some trains.

[nkalanaga]

SZD - Soviet Railways?  We sent them some equipment during WW II, so you might be able to sneak a piece onto your layout, as a shipment.

Quite a bit was sent through Pasco, WA, and there were still some 5 ft gauge tracks in the industrial park in the early 70s.

[VonRyan]

Got the layout section (and an adjoining single-track section) and a couple more light tracks brought down into the basement. Didn't have time to get it set up, but that'll come soon enough. If not tonight, it'll likely be sometime this week. For right now I can at least focus on getting a couple more legs made.




I also found 4000k LED replacement bulbs that fit the light fixtures I have. Home Depot only had 3000k LEDs, and the cost was over $5 each, whereas these ones online are only $3 each if I buy them in 6-packs.
http://www.ledlightingdepot.com/us/all/products/RGU10G-5-440D.aspx

[VonRyan]

And now it's up on legs, leveled, and screwed to the walls as best I could.
From the floor to the top of the benchwork is 50 inches.




And here's as best of an overhead shot as I could get, to give everyone a look at the track plan:

[wm3798]

Stop right now, go out and spend $20 and get two pieces of sheet rock to hang.  It will take a friend, one six pack of beer, and $3 worth of screws, but will provide you with a lifetime of layout pictures you won't have to photoshop, not to mention the dust.  If you're painting the ceiling black, you don't even have to mud the seams.  You can still run your light bars below the surface, just provide yourself with a couple of ceiling outlets, which will add about $20 more to the project.

A little more expensive would be some staple-up ceiling tiles, but you'd have to move your furring strips to be on the right centers.  They also tend to get raggedy.

Why doesn't anyone do this?

Congrats on the acquisition.  It's nice to have a layout (and even a layout space!) with a story behind it.  Looking forward to seeing the track plan etc.

Lee

[VonRyan]

Stop right now, go out and spend $20 and get two pieces of sheet rock to hang.  It will take a friend, one six pack of beer, and $3 worth of screws, but will provide you with a lifetime of layout pictures you won't have to photoshop, not to mention the dust.  If you're painting the ceiling black, you don't even have to mud the seams.  You can still run your light bars below the surface, just provide yourself with a couple of ceiling outlets, which will add about $20 more to the project.

A little more expensive would be some staple-up ceiling tiles, but you'd have to move your furring strips to be on the right centers.  They also tend to get raggedy.

Why doesn't anyone do this?

Congrats on the acquisition.  It's nice to have a layout (and even a layout space!) with a story behind it.  Looking forward to seeing the track plan etc.

Lee

That's what the plastic and 1x2s are for. It's my sub-ceiling to ward off the dust. The plastic is taped at all the seams, and to the walls. The 1x2s are to give me a flat clear surface to secure black foamcore panels to.
I'm trying to keep weight on the floor joists to a minimum, even though my layout is directly below our rarely used living room. There are a couple beams in other areas that have developed semi-concerning cracks in the past few years, so I'm trying to not make things any worse.

[wm3798]

Ah yes... I sometimes forget that historic homes always have historic timbers... and plumbing... and wiring... and roofing...  Ugh.

Carry on as needed!  The layout looks pretty cool!

Lee

[chicken45]

Sweeet!