climate control

[full maxx]

How well can our model railroads handle the heat and cool of unconditioned places...say like my storage building, I live in northern North Carolina near the Virgina line. My building is 10X16 and would be a great place to expand my little boys layout.

[jonathan]

FM,

My layout is in a garage (no AC or heat).  In the coldest part of winter (Jan & Feb), I box up the trains for a couple of months.  Likewise in July & August I don't run trains.  The layout, of course, stays up all the time.  I haven't had any climate related problems (4 years so far).  I live in Northern Virginia, not that far from you.

Addendum:  I feel like I have to clean my tracks more often than say a basement or bedroom layout.

Regards,

Jonathan

[jward]

i live in pittsburgh, where the summers are humid. a few years back, i had tried to restore my grandfather's old layout, which i had moved into our cellar. the layout was built of homasote laid on plywood, pretty typical of model railroad construction. the layout room temperature ranged from about 70 in the summer, to needing a space heater in the winter, probably 45-50 degrees.

at the time, i was relaying all the track using rail soldered to pc board ties (i make my own track>) and the difference in the expansion between the homasote and the rail was enough to break the solder joints between rail and ties, and in some cases the ties themselves.this was particularly bad on one curve where the layout touched an outside wall.

frustrated, i wound up tearing out the homasote and replacing it with my preferred pine board. after the track was relaid, i never had anymore problems due to expansion. i believe the problem was the homasote absorbing moisture and swelling, whereas the pine did not.

i would advise you to use something dimensionally stable as a base.

[richg]

Yeah, homasote can be a problem with large humidity changes, especially in a cellar. I am fortunate to have a dehumidifier and an oscillating fan I keep on low during the summer weather.
It may not be too bad if the homasote is sealed well before adding anything to the layout. I know a few have done that but don't remember exactly what they used to seal the homasote.
With homasote, the gaps open in the summer and close during the dry winter. Sometimes the track will buckle when really dry.

Rich

[CNE Runner]

I reside in Northeastern Alabama and tried to have a fold-down layout along one wall of our garage (not airconditioned and not heated). The original layout was constructed over benchwork consisting of 1" x 4" framing. This was covered with 3/8" plywood overlaid with Johns-Mansville insulating board. I had no problems with warping, or track detachment.

The problem came with how long I could actually use my layout - given the wild swings in temperature, humidity, and cold (in the winter...yes, it gets cold here in the mountains). Unless you can moderate the climate of your layout location, I definitely do not recommend putting trains in this type of space. Trust me, sweating or freezing your butt off will not make the hobby more enjoyable.

Currently, I have a small layout along one wall of our EX guestroom. This enables me to have my bench adjacent to the layout (for repairs and such) as well as run trains in complete comfort. There must be some space you could have a shelf switching layout that is within the confines of your living space.

Just my opinion,
Ray

[jonathan]

There seems to be growing popularity in expanding up, isntead of out.  I see more and more layouts that are two levels to increase the distance of train travel without taking up more floor space.  Just a thought...

Regards,

Jonathan 

[jward]

if vertical is what you want, here is the railroad to model:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=310240&skip=-1
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=310105&nseq=32
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=308616&nseq=45
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=312819&nseq=15
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=321717&nseq=11

[jbsmith]

at least a 5,000 BTU A/C ,window mounted, for summer months and perhaps an oil filled radiator heater for winter months, it would possibly help to insulate and drywall the interior walls to make the mancave more habitable for year round use. Is the out building already electrified?

[full maxx]

yeah it has power and short of insulating and getting a little window unit and a small space heater I'm at a loss...the only good thin is the ceiling is only 6 foot, just insulating is about 200 for R11 which is kinda thin and that would not do under the floor only the walls and ceiling...I really want to do this for him but it will have to be over time and there has to be room for the lawn mower and weed eater , well at least while we're not in there but the thoughts of a 10X16 layout is pretty exciting 

[jonathan]

I know from personal experience that it's possible for your layout to share the same area with the yard tools, auto tools, storage cartons, cars, lawn mowers, etc. 

May I suggest an around the room (or arround the storage shed) layout?  If the subroadbed (table top) is about two feet wide, everything will fit very nicely underneath, like building homemade cabinets.

Your problem will be building it low enough for your son to be able to run the trains, yet still build it high enough to store a lawnmower et al.

Regards,

Jonathan

[jward]

barstools overcome the height problem, and you can then build the benchwork up to about 48" from the floor, barstools can be bought for around $20 at target.

[Doneldon]

maxx-

You're gonna want more than R-11 in your ceiling.  That's not even enough for sidewalls in a tough climate.

                                                                                                                     -- D