In February I decided to add a room to my house so I could build a layout. Being in the hobby for about 9 months now, I had no idea how addictive it would be. I wanted to build a layout but I didn't have room for anything but the smallest sized track plan. So, I'm adding the room. I'm at the electrical stage now and started installing overhead lights yesterday. Attached are some links to videos I made to document the progress. I welcome any comments and especially suggestions. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Building codes are definitely different for your area, from mine. They must not be classifying this as living space, or... Do you have a layout plan in mind, roughly sketched out?
I don't have a specific plan in mind. I was playing with XTrkCAD drawing some layouts before I started the project, but haven't since then. About all I have now is a final length of 18' with the width varying from 5' nearest the house to a possible maximum width of 8' on the opposite side. Plus I want to have two separate tracks that I can switch between so I can run two trains at once. I thought as I got closer to having the room finished where I would need to think about benchwork, I would try to finalize a layout plan. I will try to integrate the John Allen "Timesaver" plan for my operations part of the layout. I also have a large diorama I'm building that I think I will try to insert into the layout.
Mike Burgett in Michigan is enlarging his basement (and putting a room on top to cover it) so he can expand his layout.
I got the dimmable LED overhead lights installed yesterday. I was really pleased by the dimming range of the bulbs, I didn't expect them to be able to dim down so low. Attached is a link to my video that shows the dimming range of the bulbs.
I'm interested to learn how the LED lighting works with scenery colors, photography, etc. Are you getting really excited yet?
I am excited, but I need to be patient because I still have quite a bit of construction ahead of me. I am definitely looking forward to the day where I start laying track! I've never had a layout and I really want to get my hands on an operating train! The LED lights have at least 3 color temperatures, and I'm sure the color temperature will affect video and photos. I may have to experiment to get the best LED light. I like fact that a 65 watt LED light by incandescent standards only draws 9 watts of power, so they are very economical and generate very little heat. I'm making a significant investment in money, work effort and time to build this room. I hope the short term cost will pay off in many years of hobby enjoyment!
Mike, how do you like the 5k bulbs? The bulbs I have are 2700, they have 650 lumens of light intensity.
The 5 K's are great ! I feel that the 2700's are way too yellow . Pretty sure the lumens are the same .
Well, the bulbs are easy enough to change out. I'll probably use what I have until I get to where I actually have running trains. Then when I am ready to take some photos, change the bulbs out.
I'm curious as to how you will accomplish that "rough sawn" appearance for finishing the ceiling. Are you going to leave the foil faced sheets in those windows? I'm assuming they're just temporary? You mentioned the A/C working hard, so if they are later removed, you'd be back to that same situation?
To get the rough sawn look I'll bend a couple teeth on the table saw blade about .010" so those teeth will dig into the wood as I run it through the saw. Yes, the foil backed insulation is temporary, but I think I will block off those two windows with 2" foam, then texture and paint the foam when I do the wall to try to get the foam to match. I think I will install part of the layout benchwork along that wall. I've been drawing some benchwork outlines in XTrkCAD to try and get as much usable space as possible while still being able to pass through the room to the outside and vise versa.
If you do block off windows, be sure to add some sort of tabs so it can easily be pulled out. Of those potential outlines, the first seems least appealing for my tastes. The other three have some interesting possibilities.
Good Idea on the tabs. I agree with you on the benchwork. Initially I planned to make it an island layout, I've had my mind changed since then.