I let my layout get so cluttered over the summer I don't know where to start. I can't even walk around it because of all the clutter. I plan on cleaning it up this week but where to start? Am I alone or do any of you let your layout area get this messed up?
Pray, I haven't seen my layout since the beginning of June! I have been remodeling my house and guess which room has become the storage room? Yup.....somewhere in there is my layout. If anyone sees it, please let me know! Russ
My layout lives in a permanent state of organzed chaos. if it gets too clean I can't remember where I put anything. I was a thing in MR a while back postulating that we only really work in 2 square feet, the rest becomes clutter.
My layout is also a mess. I do a little work on it every day and run a couple of trains a day. Before I turn the controls on, I have to make sure nothing is shorting out the tracks or blocking them. Once in a while I will miss something and as a train comes up to it the engine stops dead and sometimes derails. My wife has been riding me to get this mess cleaned up so I guess I will have do it.
Luckly as my layout is still in the benchwork/roadbed stage with no hard shell scenery yet I don't have this problem. Everything gets put onto the floor under the layout otherwise I accidentaly knock it off and have it land on my foot.
Mine was pretty bad, but I have been careful about not using it as a shelf. I did have a lot of dust and cobwebs tho! No longer. A little cleaning and a heavy duty use of the Centerline car fixed it all.
I'm currently layoutless, but when I had one it was the classic 4x8. It almost never got messed up because I had so little space to work with that I hung it from the ceiling in the shop and when I wasn't actively working on it, I pulled it up flush with the ceiling (or in any case, above my head level, at least until the ropes began to stretch).
My layout gets that way sometimes, its not too bad at the moment, just some rail spikes as weights, a jar of ballast, some glues, paints etc, the things ive been usign today. I am, however, having a bit of dificulty keeping the rest of the room clean
You are not alone! Mine is looking that bad right now. It is time for some rainy or snowy week-end days so I can attend to the mess
Although I've always made every attempt to prevent this on my layouts, there have been many times when it just seems to occur. Maybe gremlins sneak in when my back is turned? Right now I am trying to, slowly, finish my basement for the new empire. And sadly, it looks exactly like your picture. The whole area! Boxcab E50
I learned the hard way guys. Keep it clean! NEVER set anything on the layout unless it belongs there! Keep it covered when not in use! At present the 6-1/2 x 11 foot layout in my model shop is covered. It will operate anytime at the flip of the "on" switch. I can run out there, sit an engine on the rails and test run it, and re-cover the layout all in less than 5 minutes. A couple of articulateds neck and neck on the viaduct. My final layout up stairs, is under construction, so is not to the running stage, but is reasonably organized. It is not covered, but a cover will be made for it when I get to the stage of running test engines as I begin to lay track. This is a 33 stall roundhouse with a 134 foot turntable. I learned to do this because I got tired of having to always repair something, or move it when I would like to run an engine. There were times I had to repair a brand new engine, just because some guy wanted his kid to see my "train set", and the brat promptly picked up an engine and dropped it before either of us could break his arm! No one is allowed into the area where either layout is. No food or drink is ever carried in there. No animals, small kids, or non-hobby visitors are allowed into the rooms. I might occasionally invite a visitor who fully understands that if he breaks anything, he will pay to have it professionally replaced imediately at his total expense! When you have spent your whole life working and fighting to amass all the engines, rolling stock, and hand built a finished layout for your retirement years, you aren't about to take some guy's word that his 6 year old kid isn't going to reach out to touch one of your engines that is worth more than his kid! You will learn if you build or get expensive equipment! [ 28. October 2002, 15:25: Message edited by: watash ]
Watash, I've been pondering ways to cover my own layout - though mainly to keep dust rather than intruders out . How do you do this? (Maybe others will have some input too, so it might be worth opening a new thread for this.)
Oh boy, I have a Siamese cat that just loves to chase my steamers when they are on their runs. One time I was running one of my J's and my cat for some bizzare reason jumped up on the layout and chased the train, it took me 5 hours to get the mess cleaned up! From now on I have a spray bottle full of water ready, when I see her trying to jump up on my train layout I just spray her with water and she'll jump back down. Luckily the J or any of her cars were damage and no lives has been lost. hehehe. Oh Watash, what are those engine that you have in the first pic?
I'm glad I'm not the only one who lets his layout get messy! I still haven't started cleanup yet, but I must get to it this week, no excuses. I like Watash's idea of covering the layout, in fact I'll have to ponder how to do that for a while. My wife has this 3 foot by 18 inch punching bag that she wants me to hang up next to the layout. (the gal gots to vent) I have been promising to hang it for her for 2 years, (she saw me getting ready to cleanup the layout and hit me up with it this morning) but I still have reservations about it being near the layout because she might get some IDEAS while using it.
Well it'll probably be better than spending a night out on the couch lol. Lucky for me I'm single so I don't have to worry about that right now!
Sean, I'm not Watash, But I can answer you question on what the 2 loco's are in his first picture! The one on the inside track is a Rivarossi Big Boy(4-8-8-4), and the one on the outside track is a Y6b(2-8-8-2) Rivarossi.... I have a few of each. Only I customized the few I have. But I know the factory ones when I see them!
cool man, one of these days I'll show yall a pic of my J's. I know I talk about them alot but I do run them alot on my layout. Espically 611.
Sean, You sound like me with your J's and my EL's and EM's! I'm a big B&O'er so. I love the B&O (live and breath it) and they ran over 200 Articulateds/Mallets! So. To good words in the same sentence! The EM-1's tho, are my favorites.... Big Barreled, burly, and strong.. But I do like my EL's too. The EM's were 2-8-8-4's, and the EL's were 2-8-8-0's. And I like my passenger steamers for the B&O, even the odd ones... They sure kept the Varnish polished on the B&O...
Mike, I went to a store that sells bolts of cloth, and bought a length of flannel 7' wide by 13 feet long to cover the 6-1/2 wide x 11 long layout. Then I just gently roll it along over the whole layout allowing the edges to hang down all around. When I want to test a new engine, I roll back a few feet. To operate, the whole sheet is rolled back. It can be removed and washed if too much dust settles. Sean, the nearest engine is a 2-8-8-2 N&W articulated. The one behind it is a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy. There is a 2-8-8-0 just below that isn't easily seen. Robert, I usually make a frame and fasten the cover sheet to it with spring clips. (Haven't done this on this layout yet). At 4 to 8 points directly above the frame, pulleys are mounted to the rafters. Small lines are fastened to the frame at enough points to adequately support the frame (1/2 x 1 wood moulding). Each line runs up over its own pulley, then back to one side where each is fastened to one larger line that is run over another pulley then down to a boat winch. By cranking the winch, all lines go up at the same time, pulling the frame with sheet cover up out of the way. The ratchet on the winch holds it in place. By lowering the winch, the cover is easily lowered to cover the layout for future operations without having to spend hours removing dust. Simply release the spring clips to wash the cover as usual. This way, the cover can be held up just above a church steeple to prevent damage, yet still protect the layout. I haven't had to clean track in nearly two years.
Thats a great idea Watash, for some reason I could only invision using a complex plywood and piano hinge network as a layout cover.
