40' x 8' x 8' shipping container layout


logandsawman

logandsawman

Well-Known Member
Pretty sure I will be buying one of these (next week) for my layout. Long and narrow, but lots of track room!

These are tight and have a solid floor. Will be cutting a regular service door in the side, putting in a heating/cooling unit, and adding a couple vents. Will be running the electrical from our meter by the house, about 100'

I am planning on insulating it with Sealtech and there will be lights from the ceiling. Will use my existing layout as parts of it and adding to it...will be using my backdrop pieces from the current layout as well.

What are your thoughts? The container costs $4800 delivered. Wife is on board :)

Dave LASM
 
For a 40'er I'm assuming it's used. If that's the case the only concern I would have is the condition of the roof. The part of the container which is abused the most by the sun, rain, snow, etc... I would just make sure it's still in good shape or you might be spending another $1000 or so on a new roof for it (some kind of single-ply roof)
 
logandsawman said:
Pretty sure I will be buying one of these (next week) for my layout. Long and narrow, but lots of track room!

These are tight and have a solid floor. Will be cutting a regular service door in the side, putting in a heating/cooling unit, and adding a couple vents. Will be running the electrical from our meter by the house, about 100'

I am planning on insulating it with Sealtech and there will be lights from the ceiling. Will use my existing layout as parts of it and adding to it...will be using my backdrop pieces from the current layout as well.

What are your thoughts? The container costs $4800 delivered. Wife is on board :)

Dave LASM
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Dave-This is going to be fun to watch!

I have always wondered if this would work. I have even seen the question posed on other forums, but have not seen anyone actually do this. i see no real pitfalls to doing this, as I've seen videos of homes (very nice ones) constructed out of these. Wonder if painting it white, or another light color would help keep the inside temperature lower in the summer?
 
Get a refrigerated unit, they're already insulated very well. Depending on whether the refer unit is functional, you may be able to sell it to recoup part of the cost of the container. The only place you'd need to do anything would be where the refer unit is mounted, and a sheet of metal and a small amount of insulation there will take care of that.
No, I haven't given any thought to this...
 
Great replies! I will be getting a simple container. I do not have the huge budget but want to get er completed for under 8,000. The container plus tax will be 5130. I will be doing all the other work myself, like cutting the holes, adding the vents, cooling/heating, wiring, and lighting.

shipping cont.png


Looking at buying a unit similar to a motel unit for heat/cool. These containers are very tight so my heat loss from drafts will be minimal. The seal tech insulation for the walls is R-15 which will be fine, not sure what I will be using for the ceiling yet.

I am working up a spreadsheet to get a total cost.

by the way, I got a pretty nice raise at work today so spending it in advance!

Dave LASM
 
migalyto said:
Is there any kind of approval’s you have to get from the city to have one of these?
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In my state, I don't think so. I know a few who have them on their property with no issues. I don't know about other states.

My buddy put his in the drive way but built a nice fence around it to appease the neighbors. He didn't wanted his drive way to look like (in his words) "an abandoned old freight yard" 😂
 
Where I live, we are in the country and this is considered an accessory building. We are on 12 acres so will be hardly noticable, will be located 100' from the house in some pine trees, about 50' from our dead end gravel township road.

I was hoping the bulding could be had for under 8,000. I was pretty close:

train room project.png


Well, there will be some bench work and track...we won't discuss that with the little lady just yet

Dave LASM
 
logandsawman said:
Where I live, we are in the country and this is considered an accessory building. We are on 12 acres so will be hardly noticable, will be located 100' from the house in some pine trees, about 50' from our dead end gravel township road.

I was hoping the bulding could be had for under 8,000. I was pretty close:

View attachment 201872

Well, there will be some bench work and track...we won't discuss that with the little lady just yet

Dave LASM
Click to expand...
I think I've mentioned somewhere here before a lesser known part of Murphy's Law which states:

"Everything takes longer and costs more than you expect even when you take into account that everything takes longer and costs more than
you expect"

:D
 
PMW said:
I think I've mentioned somewhere here before a lesser known part of Murphy's Law which states:

"Everything takes longer and costs more than you expect even when you take into account that everything takes longer and costs more than
you expect"

:D
Click to expand...
you are correct, sir.

I have had a couple projects turn out much easier than expected, but that is pretty rare. The wife is really on board with making the train room in the house into our TV room/office, and having a nice big foyer.

I am looking forward to that as well.

Probably be working on this over the winter, will not be running trains during the transition period, that is the biggest downside, but building the new creation will more than make up for it!


THANKS for all the input Dave LASM
 
logandsawman said:
Where I live, we are in the country and this is considered an accessory building. We are on 12 acres so will be hardly noticable, will be located 100' from the house in some pine trees, about 50' from our dead end gravel township road.

I was hoping the bulding could be had for under 8,000. I was pretty close:

View attachment 201872

Well, there will be some bench work and track...we won't discuss that with the little lady just yet

Dave LASM
Click to expand...

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Dave: Remember to check around the corners of the unit, both top and bottom. As you may know these are picked up from the top to get them on or in something. I have seen them dropped to ground cuz the operator did not make sure all 4 corners were locked into the lifter. Bottom usually takes the brute of the fall and could possibly leak. Check top corners too as sometimes they get dropped there; although usually the dropped unit goes through the roof of the unsuspecting receiving unit.

In the case of a refer unit - might be the way to go as those things will go from colder to cold to nominal to warm to warmer without having to reconfigure anything. And as Terry says they are insulated very good already. When we hauled 'the vax' we were sometimes in upwards of 100F temps with the refer unit only running once in a while to keep at -60C. The diesel, compressor and heat unit are in one unit and are pretty small and quiet. The diesel electric part may put a wrench in the works. Hmmm, you always wanted a diesel electric sans traction motors, right? Oh, you could forget the diesel part, but you would need 440V 3 phase @ 200A for the compressor and/or heating elements. That amperage is from memory, so YMMV.

Also, I would set up a post building with a roof over the top of the whole shebang. No worry about snow load or it melting and that should not cost that much more. Snow load could be a problem as those things are rated for ( usually ) no more than 3 containers on top when at gross weight (120K ish Lbs). That is sitting in the slots on the ends/edges with nothing on the metal roof. 4 foot of really wet snow is quite hefty for a roof with minimal cross-bracing!

In any event, have a blast with this and of course we know you will post pix!

Later
 
logandsawman said:
you are correct, sir.

I have had a couple projects turn out much easier than expected, but that is pretty rare. The wife is really on board with making the train room in the house into our TV room/office, and having a nice big foyer.

I am looking forward to that as well.

Probably be working on this over the winter, will not be running trains during the transition period, that is the biggest downside, but building the new creation will more than make up for it!


THANKS for all the input Dave LASM
Click to expand...
Looking forward to following the progress of this project.
 
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