Crazy idea what do you think


Jim 68cuda

Jim 68cuda

Well-Known Member
I don't have a basement, and have just dismantled my HO layout that was in an attic storage room. I would like to rebuild in a bedroom, but may need the space as a guest room for visiting family from time to time.
I don't want a fold up layout, as mountainous terrain would keep it from folding flat against the wall.

Here's my idea.
At work, I may be able to get for free, a used one piece wood 4'x10' conference table top. Meanwhile, theres a 4 post double bed on Craigslist for $195. The four posts on the bed, are 64" tall. (Stay with me on this) The over all height of the bed posts, can be reduced a little by removing casters at the bottom, and it appears that there may be 6" high caps at the top of each post which may be removable. My thought is to attach the table top to the top of the four bed posts. Then I get my guest room, and a layout that is roughly just below eye level at maybe around 56". I'm expecting some reinforcement to be necessary, and no one would be on the bed when the train is running. I do see problems with the idea, but I think that with some reinforcement, the bed could be stable enough to support the train layout.

So, is this a crazy stupid idea which won't work, or am I a genius?
 
Jim
Kinda like bunk beds eh? :rolleyes:
I,m not sure about this,,,,how many house guest are going to sleep and sleep well with a conference table suspended overhead??
Personally, I'll take the couch.;)


Had a similar dilemma in my old apartment, temporarily went to n scale on a foam platform stored under the bed til I got a house, then went back to HO.

At least, instead of a big table, maybe a more lightweight (and just as sturdy) platform overhead would be more in line??:)
 
My first thought is maybe the layout can be on it's own legs above the bed so there's no transfer of movement?
When I was a kid I had an N scale layout built something like that.
 
Wouldn't it be somewhat simpler to just make a railroad that ran along narrow shelves along one or more walls (possibly with some sections removable so they can be stored elsewhere in case the room needs to be used as a guest room?

Maybe have the beds be of a kind which can be be folded up and removed fairly easily (or stowed under the layout) when the room is not being used as a guest bedroom.

Hard to say what would be practical when one doesn't know what your room looks like, how often the room would be used as a guest bedroom, the age and health condition of your expected guests etc.

Smile,
Stein
 
My layout would be HO scale. I have tons of stuff in HO which is why I'll be sticking with HO. I want to have at least one main line with continous operation and I'm more interested in plenty of space for scenery rather than realistic operation.
The room would be used as a guest room two or three times a year. Age range of occupant would be toddler up to 70 years.

The really crazy part that I haven't mentioned yet, is that I'm thinking about attaching the main part of my old layout, which is built on foam, as is with alot of scenery already attached, to the top of the conference table top. Then theres this crazy idea of knocking a couple "tunnels" through the wall to a storage room and have another entire (but smaller) section of layout over top of some shelving and file cabinets in the next room. If I ever decide to move, I'll just repair the "tunnel" holes.

I have considered the possibility of a support that is independent from the bed for the conference table top, and I'm considering options that are more lightweight than the conference table top to go over the bed.
 
Um, Ken
Got sketches? :confused:
Really, if you really want the best ideas, we need info plus all the "crazy" ideas!

Hey, I can dig holes in walls.......my latest plan calls for the railroad to bisect a closet and have west end staging in the laundry room! :D
 
I had this kind of setup when I was a kid. Bunkbeds with the top mattress removed and a 4x8 sheet of plywood put in its place for trains.
 
Hi Jim,
While the idea of a layout, on it's own legs, over a bed is not a bad idea when space is at a premium. That's the way my old 5' 6" x 9' layout was, positioned over my double bed in my single room mobile home and I slept under it for a couple of years two, but not real convenient in the long run, especially for guests!

How about giving this idea some thought which adds onto what Stein said, make a somewhat narrow shelf layout along two walls giving you and 'L' shape layout with a loop on either end, which could be made removable if needed, and instead of an actual bed how about a Sofa/Bed that could be either backed up to the edge of the layout and held away from it with a fold up spacer type framework on the floor to keep the couch/bed from hitting the table work legs etc when in use? Also it could be made so the couch bed would actually slide under the bench work when not being used if it couldn't be moved to another wall to sit on. This way your layout could be at about 45.5" high for the main level, like mine is, I'm 5' 9" tall, and I find it very enjoyable viewing the HO trains this way with little bending required but sitting is even better.

With a Sofa/Bed it would save a lot of useable space when company wasn't there making room for a shelf type layout which is really nice to work on, for the most part the ends require a step stool with handle to lean over comfortably, and as it can be spread out more so it give more distance, for a more prototypical type of run, and separation between towns/locations.

Hope that adds some new ideas.
 
Sounds like a descent idea...just make sure that the posts are not directly connected to the bed. If the bed ever gets to...ahem...rockin...ya dont want a GP40 to fall in on the action...
 
Could work. Get some really tall bar stools for when you're using it, though!
 
I've taken some measurements and have given it some thought. I appreciate everyone's input. You guys are right, the bed posts should not touch, much less support the layout.
But, because I want multiple purposes for the room, I think I am still going to pursue the plan of putting the layout over a double bed so the room can still have occasional use as a guest room.
Heres my current line of thinking. I will put the main part of the existing layout (4'x9') in the room, supported by 4 four drawer file cabinets. The file cabinets are about 4 1/2' high. The bed will be under the layout with two file cabinets at either end. This will allow someone to sit on the bed without hitting their head on the bottom of the layout. My train room will be the guest room I need, but with this plan, it will allow me to get boxes of important papers off my floor and filed neatly in file cabinets. It will allow me to use the attic storage room (currently the train room) to store car parts and get the complete interior of my 68 Dodge Charger out of my dining room (the rest of the car is at the body shop for restoration).
The layout will be at a comfortable viewing level from a standing position.
 
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Well, my plans are starting to come together. The first step was to paint the room close to a sky blue color (ended up being a bit bluer than I wanted). I then attached some flourescent light fixtures from Home Depot to the ceiling (there was no lighting in this room). The lights are linked together and will plug into a wall outlet. I will run the power cord down one corner of the room behind a mirror that will visually extend a corner of the layout.
Since this is also a guest room, it needs to look somewhat inviting to guests. For this reason, I will not attempt to paint clouds or trees onto the walls as a backdrop. Also for this reason, I decided the file cabinet idea (for supporting the layout) wouldn't look very appealing. I decided everything should look at least somewhat like furniture. Yesterday I went to Ikea, and bought just under $300 in Ivar shelving parts in both 19.5" deep and 12" deep sizes. I also bought three 89" long "corner posts" which I will cut to length to bridge the distance between shelving units and support the layout over the bed. Now, the bed has sufficient space at both ends that it won't touch the shelving units, The edge of the layout will be sufficiently high enough and set back enough from the side of the bed to allow an average size adult to sit on the edge of the bed (once I add a mattress to the box springs) without bumping heads against the edge of the layout.
The layout will be on top of all the shelving seen here (including bridging the space in front of the window over to the stand alone shelving). The window will still be accessable for opening and cleaning. The main part of the layout will cover an area of 4' x 9' and will be completely suspended over the bed.

Again, I appreciate all the input. I think you guys were right in that the bed should have no contact with the supports for the layout. I think this arrangement will keep any motion from the bed from being transmitted to the layout.
There will only be about 20" between the side wall and the far side of the bed making it a bit tight if the guest gets up on the "wrong side of the bed". But there is sufficient space on that side to access the layout and to make the bed.
 
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Months ago I removed all the track and structures and some of the scenery off the old layout as it sat in the attic storage room where I had built it almost 20 years ago.
Now that the "guest/train" room had been painted and I had put together the IKEA shelving to support the layout over the guest bed, the next step was to cut up the original layout into small(ish) pieces that could be moved (relatively) easily from the attic storage room to it's new home above the bed. As you can see from the photos, I have taken that step. Since the original layout benchwork was almost entirely made out of styrofoam, I was able to cut most of it apart with a kitchen knife, only needing a saw in a couple places.
Today I placed the sections back together on the new framework. It does look like most of what I was hoping to re-use will be workable. I will need to redesign the left side of the layout to bring the trackwork away from the window a bit to allow the window to be opened. Some of the remaining scenery like streets and sidewalks will need to be removed and repositioned since it has buckled in places.
When this layout is completed, it will be viewable from angles never before seen. That will mean creating scenery along one 4' section that was originally against a back drop.
The biggest problem that I've found with this test fit, is that there will be one 2' long section of track up against the wall to the right of the window that will be unreachable.
Unfortunantly, the layout will now be stalled at this point for a while. Now the priority will be to get the attic room cleaned up, painted and prepared for alternate usage.
 
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Jim,

I'm not including any beds, but I'm also using the IKEA Ivar 48" uprights, in both widths, too. I'm looking to get the draws for them to keep extra rolling stock in.

Carl
 
otiscnj said:
Jim,

I'm not including any beds, but I'm also using the IKEA Ivar 48" uprights, in both widths, too. I'm looking to get the draws for them to keep extra rolling stock in.

Carl
Click to expand...

Carl,
I would like to see pictures of your setup using the IKEA Ivar shelving units.
 
Jim,

Check out my Philly & Scranton posts-start at the end, and work back. Newest photos should show some of my IVAR stuff holding up a portion of the layout, around the walls.

Carl
 
This part is a little off topic, but its part of the entire master plan, so I'll post it here anyway. I also collect 1/18 scale diecast cars. And several years ago, with the help of a couple friends, i scratch built two 1/18 scale dioramas to display some cars. Because of the large scale, one diorama (a car dealership with showroom and service bays) ended up being 4'x6'. The other diorama, (a Bob's Big Boy Drive in Restaurant with dining room and car hop canopy), ended up being 4'x8'.
After moving the train layout out of the attic storage room, I painted the attic storage room, and moved the dioramas in there together. The addition of a street between them, will connect them together to form one large 12'x8' diorama.
This not only frees up space in the master bedroom, where one diorama had been, but also frees up space in the room adjoining the new train room. This will allow the expansion of the train layout into the second room.
The pictures show the two dioramas and a piece of plain white styrofoam between them forming the basis for a roadway. There will be more painting and detailing to be done, but thats a long way off. At least I can see what the arrangement will end up looking like now.
 
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Jim 68cuda said:
The biggest problem that I've found with this test fit, is that there will be one 2' long section of track up against the wall to the right of the window that will be unreachable.
Click to expand...

Well at least you know now where all the problems will occur - right where you can't reach them
 
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