easy access of layouts.

[jfb]

hey guys we all get older and our layouts take real time and i am no different and any disbelievers can embarass themselves otherwise. I have a great idea that is also cost effective and good for ourselves over time. i am using a scaffold for areas of hard access over the layout instead of under and flipups could create issues of different kinds overtime. I have found a scaffold of proper size at a garage sale for 10 dollars and measured it beforehand height length etc. this works for some of us who have some cramped areas.

 

[DairyStateDad]

That sounds like a great idea! Micro Mark sells a "topside creeper" that would be used in a similar manner, but the price for that is a lot more than I think I would be willing to spend. My solution has been to mostly keep the width of the layout to no more than 2 feet, except where it is accessible from more than one side, but there is one portion that will unavoidably have a much deeper reach.

If you don't mind, I'd sure like to see a picture of what you found -- It sounds like you got pretty lucky. And do you have any sense of what the item would have cost new, rather than at a garage sale?

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Forum:

I built my Milwaukee Northern purposely higher to allow access to the underside and when viewing the railroad at closer to eye level, one feels more as being part of the scene. The lowest height of the railroad is approximately 53 inches and the highest level is 60+ inches by the coal mine spur. I use a Craftsman creeper, a low, wheeled chair for working on the underside of the layout and to move about with ease.

One thing I learned is that I wired the layout from above prior to scenery being installed and now some parts of the wiring are hard to access. On my next layout, all wiring will be done from below to avoid this problem.

I have two access points on the railroad, two is hidden by the 60+ inch bench work for the most part and the other is a 24" x 24" lime stone quarry. The quarry is square in shape which several people questioned as not being protypical, but living near Lannon, Wisconsin (home of many limestone quarries, I can show the doubtful an actual quarry that is essentially square in shape.

I do have several areas that are close to being out of my reach and a piece of equipment like Micro Mart's creeper may be in my near future to finish a couple of scenic areas and perform maintenance. My next layout will have a maximum width of no more than two and half feet.

I'm amazed at layouts like Howard Zane's and George Sellios and how they have concealed the access points that must be part if their layouts.

The scaffold is a great idea, but in my case I do not have enough aisle space for a scaffolding setup.

Thanks.

Greg

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Geeez, this thread should go in the old foggies section.

 

[IronBeltKen]

~1 year ago, I finished rebuilding the benchwork and laying the track for my current layout. It was a 3-year, on-agian/off-again project to make better use of the space in my two-car garage that was converted into a trainroom. My old layout was 50" off the floor with narrow aisles [~2ft], and getting into the two center aisles required ducking-under. That arrangement worked fine for me as a lone wolf, but when I started hosting op sessions I discovered that not everybody is as agile as I am. My taller guests kept banging their heads while crouching to enter the middle aisles, so after a while they simply stopped going to those areas of the layout.

So I wound up dismantling the old layout and building one with aisles that were at least 3ft wide so multiple operators could occupy them without banging into each other, and no duck-unders. For some of the hidden areas I needed to have access holes, but none of my guests ever need to access them in the course of normal operations. My staging tracks are slightly beyond arm's reach, but I solved that problem by placing a half-dozen step stools in various spots where they might be needed. 99% of the time I simply back my trains into staging when setting up for an op session.

 

[jfb]

That sounds like a great idea! Micro Mark sells a "topside creeper" that would be used in a similar manner, but the price for that is a lot more than I think I would be willing to spend. My solution has been to mostly keep the width of the layout to no more than 2 feet, except where it is accessible from more than one side, but there is one portion that will unavoidably have a much deeper reach.

If you don't mind, I'd sure like to see a picture of what you found -- It sounds like you got pretty lucky. And do you have any sense of what the item would have cost new, rather than at a garage sale?

I found a used bodyshop scaffold for truck roofs but aired out for the fumes.

 

[jfb]

Forum:

I built my Milwaukee Northern purposely higher to allow access to the underside and when viewing the railroad at closer to eye level, one feels more as being part of the scene. The lowest height of the railroad is approximately 53 inches and the highest level is 60+ inches by the coal mine spur. I use a Craftsman creeper, a low, wheeled chair for working on the underside of the layout and to move about with ease.

One thing I learned is that I wired the layout from above prior to scenery being installed and now some parts of the wiring are hard to access. On my next layout, all wiring will be done from below to avoid this problem.

I have two access points on the railroad, two is hidden by the 60+ inch bench work for the most part and the other is a 24" x 24" lime stone quarry. The quarry is square in shape which several people questioned as not being protypical, but living near Lannon, Wisconsin (home of many limestone quarries, I can show the doubtful an actual quarry that is essentially square in shape.

I do have several areas that are close to being out of my reach and a piece of equipment like Micro Mart's creeper may be in my near future to finish a couple of scenic areas and perform maintenance. My next layout will have a maximum width of no more than two and half feet.

I'm amazed at layouts like Howard Zane's and George Sellios and how they have concealed the access points that must be part if their layouts.

The scaffold is a great idea, but in my case I do not have enough aisle space for a scaffolding setup.

Thanks

Greg

I am in a carpeted room and movement from what you quoted will screw things up.

 

[jfb]

Geeez, this thread should go in the old foggies section.

hey nobody is really old but why kill your mood with uneeded bs.

 

[D Cody]

I think we all have a tendency to over build our layout in depth, I for one do. This time I figured out a way to get depth of a layout I wanted and be able reach it all. When I built the bench work I installed heavy duty cabinet slides between the frame work attached to the wall and the base of the layout and with the backdrop fastened onto the wall seperate form the layout I can now just pull the whole layout from the wall, Now all I have to do is climb under it and come up the other side to do any work that has to be done, and then slide it back into place. The laypout is 20 ft long by 3.5 ft wide with a 6ft by 8 ft L extention on one end and I can do this by myself.

Dean
KD&S Railroad

 

[CBCNSfan]

Well now, this old foggie has started a new layout and it will be a walk in and around. However working below the layout (as with everyone else s, unless it's a shelf layout close to the ceiling, will demand some crawling, bending and grunts from the old carcass Mine will be no different I suspect during the building or maintenance of said layout, one just has to bite the bullet grin, bear it and cuss For lack of a better description I'll call it a folded dumbbell because the track plan is not firm as of yet.
It's the same thought as my last one which had a swing gate entrance, worked fine but under table work is always present, there's no way to eliminate it totally. I had believed that when the layout was operational (don't laugh now ) there would be no requirement to have to crawl or bend into a weird shape to fix a problem installed by the gremlins while I was sleeping. There was a member here (Larry) who built a reclining sort of creeper for working under his layout, it even had a tool drawer so when the track is finally laid I'll build me one on them so I wont have to take pain killers before going to bed. If you want to be a model railroader you have to take the bad with the good. Just my opinion for what it's worth, probably not too much
Cheers
Willis