# O Scale - Basement - Almost Ready to Build



## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

Hopefully I can add photos this weekend. I am new to the hobby. I have had a 4 year learning curve and have about $5000 in purchased O Scale locomotives, rolling stock, some buildings and Lionel Fasttrack. 

My basement is half of a traditional 100 year old house basement. The wife and laundry (storage for my wife's clutter) got the other side. 

This room I have is south facing and SW. It had 3 worn out windows, one patched with particle board. One in the foundation brick. I removed all of the bad windows and replaced them with new ones and since one window space was boarded over, it really adds some much needed natural light, especially it seems - in that 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm time frame.

Next I had an electrician add new outlets and 2 new overheard fluorescent bulb runs. All done professionally and I had already added some light. Can add more if needed. 

Next I put in a false wall on the west facing wall which had bowed from 100 years of ying and yang. This wall was water proofed before the false wall was put in. 

The false wall is pine cupboarding, those knotty pine looking pieces that fit up into the piece above it. I stained it medium oak and it looks good and is about 1 1/2 inch off the wall. 

I waterproofed the outside and will continue to hit the driveway there with waterproofing but I am not naïve, some humidity and water may seep in on really torrential downpours but I do not expect flooding or even water in the basement. Just an increase in humidity. 

Next - I have painted the floor with 3 coats of Armorall floor paint and my last 2 coats go on tonight and Saturday. Tonight, I am painting the final wet coat, then I sprinkle that flake stuff on the wet paint, backing up to the stairs and finally upstairs. 

Saturday I hit the paint with a gloss sealant. 

Then, finally I start to build the layout and I just don't want to buy one of the books at Hobby Haven on the layout. 

I had the electrician put the electrical outlets - 8 of them - at a level which I knew would be below the deck. 

My initial questions are:

1. Is 4 x 4 treated (or untreated) posts overkill for the layout board to be put on or should I be OK with 2 x 4's?

2. Considering the basement has a "normal" old timey basement height of 8 feet or so, how high should my layout be (base boarding)? I was thinking 3 feet, or about 8 inches above the electrical. 

This takes into consideration I will have elevation from a "plains" to a hilly river terrain area. 

I will measure again tonight but this layout looks to be long and narrow. About 18 feet long and 6 feet out from the wall. 

Note: South facing wall is painted white previously and could be updated but I am so burned out on "getting ready" I decided to leave it alone, it is not warped, does not leak and is visually OK. 

Note 2: As for removing the south facing wall and redoing, it was not possible cost wise and we do not plan on staying in this house for ever, so I had to go with the less costly waterproofing.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

Three feet high will work for the platform height. Should be enough that you can work comfortably under it when you do the wiring. And if the platform is six feet wide, you will need a duck under to get access. 4X4s would be overkill. 2X4s should be fine.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Big time congratulations on your extensive
preparations. You'll be glad you did. I would
suggest one other thing, a dehumidifier. You
want to protect all those expensive locos and
other electrical devices from corrosion.

It'll be nice having all those outlets but are
they switched or on a separate breaker?.
Many of us prefer having one
master switch that kills all power to the layout.
That way this or that component can't be
accidentally left 'on'. Potential fire starter.
An added safety idea: Run a low voltage light
upstairs so that it is lighted when the layout is
'on'. It's easy to forget to turn the system off.

You are going to spend a good deal of time under
your benchwork doing wiring chores. You want
to be as comfortable as possible. Measure yourself
sitting on the floor in a comfortable position. Add 3
inches. That should be the low point under the table
top.

I have a room size layout. I used 1X4s for the framing.
The legs are 1X4's screwed together as an L. They are
bolted in the corners of the frame for stability. Don't
nail anything. Use screws and bolts. It's almost
a sure thing that you'll want to change something.

Before you put the top on drill holes in the cross
members that you can use to run wires.

1/4" to 3/8" plywood is usually sufficient for the top.
Many like to use 1 and 2 inch foam on top of that. In
addition to some sound control, it affords easy scenery
formations such as rivers, ponds lakes and the like.

It is also a good idea to make your legs height
adjustable so you can easily level it out.

Don


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## Bill Webb (Sep 14, 2015)

Bryan you have really been busy. You have done a lot of work that will pay off in the future and now is certain,y the time to do it.

Look up L girder bench work on the Internet. A lot of people have used it successfully for years and it offers advantages including that it is relatively easy to build.

When you get a chance, please post some photos. It will be fun to watch the progress as it takes place.

You can get a wealth of information from people on the forum. They enjoy helping and know their stuff.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

A big yes to 4x4's being overkill. Maybe if you were building a big table that you had to get up on and crawl all over. I like 1x2 (without knots) and 1x3's, and using them in an "L" or "T" shaped girder makes them surprisingly strong! Also consider bolting brackets on the wall instead of legs to trip over and shake things off the layout. The 1" and up dense insulation foam makes a great building material, see what Overkast is doing on his New England RR.


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## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

Thanks for the confirmation not to use 4 x 4. I like to over-engineer if cost is not too prohibitive. 

I thought about making sure I could move under the layout with a mechanics creeper.

I also thought about putting under layout lighting but not the safety aspect of a main switch to shut everything off. 

I am still learning. The electrician ran all of the newly added electricity to a breaker in the main box and the main box is on the east facing wall. 

I just finished the final painting and the home smells like paint so I opened up all the windows. It is 70 degrees here. 

Tomorrow I will take photos and add.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

If only your layout and it's lighting are the only things
on the breaker, that would be an ideal on/off safety
switch seems to me. Might be some heavy wear on
the breaker though.

Don


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

A breaker makes an expensive switch!


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

I use a power strip as the master switch that kills all power to the layout. Many of them have an indicator light, overcurrent protection and surge protection.

Another safety consideration is a type ABC fire extinguisher.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I think it all sounds great. Now this is just my opinion. I would think a little more about layout height. At 36" and you are standing by layout you will have an airplane view of your layout. I like to be more in the layout view than way above it. It also depends on what chairs you are going to use to view your layout. My old layout is 43" and I am going higher with the new layout. I may have to get stools but that is okay. Just something you might want to put more thought into.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

So maybe too late, but i have two comments /observations for you.

1) Unless you need the layout to double as a ladder /step stool or earthquake protection, 2x- lumber is overkill. 1x is more than strong enough. If you really need extra strength, make an L or T girder from 1× lumber instead.

2) I think you will want your layout MUCH higher than 36". Working on anything in a layout that low, and even trouble rerailing equipment, will punish your back. Never mind the viewing perspective. At 48", al, tasks on my layout are performed standing nearly upright, and I'm much happier.


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## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

2 votes for going higher, will do.


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## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

Photos of the train room. By guesstimates working area will be 16 feet long by 6 1/2 to 8 feet deep to the wall.


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*ON/OFF light indicators for power to the layout.*

A power strip is an excellent way to have a master On/OFF switch to ones layout. The indicator light is a great way to let an operator know when all the power is turned off on ones layout.
With dcc, I suppose the engines continuous headlight illumination is a neat indicator also?:dunno:
Regards,tr1


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Layout height~37 1/2" high*

Well, through the years, the~38" height worked very well. For me while scenicing. 
Although I'm still dc, when I convert over to DCC I suspect I'll remove the bolted on "L" girder legs(1"x3").
Now the bolts are in very tight holes.
So, what I think my first move will be, is put the layout on cinder
blocks for the added height. After all it's a fairly sturdy over all
construction. With the added height, drilling 
additional holes for the DCC bus and drop wires.
This should be fairly easy to accomplish.
If not, I'll have to remove the legs from my bench work.
Stay tuned for additional pictures of my DCC conversion.These pictures of my progress should be located
at my granite gorge& northern thread here at this forum.If not there, I'll have a link set up here or there:dunno:.
Thank you, My regards,tr1


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## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

I got the layout boarding and framing completed. It measures 16 feet long by 7 feet at the widest. 

I set up some of my Lionel Fastrack. I bought a RTR set and some Fastrack I bought on Craigs List. Keep in mind I have zero experience with model railroading so I had no idea what I was doing. 

The track snapped together OK and I found a couple of terminal sections. I attached to the transformer. I set the cheapo RTR locomotive and a couple of cars on and once I figured everything out away it went. 

BUT - after about 3/4 of the way around it died. If you push the locomotive along it eventually catches electricity pretty close to the transformer. 

I put the 2 terminal sections pretty close to the transformer because I had no wiring to go further. At 16 x 7 I am assuming that there is no electricity on that back side. 

Where do you guys electrify the layouts? How many of these terminal sections should I have per track? (I plan on having 2 tracks with some crossovers)

Are there other issues I am missing?


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Wire is pretty cheap, buy some more wire and put one of those terminal tracks on the back side. In a perfect world you would have wires running to each piece of track. Most
do not do that, some do. With fastrack or any track you are relying A piece of track sending power to the next piece of track. We know it is not a solid connection from one piece of track to the next. As many feeder wires as possible is best. Many people run wires every 6 feet. Many people just solder the wires to the rails and do not use terminal
pieces. Its probably hard to get to the rails with fastrack. Now, what size wire to buy. I
think 16 or 18 gauge would work. Sounds like you are off to a good start. Have fun and
be sure to ask if you are having any problems.

Many people use 20 or 22 gauge wire for feeders. I myself like a little thicker wire. Little power loss in a long run with thicker wire.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Mike Reagan posted this Fastrack Continuity Testing & Fix video when he was with Lionel, consider applying these fixes. Also, for the outside tracks, gently squeeze the open ends slightly (emphasis on slightly) with needle-nose pliers to add a little pressure. The combination of those two fixes should allow you to run without adding too many drops.

I run my Christmas layout using Fastrack around in our solarium with two power drops, one on each side. The loop is about 55 feet of track with some switches, a loop around the tree, and a couple of hidden sidings behind the loveseats to store extra consists.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

One very important tool to use around a layout
is a multimeter. A simple cheap one from
Harbor freight will do all of the jobs you need.

In the instance you have experienced, you would
set it to AC volts, run the transformer speed control
to about half way, and place the probes on center
rail and either running rail. Start at the first terminal
from the transformer. Note the voltage. Then move
the probes to the next section. You'll soon see where
you are losing electrical conductivity. There may be
corrosion at the joints.

The track may also need to be cleaned. 

In HO we usually try to have track feeds every
6 to 10 feet of track. Track drops are connected
to a power buss from the transformer.

Don


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