# Building our train set up area



## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

We have a small train group that gets together once in a while and never really have had a good place to put there trains and cars on the tracks. So we built a set up area along side of our house so when people come in thru the side gate. It's right there.
Our layout is down on the ground so we had to make it easy for everyone by raising the tracks up to about 3 foot off the ground. Only problem was we have to go a 100 ft along the fence line to get down to the layout again.
Photo 1 shows how we did it.











Then we later on needed a place to get trains and car up quick if it started to rain and also we kind of needed some lights for our night runs for setting up trains to. 

So we added a roof and some lights over it.. 

Photo 2 show the Roof. 












The only thing was we make it for us short people.. hahahaha.. Roof was only 5ft 8 inch to the ground.. So big guys had to watch themselves. The real reason was we tried to keep the roof about even with our 6 foot fence, but this was beginning to create problems. We finally decided to come up with a way to increase the height by Jacking up and splicing in a 10 inch 4 X 4 and case it with 1 X 4's and 1 X 6's . 
Now we have lots of room and no more educational bumps to the big guys head. 
You can see how one post was Redwood ( Dry rotted right away. ) and the other post was Pine. We had to pull that post out that was about 3 foot in the ground that was cemented. We even soaked the post in Eng. Oil before we cemented them in. But it still dry rotted..
Only thing we can figure was the Red wood post must of been green and shrank and pulled away from the silcone seal we put around it.

Photo 3 show how we raised it. 
















Photo 4 show how it ended up and even add another Elect. plug down lower on the post to. Now you can see the beginning of our car barn that is going on to end of the set up area. Just another place to run some rolling stock in if it looks like bad weather. We cont. with that project add on later. Hope you can get something out of our idea for maybe a use like this for your layout to.













Hope this may give you some idea for your layout as it sure help for us. 

We are going to add on to this set up area, a Car and Eng. storage build case of a change of weather if need. We'll add that idea on to this post later on..


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

A wiser man than me, said the 4x4 rotted because it didn't pass through the cement. Sealing the end in a boot of cement traps water and promotes decay. 

John


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Although I will probably never get a chance to see your layout, us over 6 ft guys thank you for raising you roofline. 

Other than that, looks great. 36" in 100' - so you have a 3.0% grade? 

By the last photo looks like you got a "giant house cat" problem....


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 02 May 2011 12:35 AM 
A wiser man than me, said the 4x4 rotted because it didn't pass through the cement. Sealing the end in a boot of cement traps water and promotes decay. 

John 

Hi John.. Ya ... You got it.. I put a big rock in the hole and dump in cement over it before putting in the Pine Oiled treated 4 X 4 so it would make sure the cement sealed the bottom. So it must of came thru the top. 


Anyway it was a sun of a gun to drive in another treated 4 X 4 to get it down with out moving the roof section. Now both post are seal up again. Guess we'll see what happen in 10 yrs or so.. If I'm around.. lol











Posted By jake3404 on 02 May 2011 09:48 AM 
Although I will probably never get a chance to see your layout, us over 6 ft guys thank you for raising you roof line. 

Other than that, looks great. 36" in 100' - so you have a 3.0% grade? 

By the last photo looks like you got a "giant house cat" problem....









Well Jake if you are out this way, always welcome.. 
The grade is around 2.0 % due to it comes in at top of the 38 ft long Helix grade that is 14 inch's off the ground. and then rest of grade is 1 to 2.5 % from there on down. 

We have lot of kats.. No problem with them other than see what we are doing when we build something.. There noisie 

Tk's guy for the come back.


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim Carter give me this idea to have a storage area on the end of my set up tracks. I wanted a roof access like Jim did. So tk's Jim C. for the idea and post you did.. 

Posted By pimanjc on 19 Apr 2010 09:10 PM 
*21. Mike Reilley requested that I post a pic of the barn loaded with cars.*










He has more car storage than what I have room for..... so mine is just three tracks for car storage and on ea. side if need, but no track there. 


We had a friend give us an "L " shape 30 foot or so storage box that he took down. So we took what we could salvage and revamp to our use.. Might as well started from scratch due to we had to take most of it apart..


Here is some photo's of what we had to work with. 










Other sections.










So a chop and cut here and there. This is what we came up with due to we only had little over 12 foot space to work with. We love trees and try to get around them to make the R.R. blend in.
Here is what we came up with.










More photos .
Box 1 

Box 2 

Box 3 


Box 4

Box 5 


Tracks 1


Temp. track diagram until we find another Right hand Switch. 


We'll get more photo's later after we get the blocks and tracks finished. " Blocks are going to be 2 ea. Dail gang switchs w/ LED's at blocked areas. "


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## alecescolme (Dec 20, 2010)

Great work. Cool storage barn! 

Alec.


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Another update on the block sys. due to we are track power. 
We making larnterns to set by the tracks to show the routing in the yard. These will light up when you select the routing with a gang sw. 

It makes it a lot easyer with the new people to power up there trains.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Cute lamp.

You made it from beads and the like?


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Dang! This whole project is really coming along nicely! (*Sigh) I sure wish I had had the foresight to come up with a decent staging area for my layout...


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Torby on 07 May 2011 06:54 AM 

Cute lamp.

You made it from beads and the like? 
..............................................

Hi Torby... No not beads.. There Xmas tree LED's lights... Thery are real bright and cheap at Xmas time. I think around 100 of them for about 6 bucks that was on sale. 
We showed it on our Fri. night shows. How to do stuff. 
There just pulled one LED out of its holder and take another one and pull the LED out of it and set it on top of the other LED. Cut the top stim off. Dill two holes for the Lantern handle. Put a falset washer on bottom for the fuel contaniner and waaaaaaa laaaaaaaa it a lantern. 




















Posted By Steve Stockham on 07 May 2011 07:25 AM 

Dang! This whole project is really coming along nicely! (*Sigh) I sure wish I had had the foresight to come up with a decent staging area for my layout...
Hi Steve S. I got most of this idea from Jim Carters storage building he did. Guess close by you. 
Boy, I can see how this is going to help us when we have bad weather or just want a place to leave stuff out for the next day run.

It's just about done except putting a Train logo up over the doors. Thinking of Santa fe & Butthead Cove R.R. 

We tested the lighting when raising the roofs up last night. We were checking the roller micro Sw. for adjustment and they work fine. We put in 6 White LED's. and they give off quite a bit of light to each section..
Micro Switches for roof lighting.  

This shows the track level with the doors open. Notice, Track 1 is set up to run. LED is on.











This is one of the two Block Gang Switches located under the tracks for easy access. Blue LED lets you know you have power for the sig. and targets.

Photo of the Block & Target Gang SW.


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Looking GOOD Noel! 

Are you ready for spring clean-up? Don't we need a train fix now? 

Michael


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Michael Glavin on 07 May 2011 11:55 AM 
Looking GOOD Noel! 

Are you ready for spring clean-up? Don't we need a train fix now? 

Michael 

You can run some stuff on the set up area and the grade long fence run. 
That what I 'm going to do to day, is a test on blocks wiring.. 
Not sure on the layout.. it outer there somewhere under the pine needles and falling bloosom. LoL


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Noel, 

Great set up. Thanks for posting the pics. 

very best, 
TJ


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Tested everything out on the set up area.. And be darn .. Everything worked............
A little work to get trains out to the layout due to have to align blocks and manual Switch's.. But then thats the fun of it. 
We can block six Eng's and have a run-a-around from second track to the third tracks at the set up board.











We finished up by adding some protection for the block lanterns. 











We pulled power for the LED"s from the Back and Forth transformer that oper. the Wilsonville Trolley. Being it was up under the roof, Its easy access to adj. the throttle & timers. 

Trolley and LED power source.

Even got all of the Targets on all manual track switches now to. Notice they are Red due to only one way in and no other exit out, but the way you came in. 
Switch targets  

We're done on this project.. Even looks great at night that is all lit up for easy setup and to work that area. Only have to mount up the Intercom now to get access to a green light to the main line thru the console, at the Laini. 
Tk's for watching this post. Noel & Jane


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