Post 37 8/5/2017 revised 1-1-2023
Layout Moves to New Train Room 2011 and Layout Legs and Skirting Added
When the layout was moved to the new train/media/audio room in 2011, it was put on legs at 35 inches above the floor. This height was found to be good for operating and viewing from standing or sitting on a stool. Three trains shelves were moved from a hall in the house to the walls of the train room to be close to the train board. It was decided to eliminate some of the background to allow better viewing of the train shelves.
Most legs were 2 x 4s bolted on with carriage bolts and bracing is 1x2s screwed on.
Since the train room does not have a closet or storage room the space below the train layout is used for storage of LP records, spare stereo gear, etc. This makes for a messy looking area. It was decided to make a cloth skirt to hide the mess.
Some dark blue inexpensive material was purchased at Jo Ann’s or another cloth store. Enough was purchased to make skirt for the whole perimeter around the layout. Skirting was made for the most visible ends of the “L” and the sides where the control panels are. It was not made at this time for the less visible sides facing the two walls with the train shelves. This also provides easier access to the boxes of LP records , VCR tapes, Reel to Reel tapes, CDs, cassette tapes, etc. stored under the layout.
The skirt is made using simple panels, each 6 inches wide with 2 inch pleats. A 5 inch hem was sewn on the bottom and a 1 inch hem was sewn on the top. The skirt was held to back side of the 1x6 base boards around the layout with thumb tacks or push pins. The skirt is sized to hang about ½ inch off of the carpet. It was made in sections large enough to cover each straight side or end with about 2 feet extra to overlap and not leave any gaps. Believe it or not I sewed the skirt with my wife’s help threading the sewing machine.
Pleats would be sharper if I had ironed them !
It turned out the layout would be an eye sore without the skirt hiding the storage mess under the layout. It is more convenient to access the LPs under the layout without skirting on the backside.
This next shot shows the electric cord protector for the power cord to the layout. I regret not having a couple of outlets installed in the center of the rooms floor during construction.
PS: 10-2019 I have since found a way to add a power outlet under the train layout. There is a 110v outlet in the ceiling in the garage below that was added to power a garage door opener. It would be easy to add a floor grade outlet under the train board and electrically tie it into the garage door opener outlet below. I have decided, for the the time being, to stay with the electric cord protector as there is not much foot traffic here.
Charlie
