Access holes and aisles getting smaller?

I've been hearing that the world is getting smaller since the late 1950's...

 

Rusty

No layout, so it hasn't happened to me yet.

 

I did have the unpleasant experience of not being able to fit in my Christmas dress pants I've been able to wear for years.  Wife thought it was instantly funny. 

 

Little did she know her life was in jeopardy if the button would've came off....

 

 

I only have one access hole in my layout, and I fit thru it fine. It's the crawling to it and getting back up that has become the problem......

My aisles are still fine....but my only access hole wasn't cut big enough to begin with!

"After five years recovering from an auto accident"

 

Never mind the access hole, Rich, sure hope you are getting better.

Since dismantling the big layouts in favor of a round-the-wall 9x16 attic layout everything is reachable. Fortunately I built in the attic before health issues attacked and lameness set in followed by pounds. 

Rich and Dewey,

sorry about your health problems.  

 

Since I am in the thought process of my next layout, I intend to build around the walls, and not very deep.  No narrow aisles or crawling to access hold for me.  I am frankly skinny, but I want a visitor of any girth to be able to move freely around the layout, even someone in a wheelchair.  My knees, back and hands give me trouble at age 58, and I know it will only get worse, so I do not want any crawling.  Maybe a simple lift up bridge to get in the room 

Maybe a Jack La Lane box car will inspire us all

 

My layout size is 4'8" deep by 8'6" wide with a "L" extension 6' wide by 3'8: deep. .It fits tight to 3 walls at the end of the living room. I have no access holes as the base level is 2' off the floor, it's barely 6 ft high in the back corner. My plan to has access to the back corner is to build a rectangle "X" 2' high for my 3 level s  with 3/4" plywood top screwed into the X. That will become a mountain with tunnels for the trains.  I will then have a thinner (lighter) piece of plywood cut to fit the other piece that will be topped with  just foam for the top that can be easily removed so I can lay across the heavy plywood to access the back corner which is the deepest distance back from the front of the layout. May sound strange but I think it will work, better than climbing on the layout with 14EE size feet. Crunch!

It is a well known fact that as wood ages, it becomes more porous.  As moisture in the air gets into the pores of the wood, the wood expands.  Since most layouts are framed in wood, this is the reason why access holes and aisles tend to get smaller.......OK, OK...that is my story and I am sticking to it...

 

Hey....I found also that as one gets older, the gravitational pull on the body increases and causes our bodies to become more horizontal....in addition, for some unknown reason, the fibers in clothing are affected and they seem to shrink.....

 

Alan

Actually wood shrinks as it loses moisture with time.  That's why they make 92 5/8" studs for 8' walls for example.  I know you were kidding.  I bought new exercise type pants, shirts and shoes and I'm all ready to go.  A new commitment to excellence program is starting tomorrow.  Back to the Spartan life is what my Dad always says (said).  Better to get some exercise than change the layout.  Walking is all it takes.  Being consistent is more important than overdoing it.  Good luck.

Alan,

thank you for the scientific and medical explanations to these phenomenon.  I knew there had to be a reason.  ;-)

 

Thanks William for the information on wood.  I didn't know they took that into consideration. 

i agree.  I took off 40 pounds in 2012 and have kept it off.  It was hard work, but now it is just maintenance (exercise and good eating habits)

It's enjoyable to exercise once you are 'in shape'.  It's the getting there that is hard.  Most people can't push through the 2 week let down you often have and give up.  Again, be consistent.  A half hour walk a day for 2 months is a lot more beneficial than going to a gym and 'working out' for two hours every other day, getting sore, and maybe hurt, then giving up after 2 weeks and never getting back to where you intended, the elusive 'in shape'.  Once there, as mentioned, it is more maintenance and it is enjoyable.  Of course, everyone has a different body, background and habits.  Good Luck.  Put the sawzall away and go for a walk! 

Yes, that is happening to me.  

 

But my aisles are getting smaller.  When I built the layout eight years ago, the aisles were 28" and 30" wide.  Over the years I have added a bit on the edges (glue/nailed/screwed one, two, or three 3/4 inch thick boards, etc.  The aisle are now 23-24" wide and 26" wide, no more.

I have a massive collection of US military uniforms for my re-enacting/living history hobby. I simply can't afford to get any bigger than I am right now as some of these things are original and I'd never find another one to fit. That's my motivation to not get larger. I'm at 6 feet and hovering around 200, which fluctuates a little back and forth as my day job allows very little movement within the office.

But as for aisles, one of the guys who helped me install the benchwork and the wiring is a very large guy, even by model railroader standards. I made a point to make the main aisle big enough so he could do op sessions once my layout is up and running. There is one spot that only I could fit into, but there's only a curve there. I designed my layout to where none of the track is out of reach from the layout edge. It's shaped sort of like a question mark when viewed from above...

 

I still have my hour glass shape from high school except most of the sand has gone to the bottom.

The half hour walk is what I do.  In bad weather, I climb stairsin the 2 story staircase at work.  Sometimes my bad foot gives me trouble, but I can do it most of the time.

My aisle is like 20".  I lift weights and run everyday.  If that ever stops....I am in trouble. 

 

Rick

reading what you guys are sharing, gives me much inclination that if I ever build a layout it will be shaped like ScrapIron Schers'.........around the wall and kinda windy/ twisty with "islands" that jut into the room itself.

 

Au contraire. My New Year's resolution is to spend less time on trains and more time on hiking trails and ski slopes. My aisles will get bigger this coming year. 

What you need to do is go on a light diet. If it turns daylight, you eat. Or you can go on the seafood diet. You see food & you eat.

Lay off the Christmas cookies! 

 

 

Easier said than done though!

The universe is expanding and, sadly, so are we.  What puzzles me is that our stuff and our selves seem to expand at different rates.

 

Pete

With all my talk about a new commitment to excellence, I haven't done a thing yet exercise wise.  I woke up this morning and it's seven below.  But the new shoes fit nice!

Nonsense- tis all in your head... you can squeeze through any hole if you just hold your gut in a bit...

 

 

 

 

Hang in, I m told a threadmill and bike will help lose weight, well I have both and they have not lost a lb.

 

Brent

The large layout I am building has three hinged lift up gates, my knees cannot take the crawling on the concrete basement floor. 

Check out your local school district,  some of them offer "walking hours" for the public inside the building in the hallways and stairs after students are dismissed for the day. My school district has it available 3:30-9 pm whenever school was in session that day in our elementary school. Since I'm already recovering from falling on ice and having to have rotator cuff surgery it makes sense to walk inside a warm building instead of icy sidewalks and take a chance with another fall. Since I'm out of work due to the injury I might as well walk each day to keep my legs strong and try to lose some weight,  too icy to walk the village sidewalks and a whole lot safer.

     I know the local shopping mall opens early morning and A lot of people get walking early before shoppers get there and it gets to crowded. Choo Choo Kenny

This is why it is so important that when your layout is dirty, DRY CLEAN ONLY- Machine washing & drying will shrink it.

 

Laughing at the Jack Lalanne comment, you would need a tanker for the juice, reefers for the fresh fruits & veggies, and the boxcar for his eyebrows...

 

There was an area along one side of my layout that I pretty much gave up trying to squeeze into that I formerly could traverse in my younger, more fit days. A few months after surgery for cancer, I could easily make it. That was three and a half years ago and while I can still get in there, the good news is that it is getting tighter because I am well and tentatively, cancer free. The race to five years is down to 18 months. Will I fit then? I sure hope so as I am attempting diet and exercise which is much better than the alternative weight loss plan.

I have only visited one model railroad that had truly adequate aisles and access.  This was an HO layout and is I believe one of the finest in the country.  It has been featured in Model Railroader magazine many times.  It has also been published in Great Model Railroads magazine a couple of times.  

 

The owner had a purpose built basement and had enough room to achieve his goals without any crowding.  He also didn't have anything stored under the layout.  The shop, storage, etc., was separate from the layout room.  It is very enjoyable when you can move around a layout without bumping into anything or anyone.  The rest of us just have to make do.  

 

Joe