Ideas for blending a model railroad with a finished entertaining space?

[Point353]

1)  I'm normally a black fascia guy, but I'm considering painting the fascia and all the benchwork support the same color as the walls:



3)  Use shelf brackets wherever possible, to keep the floor uncluttered.

Here is a layout that seems to incorporate your design elements 1 & 3:
http://www.lakesidelines.com/enviorment%201.html

[OldEastRR]

So the N scale stuff will be hidden away behind a door, yet the HO stuff will be prominently displayed for all to see, with drinks on the house!  Yet another example of HO favoritism over N scale ...
OK, this is sarcasm for those who can't figure that out. Tho I am concerned N is losing all these people switching to HO. I'll miss the Engineering Reports on their old N layouts.

[Dave V]

Here is a layout that seems to incorporate your design elements 1 & 3:
http://www.lakesidelines.com/enviorment%201.html

Yes!  Like that!  Thank you for "getting" it.  I love you guys but it gets a little annoying everytime someone says "here's the space, please help me use it" and half the answers are "change the space."

When we bought the house the builder had just finished it, but the basement was unfinished.  We looked at the standard finish for that plan and considered moving walls but in the end we decided it was much less hassle to go with the standard finish-out.  This just before I had the HOn3 come-to-Jesus.  So, at the time we committed to the plan, "bedroom 5" was good enough for my N scale stuff.  However, not long after we selected that plan, I realized that other alcove would be a chance to do my HOn3 dream.  I even had extra can lights put in over that space (and can lights in "bedroom 5" for good measure).  All of the walls are less than a month old, guys.  I really like how the space works...I really don't want more walls...or less walls...I just want a nice alcove with a layout in it that's easily accessed by an operating crew but not "in your face" when not in use.

[eric220]

My two cents, for what it's worth. The idea of the bookcase is very functional, but the busy look will probably draw the eye in that direction. If you do wall color, I think either building or simulating pony walls would look the best, but it kind of screams "ROOM DIVIDER." I think your best bet would be some kind of furniture finish on the ends of the layout. Perhaps cabinets below the layout deck with blanks up just above the height of the scenery.

[robert3985]

Dave, Congratulations on your new layout space, with a house above it!

Are you planning on double-decking your 1:87 RGS?  That might change things a bit if you are.  With high ceilings, it would make that option more feasible, and lessen crowding on each level along with longer LDE's since you're modeling a specific prototype.

I would take full advantage of the rec-room's space and build your layout so that its rec-room border is even with the wall of the walk-out alcove, using the rec-room's floor space as aisleway when operating the layout.

I am not a proponent of black fascias although I fully understand the theory behind their use and have operated on several layouts which have them.  I prefer a "neutral" fascia...meaning a warm gray/brown, which is usually the color of museum display fascias at the several museums I have built projects for.

For your layout edges to be compatible with the rec-room, the easy solution is to go for darker shades of the same color your rec room is painted, the darkest shade being a curtain hanging inside the layout fascia at least 6" all the way around.

You're gonna have skyboard behind your layout scenes, and that will be sky blue with clouds, mountains and trees on it, so it's not gonna be possible to make that "blend" with your rec-room decor, but the supportive structures will, if you just experiment with color chip cards, choosing as many shades darker as looks good to you for fascia and whatever you put underneath to hide your layout's legs and make that space usable for out-of-sight storage, etc.

The other thing is that it's gonna take a while before your layout is finished, and it will be an eyesore at the beginning, becoming less and less of an eyesore until it reaches a semi-finished state.  Portable room dividers would be an easy way to hide it, and also to define the aisle space in the rec-room when operating, separating the crew-lounge from the rest of the layout.  Haha...I understand that if you operate the way the real RGS operated, you probably won't have a lot of operating crews to call, but movable room dividers would separate visually what's going on in either room.

An interesting project for sure...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[tehachapifan]

Colleagues,

....and the space looks so damned nice I almost hate to clutter it with a model railroad....

I still can't quite comprehend this particular passage. It simply does not compute!

[Dave V]

Dave, Congratulations on your new layout space, with a house above it!

Are you planning on double-decking your 1:87 RGS?  That might change things a bit if you are.  With high ceilings, it would make that option more feasible, and lessen crowding on each level along with longer LDE's since you're modeling a specific prototype.

I would take full advantage of the rec-room's space and build your layout so that its rec-room border is even with the wall of the walk-out alcove, using the rec-room's floor space as aisleway when operating the layout.

I am not a proponent of black fascias although I fully understand the theory behind their use and have operated on several layouts which have them.  I prefer a "neutral" fascia...meaning a warm gray/brown, which is usually the color of museum display fascias at the several museums I have built projects for.

For your layout edges to be compatible with the rec-room, the easy solution is to go for darker shades of the same color your rec room is painted, the darkest shade being a curtain hanging inside the layout fascia at least 6" all the way around.

You're gonna have skyboard behind your layout scenes, and that will be sky blue with clouds, mountains and trees on it, so it's not gonna be possible to make that "blend" with your rec-room decor, but the supportive structures will, if you just experiment with color chip cards, choosing as many shades darker as looks good to you for fascia and whatever you put underneath to hide your layout's legs and make that space usable for out-of-sight storage, etc.

The other thing is that it's gonna take a while before your layout is finished, and it will be an eyesore at the beginning, becoming less and less of an eyesore until it reaches a semi-finished state.  Portable room dividers would be an easy way to hide it, and also to define the aisle space in the rec-room when operating, separating the crew-lounge from the rest of the layout.  Haha...I understand that if you operate the way the real RGS operated, you probably won't have a lot of operating crews to call, but movable room dividers would separate visually what's going on in either room.

An interesting project for sure...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

I agree with all of this, except that I've never been a fan of double-decking...  But yes, I had planned a photo backdrop around the 3 walls, so I know to some extent it won't be possible to completely blend things.  I planned to use the full extent of the 14' wall.

On the subject of black...  I really do like it for fascia in that "theater" sense, and I think it pops the greens on my Pennsy layout.  But it does darken the room, and the lighter the room color, the more the black stands out.  So I plan to use either the wall color for the fascia or something very close.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I agree with all of this, except that I've never been a fan of double-decking...  But yes, I had planned a photo backdrop around the 3 walls, so I know to some extent it won't be possible to completely blend things.  I planned to use the full extent of the 14' wall.

On the subject of black...  I really do like it for fascia in that "theater" sense, and I think it pops the greens on my Pennsy layout.  But it does darken the room, and the lighter the room color, the more the black stands out.  So I plan to use either the wall color for the fascia or something very close.

I think a black fascia with gray curtains below it might be the way to go.

Or, going the complete opposite direction, what about drywalling everything below the layout?

I think the black fascia is still important to create a "frame", but try out different options above or below it.

If you want, take a picture of the space, and I can mock up a few options for you in Photoshop.

[Dave V]

I think a black fascia with gray curtains below it might be the way to go.

I disagree in this instance (see below).

Or, going the complete opposite direction, what about drywalling everything below the layout?

Eh...  no.  I don't like that.  It's still adding walls, only half the height.  I feel like that would also make the space feel much smaller.

I think the black fascia is still important to create a "frame", but try out different options above or below it.

If you want, take a picture of the space, and I can mock up a few options for you in Photoshop.

I can't go back into the house to take pictures until we close Monday.  After the walk-through they get a week to do QC on any of the deficiencies we found and to do a final top-to-bottom cleaning.

I hear you on the black.  I'm usually a big proponent.  But in this case I feel like it'd really make the layout stand out while both darkening and visually shrinking the space.  I'm gonna pass on black this time.

[svedblen]

Make the layout U-shaped and on shelf brackets, and no nothing under the shelves. Just the original walls, and why not an easy chair below the shelves?
If you make the layout E-shaped put the middle "leg" on finished cupboards or on book shelves. Books don't look like clutter. On the contrary, they will look right in place with your new easy chair. 

[SPsteam]

I think we can get a better idea next week with some pics of the space available.

How wide are you going to make the shelf?  With the tall ceiling, you have the opportunity to dwarf the trains.

[Chris333]

I thought the layout was a bowl with a lift gate? Just finish the front side of it real pretty.

I'd go with shelves and sliding doors in front of them to hide you train porn collection.

[Philip H]

So over at MRH Rick Wade has done a faux rust fascia to create a sense of metal framing for his L&N: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/25107
Its based of the techniques Tim Warris did on his Bronx Terminal.  And it makes me think - is there an architectural element or color from your chosen prototype that might guide you?

[Dave V]

I think we can get a better idea next week with some pics of the space available.

How wide are you going to make the shelf?  With the tall ceiling, you have the opportunity to dwarf the trains.

I don't know yet.  I think I'd like 2' wide for Rico but other scenes may be 1.5' to 2.5' depending.  But I have a separate thread for the layout design.

I thought the layout was a bowl with a lift gate? Just finish the front side of it real pretty.

That was the original idea but I don't like how it closes off the space.

So over at MRH Rick Wade has done a faux rust fascia to create a sense of metal framing for his L&N: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/25107
Its based of the techniques Tim Warris did on his Bronx Terminal.  And it makes me think - is there an architectural element or color from your chosen prototype that might guide you?

Thought about that too...  The RGS was all wooden rolling stock and steam locomotives.  Not sure that any one texture really captures that.  Then comes the question of color, because invariably id'd be some color other than one already in the room (probably D&RGW Mineral Red).  D&RGW/RGS building colors (buff and brown) might be useable because they match the exterior of the house, but not sure how well they'd work with scenery color.

No, I think I'm fairly convinced that at a minimum I'll be matching the benchwork and fascia to the wall color.

[Angus Shops]

I've always dreamed of having enough income to use kitchen cabinet lowers under my layout with matching valence above.
Geoff