Haitus? Cancellation? Carry-on?
While I’ve been working on the control panel the past couple weeks, one thing I’ve been dealing with in regards to my (rented) house is a problem with the foundation shifting and sinking. Doors are jamming up in their frames, door frames are splitting, walls are cracking, tile grout is cracking, and more Been a minor headache mostly cause of the front door problems.
And then there is the layout… I haven’t really noticed this because I haven’t been working on the layout itself much but it appears the layout has sunk as well. The foundation at the front left of the garage is sinking, and so the layout at the corner of the garage went with it. There’s about a 1″ drop in elevation from one side of the room to this corner. I straightened out the backdrop to show the effect (drops from right to left in first pic):
The home owners are aware of the problem, but there’s not much we can really do about it. The owners aren’t really obligated to fix the foundation (other than making sure we can open/close/lock the front door), so I have no idea when, or even if, the issues could be looked at and fixed.
So at this point, I really don’t know what to do with the layout. I feel like I shouldn’t continue building it if I’m going to constantly have to worry about fixing and adjusting the benchwork due the foundation shifting. Those little adjustable only adjust so much. If I do continue, will have to also worry about how the track could be affected (eg: create gaps or dips/bumps are module joints)?
Seeing all of the problems with the benchwork that needs fixing already has already kind of put a damper on things. Should I just wait things out? Should I just take it as a sign to call it quits until we buy a house in a year or two? Or just say “forget-about-it” and keep building?
So… I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do yet.
Sorry to hear of your house troubles. Can you make the layout smaller like the 1st Elmwood ?Similiar to the MR magazine Salt Lake layout so it’s modular and portable if you do move in the future?
George
I’d have to agree with George(and not just because my last name is George)lolol. IMHO, go ith a small modular layout that you can use as a basis for the your desired layout in your own house. That way you don’t do without trains, and you keep your hand in the construction and running of trains. The foundation’s problems are not going to get better without work by your landlords, and if they’re not going to the work, then everything you do will be adversely affected.
One idea I kinda toyed was to basically simplify the layout into a basic “once-around” layout until we move (since it know seems that could happen in 1 year rather than 2-3).
The thought was to remove the 2 center island modules and shove the yard side against the other side. This would move most of the layout on the non-sinking side of the garage. I would also eliminate the double deck aspect most likely and build a “once-around”, single scene with a passing siding layout. Trains would come out the the yard, run through the scene, and back into the yard.
It would certainly be a drastic change from the original plan, but like mentioned before, I would hate to spend time/money working on the “real” layout when I know it’s probably going to have issues cause of the foundation.
So I may play with this idea this weekend and test it out. See how the two sides meet and all that.
But yeah, I really wanna keep something just to have trains to run, but I also don’t want to make it too complex (like the original over-under plan) in case more problems arise.
I feel your pain, I was in a place that issues like yours. I have also redone layouts over and over due to moving. Take it from me, modules are your friend. I ended up joining ntrak, then I got into building ttrak modules. Now those are my home layout. Now that I have my own house, with a large bacement I find my self wanting to stay small. I may build a shelf layout like your first one. But right now I’m very happy with small modules that I can move and use where ever I want when I want them there.
something wrong with moble site, would not let me post, was too long… Weird it was posting every time, sorry for the spam.
I would use temporary leg extensions. Get some 2×2′s and clamp them to the legs of the existing layout in the area that is sinking. Find something to jack up the leg temporarily and position the new leg extension so it touches the floor them re-clamp. If you check it every so often, you can keep up with the sinking. Later, when you move into your new house, you can unclamp the extension and use the layout as designed.
Also, the sinking may stop as quickly as it started. If you level the layout, it may stay stable for at least as long as you are in the house.
You must keep railroading my friend!
Hmm, I like the clamp idea since I wouldn’t have to really fix anything on the main benchwork itself and could be easily adjusted. I’ve got some spare pieces of wood sitting around I test with too.
Thanks for the idea!
I would go with the clamp/temporary leg idea as that will allow you to continue and leave your existing benchwork in state it can be reused at the next stop without too much pain to the current one.
All good ideas. Ntrak Modules- ideas. Or use 2×2 and use carriage bolts and nuts. Clamps bots.