Your Projects

As anyone who knows me will tell you I often talk about my plans for my train room . . . it’s just that for lots of reasons (mainly life) it has been a very, very, long time coming! How long . . . . . well we moved here back in 1992 . . . . .

Back when we buying our current house one of the boxes that needed ticking was a space (loft, room, garage or shed) that could be dedicated to railway modelling. Not optional because I had already been modelling for years so I already had a partially scenic N gauge railway that needed to move with us.

As soon as we moved I reviewed the possible options starting with the loft. It does have a clear space right across the middle of the house and initially looked ideal but . . . .

• It needed flooring and to do it properly would have involved builders and a lot of money which I didn’t have . . . cos I had just bought a house!

• Without spending on insulation and roof windows in the summer it is way too hot and in the winter it is way too cold so it would only really be usable on a couple of day in the year.

• As I often do my best work in the early hours of the morning I could tell that clomping around above the bedrooms where my wife and daughter would be asleep was not really a practical option if I wanted to stay married.

• Thinking ahead the idea of claiming a steep ladder and wriggling in and out of a small loft hatch later on in life (where I am now) did not appeal.

• If I used the loft for the railway where the heck would I store all the stuff that people always store in a loft? Christmas tree, decorations, all the spare things that we accumulate and more importantly all the empty boxes for my railway stuff.

The conclusion was that for me that the loft was not the answer.

I also considered a shed but . . .

• The garden at the back of the house slopes quite steeply from the rear fence to house and also by several across and would definitely need terracing . . . and that takes time and money.

• Longer term plans involved a conservatory and this would use up quite a chunk of the garden, so a largish shed would leave little actual garden space.

• I wanted to be able to use it all the year round . .so again a decent sized, properly insulated shed with power would also cost money which I didn’t have . . . cos again, I had just bought a house!

• If I used the shed for the railway where the heck would I store all the stuff that people always store in a shed? Garden tools, bits of wood, bike etc.

The conclusion was that for me that a shed was not the answer.

That garage was also a possibility but . . . .

• We had just moved . . . so it was full of boxes, all containing stuff that we ‘definitely needed’ but didn’t know where to put as yet!

• Thinking ahead once the boxes were cleared it would be full of tools and would also be need as a work-space for all the DIY that would be taking place in the years to come and, more importantly somewhere to do all the messy jobs associated with building a model railway.

• We moved in in December . . and it was bloody cold in the garage and I am definitely not a martyr to the cause. I like my home comforts way too much, one of which is being heat!

The conclusion was that for me that the garage was not the answer.

So that just left a room . . . . Well it just so happens that the house we bought had four bedrooms . . . for three people.

• so a master bedroom

• a daughter’s bedroom

• a spare bedroom (visitors, storage etc.)

• and . . . luckily for me . . . another spare bedroom, perfect for a railway room.

Following extensive negotiations 'we' (and to get 'we' it didn't arf cost me) the conclusion was that this solved the problem and the existing railway could move into its own room . . . . . result!

So in between all the jobs associated with just having moved into a house over the next few months the railway was re-assembled in its new home.

Everything seemed to be falling into place and in theory the railway and I should have lived happily ever after. What could possibly go wrong?