The Basement

Well, I had hoped to do some actual model railroading this Labor Day, but instead I ended up cleaning the basement.  I realize that sounds very un-exciting but the clutter and dust was beginning to get to the point that I couldn't even work on anything because there was so much going on.

Here are the two main areas of the basement, looking right and looking left.

One thing which every model railroader has to deal with is splitting the available space between work area and railroad area.  I've seen a number of setups where workbenches are below the layout and I may try this at some point but for now I have the separated.

Actually, speaking of separation, one thing I do need to address stronger is dust control.  I was considering building a wall to separate the "tools area" from the railroad.

Here is the former Rio Chama Central (HOn3) layout.  I've taken down all the subroadbed and spline roadbed.  Sitting atop the benchwork was a small scenery experiment I had been messing with (pictured in a previous blog post).

I decided to re-locate where I had some things stored and under the stairs is now materials storage.  You can see various stacks of wood along with a foam and cardboard area.  I've heard model railroaders are scavengers like none other...

And lastly here is the area opposite the large area which is mostly earmarked for storage.  At the moment it is holding all current/previous sections/modules.  There are actually 5 in this picture, along with 3 benchwork sections.