Storage Under Layout

Hi Ed,

I built rolling cabinets to go under my layout, so I kept the fascia level between the legs of the benchwork.

I do have a couple of different heights and adjusted the height of the cabinets to match.

always keep in mind

The one thing we all need is a place to keep stuff. There is plenty of valuable real estate under a layout that can hold a lot of stuff. Before you fasten the fascia, think what and how you are going to store that stuff.

Level, with hinged access

I like the idea of keeping the bottom level, as it will definitely enhance the sense of climbing a grade.  To improve access to the staging, you might consider installing hinges so that the bottom of the fascia can be flipped up out of the way when you need to get in behind/below it.

I like it

I think it would definitely enhance the effect of of elevation change.  Unless you intend to mount anything on the front of fascia then I would not worry about it being only 4 inches high.  I would definitely consider putting a narrow shelf (4 inches) at the bottom of the fascia for operators to place items on (i.e. pencil, paperwork, throttle, coupler picks, etc).  They are also great for putting tools, materials and paint on while building the layout.  I would make these as long as possible and put in as many of these shelves in as possible.  I only mention this now, so if you decide to do it, you factor this into the required dimension for storage under the layout.  You can then hang a curtain from the sill attached under the shelf, or if space is tight, hang the curtain on the front of the shelf.

Art   

Any thoughts on it?

Cut out some cardboard and try it both ways to see which looks best in your situation...DaveB

Hinges... brilliant

@Ken, thanks for the hinged idea.  The biggest downside of the level bottom of the fascia is it may have created a partial reach up and under situation at the staging.  I will ultimately have cameras and LED strip lights under there to improve visibility and designed it originally with plenty of arm clearance between the railcars and the benchwork above them.  The hinges will preserve keeping that reach-in straight.  It is only about a 6' length that will need the hinges.

I definitely also use the space under for storage.  My staging (lowest level of the benchwork) is just high enough that the plastic 3-drawer units I use fit under the staging, so all the storage that is under a large portion of the layout will be well below the fascia and I will, indeed, be planning curtains as well.

I have not decided yet about shelves or hanging bins for placing paperwork, throttles, etc.  But this layout will never have more than 3 operators (seldom more than 2 and mostly lone wolf) so I will likely make specific spots for paperwork, etc. I don;t have the DCC system yet (until it is built I am doing all the track testing with my old DC transformers), but I plan to get a system with wireless throttles right from the start,  The main operating locations are all near areas with plenty of room to move and those can therefore accommodate some sort of positions mounted on or below the fascia.  Because of the room size there is one short dead-end facing the right side of the 'G' shape that had to be too tight to plan on hanging anything on the front of the fascia there.  But it is only about 3' long a section that is that narrow so I am not worried about it.  

Nice thing about trying it this way is if for some reason it does not work I can just cut down the material and reattach the other way.

I will report back in my blog with photos once it is up (I am crossing my fingers for completing the work this weekend.)  I picked a dark spruce green by the way since the layout is mostly NH woods country.

Thanks,

-Ed

Get large cereal boxes or

Get large cereal boxes or cardboard and do a rough mock up of what you are considering, let it sit a couple of days as you look at it several times and mull over the effect you achieved to see whether you like it or not.