Well

In my situation, I would prefer the loft, but I'm not a bachelor and I would prefer to have all my mess in the garage, then run it up the stairs to the loft, rather than packing it to the house.  Even for resale, having the garage loft that could easily be turned back into whatever the new owner wanted would be much simpler than putting a couple bedrooms back to how they should be, especially if you've cut holes in the wall or whatever.  It just seems to me less hassle in the loft, but it is your situation, not mine.

 "From your experience, what

I think it would depend on the specific location and relative size of the house or garage layouts. Some areas of the country are so cold or so hot that a garage layout would need to be heated or cooled which could double the cost of just heating and cooling the house with the layout in it. Also need to take into consideration if you want to trudge out to the garage thru rain,ice, or snow versus just going up stairs to run trains? I have a separate shop/train building plus a small N layout in a spare bedroom and if the weather is bad I prefer to stay in and work on the N layout instead of going out to the shop. A attached shop/layout room would be much better in this respect. The downside of building in a house is the rooms are not usually an ideal size or configuration for a layout while a separate train building can be built to suit the needs.I guess one could start by building a modular layout then move it into the space that's most comfortable after trying it a bit in both spaces ...DaveB
 

In the house

Be thankful that you do not require permission from the wife to have your layout in the house.  It will be easier to maintain a desired temperature, not to mention the toilet and kitchen are a whole lot closer.  Cut your wood and make the mess in the garage and carry the pieces inside for assembly.  This is all under the assumption your dream layout will fit in the spare room.  If not you can always tunnel through the wall.

Do you have a cold winter?

If you live in a harsh winter climate (like me... go Manitoba!), and the garage is not attached to the house, then keep it in the house. Running out to the garage for a short op-session will get old in the winter really fast.

If the garage is attached - then I'd choose the larger space.

Would the loft

be practically without the nooks and crannies that most bedrooms have?  Is it over a two car garage?  In designing the layout the bedrooms will restrict your curve radius.  As I remember, from old farm houses my grandparents had, the rooms had tall ceilings, but the square footage of the rooms was small.  However, if the loft is wide open, no walls to tunnel through, no closets, radiators, etc, it would be the ideal space.

How about a floor plan of the loft space posted here?  There will be some stairs somewhere in the floor plan.  What about windows?

How about the proposed existing space in the house?

I said the same thing you have posted here about your status.  Then I met the most lovely woman.  My life changed for the better.  Of course it came with the labor and cost of fixing up the house.  What I'm trying say here is that life is constantly throwing us curve balls.  Build a model railroad and the curve balls come in the form of unplanned household moves even when we said we wouldn't move again.  It happens.

You could build you layout in the loft while using one of the bedrooms as the place you have your modeling desk for working on structures, locos, etc.

Den

I'm in the loft but would choose the house

Same situation. My layout is above the Garage/Workshop and gives me a 16' x 24' space but the sloping ceilings are an issue. So is getting off my okole to go out to work on projects. I find myself on the kitchen table working on models and having to store things in bins or shelves as interest or time is needed to complete trees, turntable, buildings, figure painting (fill in the blank). I even start sections on the patio outside the living room to get the base and roadbed together, glue down ties and lay track and switches. I like being close to the family, refrig (occasional beer), etc but - most of all - the part I am working on is right there! It is easy to do small and frequent bites at things and go away or wait for glue and paint to dry. 

The drawback to being indoors is the construction mess and smell. You still have to go out to cut and paint unless you have some room for doing all this indoors. My family would not tolerate that for even 5 minutes. If you have a significant other then plan to keep tidy or get in the habit - even if only for your health. 

If I were to get a do-over then the upstairs would be for living and downstairs a "family room" where the railroad could be where we all enjoy doing things together - arts, music, television, or lounging. It would encourage a finished appearance and organized space. Neither of which is my loft. 

Neil Erickson

How far away is the garage?

How far away is the garage? If you have guess over for an ops, how inconvenience would the restroom be?

Also what kind of weather do you get? Will the garage have heat and/or air conditioning?

I would prefer the house.

Two Retorical Questions

First, Which one will give you the better working conditions?  E.g., heat, cooling, comfort.

Second, If the first question is a tie, then which one will provide a larger and better area to work in?

That is the analysis process I would go through.

Art

Hello, thank you for all the

Hello,

thank you for all the thoughtful replies.  You have pointed out great pros and cons.  Not thrilled by limiting the house with a layout in the bedrooms, specially since I live quite a distance from my family.  Then again it is in the house, nice and warm, specially in the cold Ottawa winters.  No fun going to the garage at -35C.  The loft would be 24 by 24 feet, insulated,and heated, when I am present.   The expansion and contraction due to temperature extremes is worry some.  One item that is always fun is to run the trains as a last activity of the day, very relaxing, not quite possible with a layout in a detached building.  Even if it is only a 60 foot dash.

Again thank you for the replies, gives me food for thought.

Frank
 

"One item that is always fun

   Sounds like you might be happy with two layouts then. A small one in one spare room of the house for those days it's too cold or stormy to go out to the shop and a larger one in the detached building for those nice days when you can enjoy being out there.  My in the house layout is N scale right now but it's been O, S, and TT over the years and my new out in the shop layout is going to be either HO or S ......DaveB

What he said. You might want

What he said. You might want a small layout in the spare room say a switching pike. and then the bigger layout in the loft. I would suggest that it might be possible to have some heating and cooling on in the loft area to minimize the temperature swings. I have to think in terms of Fahrenheit, that Celsius or centigrade does not click with me. But suppose you had your ac unit set to come on at 85 degrees when 72 is optimum and your heat to come on at 50 degrees when 72 is optimum. It should limit the cost a bunch and allow easier heat up or cool down cycles when needed as well as limiting the extremes of temperature.

Ottawa, wow that is some cold stuff up there. It is cheaper to cool 30 degrees than to heat 90 degrees which is one reason why I live in Texas. If we want cold we go to the refrigerator and get it.

I know it costs more, but...

if you have the extra resources you could build a 60ft narrow room between the garage and the house with windows for natural lighting and have it as a way to get at least electrical out to the garage and loft.  It would keep the frigid winds off you.  Think of it as an extended mud room.  You would be keeping the cold Arctic wind out of the house too.

Den

Put the layout in the loft,

Put the layout in the loft, put t g e workshop IN in the house, if you want you ca build sections in the shop two at a time, move the first one done to the loft, then build another onto the side of the second, when three is done move two to the loft, then start no. four.  Rinse and repeat.

Buy having the shop in the house if it is to nasty to go out you stay in and work in the shop.

Best if both worlds.

-Doug Meyer