OUCH !

Two thoughts, those were some serious straight line winds that snapped that tree. Reminds me of damage I saw when the remains of Hurricane Ike came through Ohio about 12 years ago.

Also, danged if don't look like it took direct aim at your layout. Yes, it is a miracle that everyone is OK and you had less damage than first appearances would provide. You'll have to let us know if fiberglass is a good scenery substitute.

Glad every is OK

Espee over Donner

RE: Ouch

Thanks for the comments.

I figured the water damage would have done more also on the scenery. Just a little coat of flock and its starting to look good again.

rotten tree

I was living in Raleigh, NC in the 90's when a hurricane (Floyd?) hit the area very hard even though it was far inland. I was living in a townhouse development, and all the uncleared areas were filled with those lodge pole pines, as was the area around a big reservoir/lake. My development came through without damage, but in a couple places around the lake it was a different story, in a couple  acre-sized areas every tree had been knocked over, most  uprooted, and they had all mostly fallen in the same direction, like a giant scythe had knocked them all down. 

But I don't recall seeing any broken off well above the ground like yours did. I'm no forester, but I'm wondering if that wasn't re result of some pre-existing condition. A tree co-morbidity to put it in prevalent terminology.

Of course, at this point, what difference does it make?

That same hurricane, I think it was, knocked over an ancient oak tree in the oldest part of town, that tree was six feet in diameter, and it came down on a quite-ancient house (50 years old at least). It didn't get  stopped by the walls either, that tree was laying flat on the ground afterwards, and the house was in two separate parts. Nobody sleeping in the wrong room that time, either, fortunately.

So sorry about your layout,  glad the tree wasn't any bigger.

Thar She Blows

Hi PeterAtt,

I used 1" x 4" framing and steel legs(clothing store racks were free) under my layout.

The most serious threat I've had was a pinhole leak in the city water meter...sprayed a water pistol stream on the layout for a day or two before I found it.  A couple of cars lost their decals.  The plaster and foam scenery was undamaged, after it dried out.

After that, I added a moisture sensor/alarm in the railroad room.

The random arm of

The random arm of God......

Looks like that tree had some issues with being left out of your layout...hope no one got hurt. Looks like a direct hit.

On the flip side, with some milling and curing, you have now got enough lumber to repair and extend the layout and the home...

Regards

MB

How strong?

Dang, that sucks, glad you're getting through it ok. 

How strong is my layout? 

Well, if a tornado ever hits, I'm hiding under the layout. 

Randy

Really...

Came across this photo during another discussion, and it fits perfectly with this topic. 

Strong enough to hold at least twenty-five full ammo cans. 

That's pretty strong.   

Told you I was hiding under it. 

Randy

Tree-Rated

Wow. We have a lot of trees on the property. Douglas firs. There is some wind in the Winter. My layout is not tree-rated. Perhaps worthy of a plaque. 

Being in a basement, a tree

Being in a basement, a tree would have to come through 2 floors above to reach the layout.  If that happened, I'd have MUCH bigger things to worry about than to brag about than the strength of my bench-work. 

There seems to be a kind of macho thing about super heavy duty bench-work in train forums; a model railroad version of chest pounding.  

So tough it could withstand ...

Well I am sure the scenery

Well I am sure the scenery and such would suffer but  have one area with a mountain that is 3” high of solid foam.  That sits in a 3/4 plywood base.

the plywood is build in 2x6 frameworkSpanning 4”  that is at most 16” wedging down to 0”. Fasten your a 2x8 that spans  6” with a double 2x4 leg in the middle.  This is all shaped like a half circle. And The outside is 2x3 on 8” Center forming the outer curved wall.with the outside covered on a layer of 1/4 Masonite screwed and glued to the 2x3s.

Now I know what your thinking.  Complete over kill.  And it is.  The rest of the layout is plywood  modules.  But this area is design as my storm shelter.  We don’t get a LOT of tornadoes in Michigan but the do. Happen and the way my house sits upon a high area with few treats around it and with a clear story that is 25’ above the grade if this ever does got hit the house would be gone,  so I figured just to be safe... I would build an area that could take a hit.  (Yes this is all fasten to the concrete slab.  I have some old towels and blankets, some plastic sheet, batteries and a flashlight a battery charger by cell phones and some bottles of water all stored under the layout in that area and room for 3 sitting .

-Doug M

.down 

My weight

I built my 17' x 12' layout with 1"x 4" joists and mollied to walk with metal bracing and all corner blocks screwed and glued. I was told to be able to sit on any part of the layout and I can.(I weigh 160).  This was nineteen years ago. It has a liftout and nothing has moved or swelled more than 1/8" in in that time.  I cured the clear grade Pine for a year before starting.

Looking back it would not need to be this stout, but I really prefer 1" x 4" Pine either way..

Great replies folks

Some great comments here, thank folks

Peter

Reminded me

Some years ago, I had a layout I was building in my garage in Florida. It was built right up to the garage door. Long story short, the layout buttressed the door from the direct blasts of hurricane Andrew's winds. The door was pushed up against the layout but never moved any further

Hiding under the layout

My layout is half of my basement, and part of it is under an I-beam that supports the house.   When I built my framework, I built an extra-strong section as a built-in shelter.   I used metal-braced 2x4s for legs (instead of 2x2s used everywhere else) with a double layer of ¾ plywood as the table top.   All was attached to the wall with many more screws than necessary.   Never had to use it, but I am ready!

How strong is 2" foam?

This story about a tree falling on a house (and layout) got me to thinking about the construction of my layout. The bench work is pretty standard, with 1 by 4s at right-angles for extra strength. The sub-roadbed consists of 2" construction foam--the green stuff. I had some help one day, and one of my friends (who weighs at least 300 lbs) was lying atop the foam. No problem! I took a picture of that, but I can't find it, or I would post it. I don't know that the foam would withstand a falling pine tree, but it's stronger than you might think.

That was some strong wind, to snap a large pine tree 7' off the ground like a toothpick. As someone commented, maybe it already had cracks, and the wind just finished the job.

Jim Craft (Broomfield, CO)