LAYOUT ROOM PREPARATION

The final element of layout room preparation was completed today!  The primary house construction took care of much of the space preparation:  insulated walls, covered with drywall, ceiling drywall, lighting, many electrical outlets (spaced every six feet), heating and ventilation.  Virtually all systems are independent of the main house systems with heating a separate zone and the ventilation unique to the basement.  Two weeks ago, the basement bathroom was completed.  Now, the vinyl flooring has been installed.  This seals the concrete, eliminating concrete dust from the layout space.  Eventually, some form of carpet will be laid in the operating aisles, but for now, the space is ready for construction.

Here are a few views of the space.

Main basement space with me standing beside the single post in the space.  In the foreground are the three floor-mounted electrical outlets.

Swinging the camera to the left, we see the stairwell wall and plumbing awaiting a kitchenette.  That will come after much of the layout construction, though several of the cabinets were acquired during house construction.  Overhead is the “Lifebreath” heat recovery ventilation system for the basement.  This system reclaims about 75% of the heat of the space before exhausting to the outside.  The ventilation system is independent of the rest of the house, removing any chemical vapors that might be generated by layout construction (e.g. “water” epoxy or paint).

A passageway under the stairwell connects the main basement space to the “back room.”  The back room will house the upper and lower level reverse loop staging tracks.  The dispatcher’s desk will be on the right side of the stairwell wall.

The “back room” as seen from the under-stairs passageway.  The exercise room is open on the left. 

Next, I’ll spend some time laying out the track plan at full size.  The flooring has a convenient one-foot grid on its surface.  After that, the hobby accumulation of five decades, removed for the flooring project, will return to the basement.