The Space

The new layout will be located in our attic, which was finished by a previous owner of our house. The main room measures approximately 13.5 feet by 10 feet and there is also a dormer toward the front of the house that measures 8 feet by 7 feet. Only the main room is available for the layout because the dormer is used as an office space, and enough space has to be reserved in the main room to allow access to the dormer/office. Here's a view of the main room from the dormer:

The layout will be located along the walls to the left and straight ahead in the picture. The 3 sets of louvered doors allow access to storage space under the eaves and can't be obstructed by the layout. I will probably replace the two shorter sets of doors on the left wall with curtains because the full thickness of benchwork won't fit between the roof line and the tops of the doors.

I plan to build the layout in phases, and the first phase (a 4 foot by 6 foot table) will be located in the front left corner of the above picture. Below is a better view of that corner:

Layout height will clearly be constrained by the features of the room. The roof line meets the knee wall at 44 inches above the floor, and the base of the thermostat on the side wall is about 38.5 inches above the floor. The thermostat controls a 220V electric baseboard heater that is the only heat source for the attic. I'd rather not mess with moving the thermostat; it seems like a simple task but past experience has taught me that old houses are full of surprises. I'm still debating whether to simply make the top of the layout even with the bottom of the thermostat or notch the benchwork to go around the thermostat and gain a couple more inches. The track will come close to the knee wall at the middle of a curve, so I need to leave at least 3 inches or so below the roof line to clear cars and locomotives.

As you can see in the second photo, I have started acquiring materials for the layout. I'm planning to build the layout in modular sections in case I ever have to move it. The initial 4 x 6 table will be three 2 foot by 4 foot sections bolted together. The sections will consist of 1 x 4 frames with 1/2 inch plywood tops. I'm planning to use IKEA's IVAR shelf parts to support the layout.