I just finished moving into a house from an apartment, and before I moved I developed a track plan for a mobile switching layout to put in the basement. (I do not own the house). The landlord decided without mentioning to me that she is going to keep all of her junk in her basement. When I say junk, I'm talking about 4 or 5 bed frames, old broken furniture, old christmas decorations, etc... I did manage to get enough junk moved to open up one wall in the basement. My original plan called for 24' x 30" benchwork on four 6-foot sections. This plan has essentially been tossed now. I only have in the neighborhood of 15' of wall with a small water heater and wall section in the middle. I am planning on three 4-foot sections, 2 sections to the right of the water heater and wall section and one 4-foot section to the left of the water heater and wall section, with a connection track running along the wall behind the heater and through the short wall section. The house is a very small one-bedroom home and there are only 2 40-watt bulbs lighting the entire basement. Also the dryer vents into a crawl space where an addition was made to the house a few years ago. I am probably looking at figuring out how to move the vent outside without having to go through a cinder block wall, or an old glazed tile-block wall (no basement window near by). This is probably the first thing I need to do because the basement gets so humid when the dryer runs and doesnt help the mold problems since there is virtually no fresh air circulaton down there except when the furnace kicks on. Like I mentioned before, lighting is very poor. Shop lights can be had at a cheap price, and there are several wires and junction boxes near where I intend to railroad, but I dont have much electrician experience aside from a new outlet or switch here and there. An outlet mounted to the basement ceiling would be handy. I'll have to recruit help from a couple club members for that. I have a feeling everything in the basement is on one circuit except for the furnace and washer/dryer on their own. The house was rewired recently, so that will be a plus. After I get the dryer vent moved (of thats even possible) and a pair of shop lights installed, benchwork can ensue. Im trying not to get to far ahead of myself, as I still need to scrub the floor since the landlord left laundry on the floor until they grew mildew and turned the floor a stinky dark color. The basement really isn't as bad as it sounds as it is bone dry when the dryer isn't running, and was only a mess where she did laundry. When I get that cleaned up and lights in I can start railroading. Im trying to not to let myself down and just give up, I have a plan and I know what I want, but the lack of light, smell and the sun setting by the time I get home makes it frustrating. My original plans called for the 24' x 30" layout to be city and river side switching in the Pittsburgh area with influces from George Selio's Franklin & South Manchester and Bill Denton's Kingsbury Sub in N Scale. Now I am leaning toward the entire 15' dedicated to just one steel mill operation. This allows me to weather my freight cars, heavy switching, industrial switchers, and be able to incorporate this portion in a future layout as an industry off of the main line but attached to the layout.
Sounds like the best move you can make for now. Might be a good idea to ask landlady if you could assist her in removing some of the broken furniture, mildewed 'rags' and stuff Before starting any work! That could clear you if she gets upset, or she might tell you no! If she agrees, it might give you some more space too. I sure would not put a hole through a wall before asking her! She may not have had anyone that could do this for her, and might welcome your help. Then you could suggest putting a vent to the outside for the dryer, and even add a couple for fresh air circulation to prevent any more mold, see? I wouldn't even ask her to pay for it, because she probably doesn't have any spare change. (I'm guessing.) Do get help on the wiring, even 120 volts can 'bite' you. Outlets are relatively cheap. Suggest you mount 3 to 4 ready boxes to an over head floor joist and use screws, not nails. Get the 4 socket outlets with grounds. This will provide extra outlets for shop lights, but do NOT use Halogen type, they can start wood on fire after awhile! Better to make 2x4 modules for easy handling, 6 footers do not go around corners well. Such as from a hallway into a room, (in the next house). Scenery can get damaged even with someone on each end. Pour bleach on the soiled floor to kill the oder. It will kill mold, and eventually dry. Sweep, then vacuum. Re-apply if odor persists. Sprinkle Arm & Hammer soda around to sweeten the air afterward. Be careful of spiders around her junk! A couple of weeks delay could prevent lots of problems, see? (Adding lights might come under some city code, so call about that, but if you are required to have a licensed electrician hook it up to power, you better make sure it will pass inspection because of the fire codes.) (I know, and had to remove it and pay to have it replaced! He did it exactly as I did, but he had the license!)
