Re: Train Room

My Train Room is a converted 18 x 30' greenhouse.  I'm pretty sure an earlier
description mentioned that the roof was replaced by commercial screen room
ceiling panels which consists of an outer and inner aluminum layer with approx
3" of styrofoam as a sandwich.  Most of the side walls have been covered with
4 x 8 corrugated plastic sheets to provide a surface for backdrops. Fiberglass
insulation was placed between the fiberglass side walls and the plastic
sheets.  The floor is now a 4" concrete slab over the previous layer of approx
8" of crushed rock from greenhouse days.  Although this tends to help maintain
a more comfortable temperature during spring and early summer, the heat
accumulation tends to retard night cooling.  When it gets to the mid 60's
outside, it's still the low 70's in the Train Room.  I did retain a fairly
large exhaust fan from greenhouse days that kicks in automatically when the
inside temperature reaches the mid 80's.  This helps keep the inside
temperature down around 10 degrees when I'm not out there and prevents the
inside temperature from reaching over the mid 90's.

A large evaporative cooler served well when it was a greenhouse since I had
the need to maintain humidity at least at 80% (phaelonopsis orchids).  This
was replaced by a large 110 window air conditioner since the high humidity was
not something in which I wanted to keep my trains.  I've supplemented this
with a protable air conditioner, ceiling fans and column fans which I run when
I'm out there.

So I've had to find some non-standard solutions to a non-standard
construction.

The suggestions for the original poster who has a more "standard" structure
should serve him well.

And I trust you've used triple glazing and loads of insulation in the walls.

cheers,
wolf

Carl
Call an experienced Glass Person. They make a UV film that will reflect
 at least 50% of the heat. It's a commercial product and will pay for
it self with the off set of cooling costs.  That will help cut down room
temps by 20 degrees.  It will also help retain heat during the winter
months.
Mike M

The burglar alarm for our Train Room is linked to the one for the house.

Air conditioning is a real problem with our setup.  I didn't want to devote a
220 line for the purpose because that would have required upgrading the box
for the house so I've used a large 110 unit and a separate portable plus
column and ceiling fans.  Still gets into the 90's--but it's a dry heat.  :>)

I'd worry more about people seeing in and theft than lighting for night
ops. Not too mention the heat gain from all that glass - it's an easy
bet you've got at least one wall that gets the full force of the sun. At
least one thing on your layout would be prototypical - sun kinks in your
trackwork!
Hope you got a monster a/c unit for your space.

On 6/12/2009 9:49 PM NICHE541 spake thus:

May you rot in hell (just kidding).

I think this is what they call a "gloat".

The contractors just poured the concrete for my new "train room"
connected to my house. My imagination is now going wild with the new
possibilities of layout design. It has been a long time coming. The
lighting will be natural light. The room when finished will have glass
on three sides so will have plenty of illumination during the day. I
haven't decided what I will do for lighting at night.  Any suggestions
on the kind of light to use?s
John in the Indian Nations