The final phase in the train room is complete.
In the last post I mention finishing the white areas of the basement where the shelving use to be. I finished it off this past week
I was given many options for the West and South wall:
Add an extended storage yard, a separate switching layout, even a continuation of the layout along these walls for a branch line and using the Electrical meter that is behind the curtain as a destination for coal trains [what's actually behind the curtain is a Gas meter, so the idea was changed to a huge LPG distributor! LOL ]
Keeping in touch with getting by as cheap as possible like most modelers do, the idea that went with was to simply cover the wall with a false wooden wall, similar to a fence. Several years ago after I got my cabinet shop opened up, one of my old bosses stopped by to see if I had any use for some free lumber that he stored away after he had closed his shop. About a 1000 bdft of red oak lumber.
It wasn't the best, but I used the biggest share of the material up for making raised panel kitchen doors for customers. What was left was basically good for nothing more than fire wood! I did manage to rummaged through it a couple more times over the years for several jobs where the customers wanted that RUSTIC look. I also made some pallets from time to time but it still left me with several hundred board foot.
I started out by covering the metal "I" beam that supports the bowing wall with a false column, then added stringers to the wall so that I could simply attach the "Slating"
Before & After shots:
Total cost:
$5.49 for a box of "Tapcon" screws [masonry screws] used to hold the stringers to the wall.
$8.49 for the curtain.
$150.00 for the 3 gallons of Sherwin Williams Porch and Floor paint.
$4.99 for the gallon of the blue Lucite paint for the walls [ $14.99 less a $10.00 rebate]
$143.18 for the 18 packs of the interlocking anti-fatigue floor mats.
Total - $312.15
As for the floor mats from the previous post, I had one comment from a follower who told me to be careful about getting Static Electrical charges from these mats and possible damage to the electronic equipment like the DCC system and chips.
After posting a question on TrainBoard, doing a bunch of research on the net and asking some friends, I have still not come up with any solid answers for ways to prevent any possible damage from the Static Electricity.
Here is a list of possible answers and preventative measures that I did get:
- Spray a Anti Static spray on the mats before each Ops session.
- Have everyone wear a Anti-Static cord on their wrists that can be plugged into a grounded plug in the fascia.
- Use a copper wire and bolt or tape it the mats in several areas and have the other end attached to an earth ground such as a grounded outlet box or water pipe.
- Place a wire mesh UNDER the mats which are then grounded to an earth ground.
- Buy a portable humidifier or have one installed in the furnace.
- Watch what type of clothing we wear that has wool.
- Don't wear just socks.
- Wear shoes that have rubber soles.
The best thing that I will be able to do is once the humidity goes away this fall, is to try a couple of different things and see what builds up any static and how much. I'll just have to wait and see.
