The first practical steps on this project are to make the loft more habitable and to clear space for the layout. The apex of the roof is over 9' above floor level. I don't want to heat the 3' above my head so I will fit collars of 3/4" x 1 1/2" at about 6'6" height to each roof truss. As luck would have it, these work out at 6' long so they don't even need to be cut to length. Although quite small section they will add strength

as well as support fluorescent fittings and foil/bubble insulation.

The previous owners of the house have left 2' wide chipboard panels wedged into the V of the trusses on each side, and piled them with their junk, they are now piled with our junk. This is a really bad idea because it tends to bow the truss members and impose loads they were not designed for. Inserting horizontal rails to support these panels makes a virtue of a necessity. They add another triangle to the structure and take any tendency to bow as a tensile stress. The only hassle with this job is that the trusses have to be completely unloaded so they return to their natural shape before the rails can be added.

The layout baseboards will be just under 3' wide and will sit above the junk stores, also on rails.

The next step will be to remove sections from the second truss from the end, to allow the station area to be built. Foul! I hear you cry, but it is not actually difficult. The plan is to create a space-frame structure in the void under the baseboards between the first and third truss. Struts and ties will be added in both planes as shown in green on the drawings.

Because we can't take a hydraulic press into the loft to join the sections together, generous profiled fishplates will be made from 6mm WBP ply and attached by a lot of small (1" no6) woodscrews and structural adhesive. My neighbour used to make trusses on site for firms doing garages and extensions (at a fraction of Kingspan prices) and the concept was approved by the building inspector.

To ensure the new members are loaded up, an Acro prop will be positioned in the bedroom below the middle of truss 2 and just nipped up to take the strain. This will be removed once all the screws are in, but the truss members won't be cut out until the glue has had a week to harden.