Ideas for decorating a railway room?

[Allegheny1600]

Hi all,

Happy new year!

As the title says - anyone got any ideas for decorating ones railway room, please?

I have had a hunt through some topics and my memory is okay at recalling some things but I couldn't spot anything or find a way of searching that didn't throw up hundreds of superfluous results.

Anyway, my way of thinking is thus;

I now have access to a room of approximately 12' x 9' - it is the last room in our house to be decorated since we bought the house (eek, 7 years ago!) and it's mine! With careful negotiating, I can at last start to construct a reasonable model railway indoors! The railway itself will actually be German outline, simply set in rolling countryside, nothing "Alpine" or anything like that. I will be using decent quality printed backscenes from somebody like Auhagen - all this is fairly incidental.

I will be painting the ceiling white and installing a goodly amount of lighting as the current single bulb is woeful.

There is a decent carpet already down of a patterned dark green colour - so that is quite sympathetic I think!

It's just the walls I can't decide upon. They need work just so they can be re-painted as there were a lot(!) of rawlplugs either still in the wall or removed and very roughly filled in so to wallpaper would take a heck of a lot of work and I've had enough!

I'm thinking of a very pale blue colour that would indicate "sky" when one sees above the backscene, hopefully this would merge quite well into the white ceiling.

Neutral - is the key, I think.

Anyone got any further thoughts, please?

Cheers,

John E.

[BlackRat]

Mines neutral, I think the emulsion is called  called 'sunset on an  Egyptian silk raisin', ie ........................magnolia!

 

I have painted the fascias to match.

 

I must admit, if I was doing it again (which I will be) I am tempted to paint the backscene directly onto the wall, and continue the sky upwards.

 

Anything neutral wont detract from the layout, I have a few framed pics, (nicely done not tat) and............... some display units (which I think enhance rather than detract).

 

 

Yer tiz, copyright Mr C Nevard.

[Allegheny1600]

Thanks mate!

That's a lovely room you have there, very inspirational.

I hope mine can look half as good one day.

Cheers,

John E.

[APOLLO]

I have painted both my loft and garage layout room a pale sky blue. No regrets, also easy to touch up when the odd mark occurs. I used vinyl matt so no sheen.

 

Brit15

[2ManySpams]

Hi John

 

I managed to end up with a room in a first floor roof space. I ended up painting everything white for the following reasons:

 

1. Adds lots of light into the room

2. Avoided lots of sloping ceiling / wall interfaces in separate colours

3. I had lots left over after painting / undercoating the rest of the new plaster in the house...

 

Plenty bright with two 5' strips on the ceiling. 

 

Went for industrial carpet floor tiles in a salmon colour on the floor. Easy to clean and find dropped bits. 

 

Will post a photo after I've tidied up for folk arriving on Saturday (it also doubles as an occasional bedroom too).

[2ManySpams]

Mines neutral, I think the emulsion is called  called 'sunset on an  Egyptian silk raisin', ie ........................magnolia!

 

I have painted the fascias to match.

 

I must admit, if I was doing it again (which I will be) I am tempted to paint the backscene directly onto the wall, and continue the sky upwards.

 

Anything neutral wont detract from the layout, I have a few framed pics, (nicely done not tat) and............... some display units (which I think enhance rather than detract).

 

Copy of nevard_110223_carrck_panorama_01 (Large).jpg

 

Yer tiz, copyright Mr C Nevard.

Please tell me your railway room isn't as clean and tidy as that day-in, day-out! 

[298]

I started a thread with the same query about 4 years ago on whatever version of RMweb was around at the time. I went for Sky blue walls with a complimentary carpet, although I wish I'd have used "Property developers Cream" with a neutral carpet to match the rest of the house. Everything above picture rail level is white, but going for white throughout would have been too overpowering.

 

Will the room house a permanent or temporary layout...? Either ought to have their own built in valences and lighting, but as a temporary measure I strung up some 12v Halogen lights that hang from parallel wires. I've tested the carpet quite a few times by dropping small brass etches and whitemetal castings and they're usually quite easy to find, I did consider a wooden floor but this would have acted as a springboard for launching small items, never to be seen again...

 

EDIT: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34556

[Allegheny1600]

Thanks 298,

An interesting topic, I particularly like what you said here: "The visual presentation of a layout is almost as important as the modelling itself." - very true.

Good point about the layouts permanence - yes! It will be fully permanent and I hadn't thought about it having it's own valences and lighting, curious as I should have done with all my US experience! 

I think I had better design that in even though I won't build it until a good while after I've played trains for a bit!

Cheers/Prost,

John E.

[298]

Thanks 298,

An interesting topic, I particularly like what you said here: "The visual presentation of a layout is almost as important as the modelling itself." - very true.

TBH, through choice I'd go for a layout with valences and curtains so when you're in the room with only the layout lights on, that's all you see. However, I'm quite impressed with BlackRat's photo above, it's as important to have somewhere you can wander into and just spend a few minutes being inspired , and that photo works for me.

[BlackRat]

Please tell me your railway room isn't as clean and tidy as that day-in, day-out! 

 

To be fair, it usually is, as its situated off of the bedroom.

 

Now the 'study' (as its laughingly called), where I do a lot of modelling usually looks like a stun grenade has gone off in there.  

 

But I did have a tidy up for the mag!

 

I use carpet tiles on the floor, and have a few spares as yup, scenic paint, spray glue, plaster etc has all gone over it. Luckily the tiles are easily pulled up and washed or swapped.

 

It's also fairly (note fairly) resilient to stuff being dropped onto it and vice versa. Though old whitemetal kits don't fair as well as modern plastic rtr etc.

 

The layout sits on kitchen units (with oak doors) so the layout takes the place of a worktop.

 

Easy access for wiring, faults etc and masses of storage underneath....(sometimes referred to by the family as 'Dads shop!).

 

A few are given over to bedding, loo rolls etc but there's still masses of room with everything 'neat and tidy'.

 

Although not the biggest, I count my blessings (daily) as to what I have got (ahem were talking layout rooms here!) and make the most accordingly.

[mjcampbell]

I'd have thought blue walls would give a blue tint to the light in the room. Better a neutral pale colour (cream, or pale grey is very "in"), which will make a light and pleasant place to work, and if you wish could merge into a cloudy backscene. Plus can save you the need to repaint if you ever want to sell...

 

I'm sure you can find plenty of railway-themed pictures to add interest to any bare wall!

[definate maybe]

Not the reasons mentioned in or behind this thread but in my younger days before owning a house, I did wonder how many rooms could be themed behind railway liveries. I thought GW Choc & Cream, BR Blood & Custard and BR Blue & Grey could work well  Doors in Green with linings in the panels etc. The modern ones would probably fail! Has anyone else thought of this idea or even tried it? Were you honest or did you plead ignorance and tell SWMBO that it hadnt crossed your mind that chosen colours were once on the sides of coaching stock?

[RJL]

Pictures of trains perhaps ???? Seriously "Black Rat" that railway room is fantastic.

[faulcon1]

I've got cream painted walls in my soon to be railway room and bare original timber floors coated in polyurethane clear coat. Carpet tiles are ok but carpets laid in the normal way (by a professional carpet layer) are not such a great idea. If you spill something on them it can be hard to get it clean. Carpet tiles are great there for if you can't get a stain out there easy to replace. Also with a normally laid carpet believe it or not every time you walk on it you create a miniscule dust storm. You can't see it but that dust goes all over your railway. It's the cushioning effect of the underlay that does it. If you ever replace carpet in the house you often find a layer of grey dust which includes dust mites on top of the underlay which your vacuum is unable to reach.  

[RJL]

I've got cream painted walls in my soon to be railway room and bare original timber floors coated in polyurethane clear coat. Carpet tiles are ok but carpets laid in the normal way (by a professional carpet layer) are not such a great idea. If you spill something on them it can be hard to get it clean. Carpet tiles are great there for if you can't get a stain out there easy to replace. Also with a normally laid carpet believe it or not every time you walk on it you create a miniscule dust storm. You can't see it but that dust goes all over your railway. It's the cushioning effect of the underlay that does it. If you ever replace carpet in the house you often find a layer of grey dust which includes dust mites on top of the underlay which your vacuum is unable to reach.  

 

Nice.

[kevinlms]

Elsewhere there is a thread on 'Awful Flying Scotsman Clocks'.

 

[Baby Deltic]

Please tell me your railway room isn't as clean and tidy as that day-in, day-out! 

Neil's an old Marine, you know. Spick and span.

[Baby Deltic]

Nice.

 

Seeing that made me want to watch Jackson 'Jeffery' Jackson:

 

[2ManySpams]

Seeing that made me want to watch Jackson 'Jeffery' Jackson:

 

 

Nice!

[RJL]

Seeing that made me want to watch Jackson 'Jeffery' Jackson:

 

Great !

[Jenny Emily]

Getting back on topic....

 

 

I painted the walls of my railway shed in the leftovers of the same pale sky blue that I had used for the backscene. It used up paint I already had and works pretty well. 

[Richard Lee]

I painted the walls of my railway room sky blue as well. (I am too mean to buy backscenes.)  Shame that the village shop didn't sell paint that is a paler shade of blue nearer the boards, and stronger blue further up!

[Tom J]

My son's railway room (ahem, Bedroom, sorry Mrs J) currently looks more 'Jesse's diets' than 'Jazz Club'! 

 

I am trying to come up with a solution for boards which can locate simply onto a supporting structure when the layout is at home, with covered storage underneath, and with consideration to the changing height of the operator (now five!).

 

Colour? Ah, well there is a review in progress on that one. Mrs J decided that Thomas Ivor's first choice of 'black and yellow stripes like on a diesel shunter' for his door was not on...