0003 Savannah Central – Measuring Up

I don't care how many !@#$@# tape measures you own you cannot depend on finding one when you need it.  Every year after Christmas I go to Home Depot and buy four more on sale and STILL can't find one.  There must be two dozen here someplace.

Time to take measurements.  I did measure the room before, but often I use one of two methods to measure a room; either to the inch or to the quarter inch.  To the inch is used for sketching purposes or for unfinished rooms.  To the quarter inch is for detailed drawings especially for smaller layouts and tight spaces.  We'll go to the quarter.

The drawing that I made will come in handy for recording measurements so I printed it off and grabbed a pen.  I did finally find a tape measure.

It took only 15 minutes to get all the dimensions, so instead of doctoring this drawing I'm going to start all over with a clean slate.  First thing I'll need to do is set up my drawing in 3PI.

My scale is usually always set to HO, so the next step is to change the grid.  I like to use heavy lines at 48" intervals, instead of the default 36" interval.  The minor lines will stay at 12".

The drawing grid needs to be four feet wider than the room for dimensional data and notes.  The room's longest wall is 16 feet, so I'll use 20 feet wide.  Since I always need more room than I think, I'll make it 20 feet tall as well.

The final step, though I seldom do this, is to name the drawing and put my name on it.  The only reason I'm doing it this time is because I'll probably share the drawing with folks.   Once I have everything set, I'll save the file as Savannah Central 101.  The first 1 is the major revision number.  This changes whenever I through out the whole drawing and start over or make any major philosophical change (or scale change).  The 01 is the revision number.  Should I use more than 99 revision (which often happens) then I just roll up to 201.  The main reason I do this is because I save my work every evening under a new revision number so that I can easily revert to older drawings.  It also keeps the files in order in my computer file.

I draw in layers.  A layer is a grouping of like lines or text that can be turned off or on.  For instance, my first lines will be WALLS so I set up a layer called WALLS and make its color GRAY.  Because I don't want this drawn as track, I'll turn the track option off.  When I draw a wall, there are two types; those that can be penetrated with trackwork, and those that cannot.  Those that can't may be concrete (I know Paul, you can bore through concrete as you did!) and those that can't be penetrated due to foreman direction (a.k.a. the wife doesn't want track in the shower).

 We'll start with the long straight wall first as this will be a key support for the layout I'm sure.  Let's also draw in the other side of the wall which is down the hall going to the bedrooms.  This hall is wide enough for a 6" railway access along its length.  I'll put line dimensions on these two.

 Next I'll draw three 12" sections of wall and put them in their estimated places.

 We'll draw the deep windows in (these are basement windows below ground, so the are set deep into the wall and have a 9" window sill.

A little blue makes it look like glass.  We'll then draw in the fireplace and mantel, then make the exterior (non penetrable) walls a solid gray color.  Good so far!