The Consequences of using Styrofoam

I am a fairly regular viewer of Ken Patterson's YouTube channel "What's Neat". While I tend to gloss over some of the segments of each broadcast, I usually pay attention to any discussion concerning scenic techniques.  

However, one of Ken's You Tube clips in late March came as a bit of surprise when he announced that there had been a fire on his layout ( Description of fire and immediate aftermath ). Ken had gone upstairs to make cup of coffee with locomotive still operating on his layout. The locomotive shorted on a point and after a short time the short turned into a fire. The fire burnt vigorously until Ken returned and was able to extinguish it. By then, a fair amount of damage had been done. 

Like me, Ken has used foam products extensively to create his land forms as well as a base upon which the track had been laid. This foam ignited quickly creating a thick black smoke which spread throughout much of his home. It was this aspect of the incident that has caused me to reflect on the potential for a similar situation at Philip's Creek. 

I have used styrofoam on Philip's Creek since its inception in 1996. Initially, with the prospect of future moves, the primary motivation was weight saving but surprisingly, it proved to robust, easy to create landforms, albeit very messy, and very stable in various climatic conditions. As the prospect of frequent moves receded, the other factors assumed a greater significance and I have continued to use it as the primary construction medium for the layout. 

Even with Ken's recent experience in mind, after 30 years of layout construction, I have no desire to undertake the extensive rebuild that would be required to remove the styrofoam from the layout. So I need to look at ways to mitigate the potential fire risk. For me, this comes down to four elements, operating the layout, circuit breakers, fire detection and fire suppression. 

There is always a temptation to duck away from the layout while a train is running to attend to something, whether that be to grab a cup of coffee, as Ken did, or answer a call of nature. As Philip's Creek is a point to point layout, it's impossible to absent oneself for too long otherwise there would be a cataclysmic crash in one of the staging yards which is almost guaranteed to create a short circuit and the situation that Ken encountered. However, the helix does offer a period of two to three minutes, where one duck out. It is a temptation that must be resisted. Note to self:  Leave the garage - power off!!

Like Ken, I have not installed any circuit breakers on Philip's Creek and it is a task that I need to address. I should probably install three one of each on the bus wires heading to the lower and upper level and helix. However, there seem to be several options and I need to do a bit more research. It's on the 'to do' list.

The third lesson relates to smoke detection. I already have one detector in the garage but I'm contemplating whether a second one might be of use. The current detector sits on the other side of the garage and conceivably, a fire could start to take hold before it is activated. Another, in closer proximity to the layout, may be appropriate.

The ability to suppress the fire quickly is the final factor to consider. Ken was able to put his fire out quickly using a hand held extinguisher.  Although the fire brigade had been called, it was only required to check that the fire had been completely extinguished. With that experience in mind, I have now purchased and installed two 2.5 kg powder extinguishers. Hopefully, they will never be required!

 

 

With all this going on, to some extent, it has overshadowed the practical completion (never completely finished) of the Mount Windeatt refurbishment. A few photos below show the module as it now is.