I broke ground on my railroad a few days ago and thought I’d share some pictures of the progress that has been made to date. Thanks again to all of those that helped me with ideas and suggestions.
Don Z.
Wow! I wish I had your ability. Nice work.
Selector,
I’d gladly trade some of my carpentry skills for the ability to do scenery and trackwork…since this is my first layout, I know I have a long uphill road in front of me. Thanks for the compliment.
Don Z.
Broke ground. Cool. Wait until you drive the “golden spike” [^]
I live up the road in Cedar Park. Give me a yell when you can. I would love to see your progress first hand.
Tom,
You can count on it! I want to get a closeup view of your painted clouds, as well as some detailed pointers on how to paint them. Your clouds look as real as could be.
Don Z.
Don, very good looking benchwork. Mine didn’t look anywhere near that good…so I covered it with plaster realllll quick. [8D] When I saw the nook/inset/whatever thingy, I see some great modeling potential. Any particular plans for that area?
And Tom, I hope I can get my background to look even half as good as yours. My airbrush should be arriving this week. I can’t wait to try it out. Are you sure you’ve never used one begore???
Tukaram,
Many thanks! Yes, the alcove will be used for the layout. In my mind, I see it being used as a space with a lot of industry building/detail but not many tracks, since it will be a long reach from the front of the layout. The benchwork in front of the alcove is 24"deep. On my layout drawing, at the left edge is a 30 degree crossing leading to the edge of the drawing. That track will be the lead into the alcove.
I’m open to suggestions for industries, designs or whatever for the alcove. It’s 20 inches deep by 59 inches wide.
Don Z.
I finally created a photo album on Photobucket so I don’t hog the bandwidth with my pictures here on the Forum. Here’s a link to my album for members that would like to take a look.
http://photobucket.com/albums/f35/dkzimm/Escanaba%20and%20UP%20Railroad%20construction/
Comments are welcome!
Don Z.
Is it going to be HO or N? I’m also in Austin…
Bob
Bob,
It’s an HO layout. I’m located in far north Austin, near 620 and Parmer Lane. I just started laying my full scale printout on top of my benchwork and I’ll be: it actually lined up!
Don Z.
ughhh i hate it when professional carpenters show off their benchwork
[}:)]
very nice!
Don,
I noticed on your cross supports that there are no visible screw heads. Do you screw in from the back of the cross support into the faceboard or have you not yet screwed it together? I can see where coming in from the rear would be nice so there are no heads in the front to cover up. Maybe your one of those wood dowl guys.
Ahh! The smell of freshly cut wood. Really looking up [^]
Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together!
cnwman,
Regarding your question about the construction method…yes, everything is screwed together from the backside using pocket hole construction. It is a much stronger joint than simply screwing through the front of the frame into the end of the crossmember. When screwing or nailing from the front into the crossmember, the nail or screw is going into the end grain of the crossmember, creating a very weak joint. By using the pocket hole and screwing from behind, I am attaching the crossmember by screwing across the grain of the front piece, giving the screw something to bite into and hold strong.
I’ll take a closeup picture of the joint so you’ll be able to see what I’m talking about. In the meantime, here’s a link to the tool that I use to create the joint so you will understand what you see in the picture later.
http://www.kregtool.com/education_center/index.php
A side note…I’m not a professional carpenter by any stretch…just a hobbyist woodworker that likes to take pride in his work.
Don Z.
That is some seriously nice benchwork, Don. Heck, I’d like to have that in the livingroom… 
Jarrell
Here’s a picture of the pocket hole joint that I’m using to construct my benchwork. This method provides a very strong joint, plus the benefit of not having screwheads showing on the benchwork fascia.
Thanks for all of the comments!
Don Z.
Don, Great benchwork. Looks like you really know your stuff. I have a question regarding the height of your benchwork, I thought all Texans were tall, your benchwork appears to be built on the low side. How high is it, and why?
Don,
Let me join the chorus… Beautiful Work!
I’m also interested in the pocket hole system. Which jig did you use? Also, what kind of lumber… it looks nicer than Home Depot 1X3s!
that is a really neat tool , thanks for the info !
ok maybe you’re not a pro … but you could give lessons to a few i’ve seen [:)]
Billong,
Hmmm…the stereotypes ring out. All Texans are tall…oh yeah, we all have an oil well in our backyard pumping money into our pockets…[:D]. Well, I’m 6’2" tall…I’m not sure if that’s tall compared to you. My benchwork in the pictures sits 39 and 40 inches above the carpet. The shots that show plywood decking in place are where my yard will be located, so I wanted that all on one level. The rest of the layout will have ribbon roadbed construction, allowing me to raise or lower the roadbed as desired. I’ll also have an upper level, so I didn’t want to start the lower level too high which would make the upper level unviewable to my son and my short wife…
I appreciate the compliments!
Don Z.