Well, I finally started work on my next layout. Hopefully this one will make it to the detailing stage, unlike all the others I have started- some got to the scenery phase, others died after trackwork. This one should be more managable in the space I have. I have a bonus room above the garage that I used for all the previous layouts, but it has a knee wall (the wall meets the ceiling at 50"). This really hurt my layouts by making the layout so low I couldnt really enjoy it or high, and not being able to have any scenery.
It is now in a bedroom closet, roughly 2x8’ in size, 55" high. The benchwork is made of 1x2s anchored to the walls, with a single layer of 2" foam on top of that. It will not be secured to the foam except by gravity and the tight fit between the walls. The foam is in two sections to get it in and out of the closet.
The backdrop is painted directly on the drywall since there are not enough studs to curve hardboard in the corners. The hanging fluorescent fixture will be supplemented by an undercabinet fixture on the door frame to eliminate shadows in the front.
The layout itself is HO scale, meant to be a switching layout and a place to work on honing my skills as a modeler. There will be two industries to switch, most likely a scrap yard and a to be determined multi-car industry (suggestions anyone?). Along the front there will be a road with buildings that have their backs open to viewers with fully detailed interiors.
Ok, pictures:
And the nice thing about a portable layout is the fact that you can move it wherever you like. In my case, somewhere more easily accessible than a closet.
So far, I have laid down the cork roadbed and painted it. The roadbed is actual
