Good morning!
I began the rebuild of an 11x15, two level HO layout in January, and her is a progress update…
The backdrop and basic benchwork is in place, and the lower level staging area and 2 % incline are in and wired and - trust me - thoroughly tested. Some of you may recall my many questions and comments on these “phases”, which also includes my first pass at DCC.
This early part was really an education - not so much in layout construction (I’ve been at that since the '50s), but in making absolutely sure that there should be zero derailments and excellent electrical continuity. As you know, DCC is more finicky than DC in that area, and I think I’ve got that covered (so far, anyway).
Last week I suddenly realized that I had not included provisions in the plans or benchwork for bridges. Yikes, what is a layout without a few bridges? Sooo, after some heavy thinking, I got the ol recipricating saw and hollowed out a couple of gullys, and weathered up a couple of bridges for future installation.
The layout is primarily 1x4 gridwork base for the main level, and I spent a messy couple of days drilling a whole lot of 3/8 inch holes in them to thread wiring. I know from experience that this will be a big help, and drilling holes beforehand is a lot easier than after the plywood is in place.
Using scale layout plans, I determined that 5 sheets of B/C ply (1/2 inch, 4 ply) would do the job, and further figured out that I could finish off the main level with 8 pieces cut from the 5 sheets. Last week I got two of the bigger pieces cut, and test fitted them yesterday. The biggest piece is almost perfect, but the second biggest piece needs some trimming. Yes, I actually measured 2 times, drew a scale template, and checked the measurements one last time. Still, over an 8 foot run I ended
