My One Year Model Railroading Anniversary

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

It was one year ago today that I first happened on XtrackCad while surfing the web, and that sowed the seed. I spent a couple of weeks playing around with the program, did a little research on the latest tech and DCC, then thought maybe I should clear out the basement…

I took a break from kits and scenery during the holidays to hang the rest of my backdrops and build the frame for phase 2 benchwork. Hopefully by this time next year my trains will not be limited to running tight loops with temporary track!

Thanks guys for getting me back up to speed, and happy new year!!

2

Good job in quality plus a lot accomplished in a year. Curious, how is the backdrop done?

3

Congratulations!

Looks like you have a fine start. Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

Have fun,

Richard

4

Paul the backdrops are from backdropwarehouse. I got 36’ continuous in three panels. The panels you can see in the photo have been up for a few months now. And I just added the final panel that extends to the left out of the photo and down the wall.

Figuring out how to hang the backdrop on the old paneling was a topic of discussion here a while back. The paneling is not very flat and the seams are not even, so gluing tight to the wall was not a good option. I ended up using strapping tape to reinforce the edges and then installed the molding with a brad gun so that the brads go through the tape and edge of the backdrop. And I added rounded blocks to the back of the corner molding pieces to shape a radius. The backdrop material is very heavy so it lies nicely against the walls without really stretching it.