I am getting ready to start construction of the N-Scale Woodland Scenics Scenic Ridge layout. Do any of you have any advice, warnings, etc. or know of any errors in the instructions regarding the construction of the kit?
The kit, which is all foam appears to be fragile. Should the entire layout be installed in some kind of wood frame?
I am looking forward to constructing the kit as it will be my first realistic railroad construction in about 20 years. My recent railroad interest is in toy O-Gauge trains (primarily Lionel). My O-Gauge layout is very toy-like with lots of operating accessories with green felt covering over the entire layout. I purposely avoided any detailed scenery on the layout to maintain the toy-like quality. It is a lot of fun to operate and my grand-kids love it.
So any advice on the Scenic Ridge layout would be appreciated.
I help a guy out here a while back that did the HO version. He bought the Atlas track pack and swore he followed it to the letter. Still had about 3 turnouts that didn’t line up right with the foam base. Make sure you test fit EVERYTHING before you glue/tack it down. Don’t be surprised if you have to do a little cutting and fudging here or there. I’d have a peice or two of extra flex track on hand just in case.
Do take some pic’s and post your progress, love to see how it works out for you. WS products, while a bit pricy are good quality. I do not have the Ridge itself, but I did buy the structure set for the Ridge and am assembling that now. It is primarily DPM buildings.
As for the fragility of foam; I would suggest a thin wooden bottom. I would think it could not hurt. You would want to note where any of the electric wires go and if the holes are pre-drilled make cut outs for that part. I drilled through my foam and then the plywood below.
The wooden bottom would also make it easier to attach legs if you wanted too.
Just what I would likely do with the Ridge Kit. Does WS offer any assembly instructions of this kind? Maybe they would reply to a direct email from you?