It’s been a while since I’ve posted any layout progress photo’s, much due to spending non-work hours on home projects, most recently installing a french drain and a large number of tree’s and bushes.
The staging tracks have been completed and the main yard Homasote surface installed and leveled and ready for track laying.
First the support structure for the upper level, giving about 10 inches of headroom for staging.
Shelf brackets and threaded rods were used this time to improve staging access and visibility.
Most recently the mainline cork roadbed has been installed. It took 2 boxes of 25 Midwest cork roadbed plus some pieces I saved from the last layout:
Looking great. The open grid benchwork looks like a sculpture. Did you use dimension lumber or sawn plywood. If it’s dimension lumber where did you find such nice pieces?
I can’t wait to see your scenery. I thought your last layout really captured the Colorado feeling.
The lumber was dimensional 1x2, 1x3 and 1x4 clear pine lumber I picked though from Lowes. I re-used some lumber from the old layout too. Three of the open grid sections were re-used, two of them in their original 2x8 form.
Lumber afficianado’s often say the lumber at big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot is crap, but I found if I picked though the stacks I could find enough straight/true pieces to build the layout from. I bought a batch at a time to build with.
The subroad bed is 19/32 OSB, which seems to be alright. I used it on the last layout and it worked well.
I plan to do scenery similar to the last layout, hot glue and cardboard strips overlain by plaster gauz and a thin layer of plaster over it. I’m going for the western Colorado and eastern Utah canyon and hills look.
The walls were painted with Valspar eggshell Clear Blue Sky (color card).
Other than wood shop way way back in Junior High, I am just an ameteur. The frames were laid out to fit a scale drawing in managable sizes. The layout previous to this one was in a 10x18 room around the walls and was built with only a saber saw and cordless drill. Since then I obtained a compound miter saw and circular saw.
The pillar was something I knew I would have to deal with and I wanted it behind the track. When I drew the scale drawing, it wasn’t quite in the right place but i was still able to route the mainline around it. I am not sure at this point but I think I’ll just wrap it with wax paper and build scenery around it. There are a lot of places on the D&RGW where canyon walls are pretty close to the tracks and have rock lide fences.
