Sweethome Chicago grows again

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve made a start on extending Sweethome by another 3’in length.

Having moved the layout to the wider of my 2 basement rooms, I found myself with some extra space to extend the yard. It did mean however that I had to tear down the work I did back in January - but that’s railroad modelling for you…

Here are the new boards, each of which are 2’3" long and will fit together for transporting to shows.

Jon

2

With the boards done, I’ve started thinking about the track plan and am playing around with some track configurations. Using the actual stuff for track planning is the only way I can judge if it will look right when it’s laid - no high-tec planning aids for me.

Here’s the version I like best at the moment, with a 2-road fuelling point on the left and a caboose track on the right. The blank area where the building was will still be the MOW yard

I’ll leave it for a couple of days and tinker with it, before starting to lay the track.

Jon

3

Lookin’ good, Jon. Can’t wait to see what sceneic masterpieces you have in store for this area.

Tom

4

Here’s an update 2 weeks later

1 Track laying

Track is planted firmly, baseboards come apart, and more importantly, go back together again.

2 Wiring gets underway

Jon

5

3 Board connectors (6-pin), turnout motors and accessory decoders fitted

No problems with wiring - the board fits on the workmate and I sit in the comfy chair - ‘NOT the comfy chair!’

Jon

6

4 Ballasting the track

When the ballast is dry, I’ll clean it up, brush off the loose bits and paint it. Then I can get down to some scenics

Jon

7

I’ve made a start on the scenics - mostly the retaining walls and the bridge so far but it’s beginning to take shape. I temporarily refitted the old backscene to give a vague idea about how the new bit will look

Now for some paint on the retaining walls.

Jon

8

Looks so good, it almost makes me want to get back into scale modeling.

9

Jon You should be very Proud of Yourself ,It really looks great man ,Nice Job!

Carl…

10

Thanks guys.

Here’s a few photos showing the latest progress

Jon

11

As usual Jon, your work is top notch. That extension looks as if it’s been there all along.

12

Thanks Robert.

The fascia board went up tonight.

And a pair of Atlas MP15s ran through

Well, I had to get them, didn’t I!

Jon

13

Jon, great work. Yours has to be one of my favorite shelf layouts.