logandsawman
Well-Known Member
Nice fence and oil tank. Great detail on layout!!
New HO Switching Layout
- Thread starter Odie-r
- Start date
Apologies on not replying in a while. I've been busy with the day job and dealing with some minor house issues... home ownership!
I've made a few purchases over the past two weeks - more flex track, some turnouts, a static grass applicator, some wire, and a bunch of wood.
In case you hadn't guessed, the decision was made by me and my loving girlfriend that the layout should be expanded. Immediate plans are in place to add a right turn North at the West end of the 2x8' current size and we will run a mainline almost 14' down the room. Still a switching layout albeit a bit larger! The new 14' section will be 16" wide instead of 24" as to not impede the room dimensions too drastically.
I've been paying particular attention to quality benchwork construction and have made some changes since my first two 4' sections were built. Firstly, the old basement floor is NOT level so it's been painstaking getting the top surface level using different techniques from levelers to angled wood cuts. We don't want to drill into our walls as we're not sure this is our forever home and there's no point making marks I'll just have to clean up when we sell. The first 4' section was completed today. Again, drawing on my first experience - I bought hardboard in a 4 x 8' sheet and cut it into 4' x 16" strips to act as a backdrop. I never did this on the first sections and will definitely update them in the coming weeks.
I have also paid close attention to actual interchange yard operations as the new section will have an interchange yard and two more larger industries to switch. Staging will effectively take place in the new section as cars will be brought on and off the layout at the interchange and continue northbound on the CN main. I really wanted to have a mainline to actually run a 5 car train and this will be very possible with the new addition.
I'll post pics of the benchwork asap. A friend of mine is coming tomorrow evening to hopefully complete the next two 4' sections.
Looking forward to getting back to work!
R
I've made a few purchases over the past two weeks - more flex track, some turnouts, a static grass applicator, some wire, and a bunch of wood.
In case you hadn't guessed, the decision was made by me and my loving girlfriend that the layout should be expanded. Immediate plans are in place to add a right turn North at the West end of the 2x8' current size and we will run a mainline almost 14' down the room. Still a switching layout albeit a bit larger! The new 14' section will be 16" wide instead of 24" as to not impede the room dimensions too drastically.
I've been paying particular attention to quality benchwork construction and have made some changes since my first two 4' sections were built. Firstly, the old basement floor is NOT level so it's been painstaking getting the top surface level using different techniques from levelers to angled wood cuts. We don't want to drill into our walls as we're not sure this is our forever home and there's no point making marks I'll just have to clean up when we sell. The first 4' section was completed today. Again, drawing on my first experience - I bought hardboard in a 4 x 8' sheet and cut it into 4' x 16" strips to act as a backdrop. I never did this on the first sections and will definitely update them in the coming weeks.
I have also paid close attention to actual interchange yard operations as the new section will have an interchange yard and two more larger industries to switch. Staging will effectively take place in the new section as cars will be brought on and off the layout at the interchange and continue northbound on the CN main. I really wanted to have a mainline to actually run a 5 car train and this will be very possible with the new addition.
I'll post pics of the benchwork asap. A friend of mine is coming tomorrow evening to hopefully complete the next two 4' sections.
Looking forward to getting back to work!
R
Pacodutaco
Member
That is a nice chunk of space being added to your layout.
Completed the next 4' section tonight. All is level on the top surface and we temporarily mounted up the front fascia to see the whole thing a little more complete. I'm happy with the progress - like I said, its been slow as we don't want to mount anything to the walls. I'll use the 2" insulation foam again as a baseboard.
I'll update again soon.
R
A new 8' completed framing:
I'll update again soon.
R
A new 8' completed framing:
Pdxglide
New Member
Lance mindheim books
Just throwing in my two cents only because Im about to build a small switching layout as well and thought I'd pass along a helpful tip someone gave me that really helped me out. I have read just about everything pelle has printed and he's one of my favorite modelers but if you haven't checked out the books by lance mindheim yet you really should. I bought a couple of them off eBay ( how to build a switching layout and how to design a switching layout). He gives some great advice and ideas/different approaches that pelle doesn't go into ir bring up. Anyways take it for what it's worth it really helped me, so far things are looking good and look forward to your updates
Just throwing in my two cents only because Im about to build a small switching layout as well and thought I'd pass along a helpful tip someone gave me that really helped me out. I have read just about everything pelle has printed and he's one of my favorite modelers but if you haven't checked out the books by lance mindheim yet you really should. I bought a couple of them off eBay ( how to build a switching layout and how to design a switching layout). He gives some great advice and ideas/different approaches that pelle doesn't go into ir bring up. Anyways take it for what it's worth it really helped me, so far things are looking good and look forward to your updates
Last edited by a moderator:
Some progress over this week - had a couple hours downstairs and felt quite productive!
Managed to get the 12' run completely framed and drilled for wiring. The bridge came fairly quickly once everything was positioned correctly. I'm happy with the results. Pics below:
The full 12' length:
The bridge in place:
The bridge and first section with foam applied for base:
Thanks for following along!
R
Managed to get the 12' run completely framed and drilled for wiring. The bridge came fairly quickly once everything was positioned correctly. I'm happy with the results. Pics below:
The full 12' length:
The bridge in place:
The bridge and first section with foam applied for base:
Thanks for following along!
R
roadmonkeytj
Member
Looking good!
