Well thought out...well planned...well executed!!! Those clouds are a work of art! If they are an indicator for what is to come you will have a layout to be proud of!! Kudos to you sir! Jim
Progress! The first benchwork is up. The plywood construction makes it both light and strong. And here is about a third of the benchwork up: I selected to use 2x2 standing legs because if I'd used wall mounted brackets, it would have been difficult to match the wall studs. In any case it's very sturdy.
Decisions, decisions... I'm planning the subroadbed, and the stations, yards etc. will have 3/4" plywood. But what about the lines then? I haven't decided yet if I should use spline or ply subroadbed. If I should build with spline, should it be 3/4" x 1/4" pine, or 1/4" hardboard? How to fasten it on the risers? And how should the risers be constructed? Any thoughts on this?
Is weight of any concern? (Future portability of the layout?) Just thinking how 3/4" plywood can weigh a fair amount. Then add scenery, etc.
Yes, 3/4" might be overkill.... I bought some 5/8" plywood to try. The spline roadbed is still under evaluation.... The spruce is strong, but really difficult to work with. My next experiment will be with 1/4" MDF that I sawed into 3/4" strips. It seems like a middle road between hardboard and spruce spine.
1/4" hardboard isn't available here, only 1/8". And that's isn't really an option. Some more progress on the layout. Almost 80% of the benchwork is ready. The ones left to do are the curve sections. I've aldo added the first 5/8" plywood roadbed. I will use plywood roadbed on the stations and yards. The inclines and upper tracks will be spline roadbed. Spline raw material made from1/4" MDF that I sawed into 1" strips. Tracks and turnouts. I laid out some Peco turnouts to make sure the roadbed will fit the plan. Laser cut sweep sticks for HOn3. These are invaluable! I got these made by a friend in the US. It might be possible to lay the first tracks this weekend.
Some more progress today. I've glued the cork. It's standard HO cork that I cut off a 6 mm (1/4") wide strip to make it fit HOn3 (16.5mm - 10.5mm = 6mm). Now I have to order more cork .... I need about 40-50 yards. I've begun on the Spline roadbed. I'm gluing it with "No more nails" from Pattex on cartridge (I guess it's like liquid nails?). The splines are 6 mm (1/4") MDF, which is cut in 25 mm (1") wide strips. There is a need for huge amount of clamps though. Have to find some more, I know I have some... Time to make all the curved and Y-turnouts as well.
More progress. I've finished about 2/3s of the subroadbeds. I had to check my inclines to keep them under 2%.
I've started the work on the landscape painting on the backdrop. To make a representation of the Colorado rockies isn't as easy as it sounds.... You want them to be tall and imposing, and have the color variations of the real thing. On top of that I have to find a level of detail that I'm satisfied with. I use regular artist acrylics for the painting.
I built a switch to fit my layout, a three-way stub switch in HOn3. It is a #6 with 26" radius. I will probably use a Tam Valley servo controller for it. It's really fun to build these.
Made a bit more on my three-way stub turnout in HOn3. One drawbar is made, now it's two more to hold the track gauge to make as well. It's a little tricky to make them because the rails must be able to move individually. I soldered micro track spikes to hold the rails in place.
I had always looked at a three way stub switch as something very simple. Now I can see they do have complex features.
I built a curved turnout today. HOn3 with Code 70 rails. 28" and 22" radiuses. What's left to do is to make the cuts for the live frog and to clean the flangeways from solder.I build my turnouts to the narrow specs that Railway engineering promotes. I use their roller gauges and to check with the MNRA gauge, you use the flange end instead of the track end.
Built a # 6 left-hand turnout in HOn3 with 26" radius. They are starting to go together easy now. This one took not more than an hour to make. I use a drawn template to get the radius right. Otherwise it's just a matter of using the NMRA gauge and Railway Engineering roller gauges. The frog area has a narrower gauge to make the rolling stock roll better through the frog. I use the flangeway gauge to get it right.
