Benchwork at last !!!

I finally got a start on the benchwork yesterday.  After a rough start, I have to admit I'm pleased with the results.  It took awhile to get underway due to :  1)  Holiday commitments (no problem with those) and 2) indecision on what I really wanted to do.  The original idea was full benchwork and all that entailed, but the size of the layout doesn't warrant that much work.  After a lot of reading and thought -- I decided to stay with the L-girder concept but use wall brackets instead of legs on the wall side.  Here's the 1st 8 foot section:

If you magnify the photos -- you'll see it is actually level -- pretty cool...

I made it more difficult than it needed to be initially.  After multiple trips to Lowes (the guy in the tools section at the Red Bank Lowes is really nice) and a thorough dusting off of my lonshoreman's vocabulary -- I got about 1/2 of it done on Sunday.  I made another trip to Lowes today to get the one tool I was lacking and voila -- everything went much smoother.

The plan is to continue on this week.  I hope to have the basic benchwork in place by Christmas but that may be a bit ambitious.

A Slow Weekend

Okay -- it's on to the benchwork.  The plan was to have all of the general benchwork in place by the end of the weekend but other priorities stepped up.  The first, of course, was decorating the house for Christmas.  I'm happy to say that all of the outside decorations are up and most of the inside decorations.  The house looks great -- I love this time of year.   There are some new outdoor decorations on the way even as I write this -- more on that later (with pictures).

The second priority -- and one I've been putting off way too long -- was repairing the hole in the train room ceiling.  Several years ago (yes, years) water damage cause a portion of the ceiling to fall in.  It needed to be repaired before I started installing benchwork.  Plan 1 -- go to Lowes and purchase the required parts.  Epic Fail -- you used to be able to purchase individual pieces of the ceiling boards.  I only needed four of them.  Nope -- not any more.  Now you need to purchase a carton (at $60.00) of either 20 or 25 pieces.  And -- it's a special order --  a 3 week wait.  Never mind.  So -- onto Plan 2.  I went in the garage and found the scrap pieces I had squirreled away from when I installed the ceiling.  Here's the result:

Awesome -- no more hole...

With that accomplished -- I had enough time to make a "start" on the L girder benchwork.  I assembled two of the girders.  A photo of the 2nd under construction.

That's it for now.

The Yard is Back !!!

Nate and I "installed" the yard today.  I built the yard quite awhile ago and combined it with a 3 x 6 foot layout I had to form another layout.  This allowed me the opportunity to debug it.  It works great.  The plan is taken from John Armstrong's book Track Planning for Realistic Operation - the 1994 Edition.   The plan is for the smaller yard found in Fig. 2-9 on page 22 of this edition.  Combined with Digital Command Control (DCC) it can keep several people busy working it.

Anyway -- the first thing I did was lag bolt the supports to the wall. After this we moved the workbench back to its original position and put the yard in place.  That's it !  Now I need to get the wiring reconnected so I can at least run trains during those periods of procrastination.

Yards support in place...

And Voila !!!  The yard lives again...

Please ignore the incredibly messy workbench.  Next -- onto the benchwork.  May be a few days...

A Word on the Room

A few quick notes on the room where the layout is being constructed.  The room is a closed in screen porch that measures a little less than 12 x 12.  This allows such perks as a non level floor designed to let water run off.

When I closed the porch in, I did it with the intent of it becoming the layout room.  I had the windows custom built.  You'll notice they are "transom" type windows.  This serves several purposes.  First -- they are all above layout level so I don't have to work around them.  Second -- they allow a lot of light in the room.  Third, the design provides some privacy.  I have been very happy with the result.

I also wired the room with a layout in mind.  Most of the outlets are double ganged ( I think that's the term).  The left pair is always powered, the right side can be turned off by a switch next to the door.  This was done so that I could guarantee all power to the layout was off when I left the room.

There are nine recessed lights in the ceiling.  I didn't plan any specific layout lighting since there is so much natural light in the room.  Again -- I've been pleased with the results.  The light switch doubles as a dimmer -- so I can dim them if necessary.

The room is carpeted for comfort and style.

That's it -- a quick description of my workspace.

The Sky is Blue (more or less)

Okay -- onto the sky for the layout.

I spent the last few days, with help from my wife Patti, working on the sky.  It requires blending and shading and a somewhat subtle touch.  After the initial effort and several attempts at touching up -- here's what I have:

This is looking toward the "far" corner of the layout.

This is the "near" corner -- the yard throat will be in on the wall to the right.

The corner where the yard will reside.

It's a bit hard to judge from the photos how it looks -- but all in all it's not too bad.  It is sort of cool to sit in the loving room and see "the sky" through the door.

Let me know what you think.  The plan is to put the yard in place tomorrow (and finally get it out of the dining room).

A bit about me...

A few words before we get to the sky:

• I am not an artist nor have I played one on television.  
• I did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn express last night.
• I am my own worst critic.  I expect myself to do whatever it is perfect the first time.  Due to this, I have a tendency to procrastinate on certain projects (like painting the sky).
• Fortunately -- I live with an angel who is more of a "Just pick up the brush and do it" type and encourages me to try it.

That being said -- I took my first shot at painting the layout sky.  Pictures to follow.

Gotta Start Somewhere

Hey -- finally -- getting started.  I've pulled out the scenery books and selected the sky color.  So -- where are we?

Well...

1. I "cleared" out the room with my wonderful wife's assistance.  
2. I determined the height of the layout.  My yard originally was at 54 inches.  This height is all the rage as it promotes realism and yada yada yada...  It made it difficult to reach across the yard to clean track and make adjustments.  After some thought -- the "base" height of the new layout will be 48 inches.  This will make it easier to work on and easier for the grandchildren to view.
3. I selected the base sky color.  I'm using Benjamin Moore's "Nevada Sky".  The technique I'll be using is the one described in Dave Frary's "How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery - 2nd Edition."  At least I think I am -- the 3rd edition is scheduled to arrive Friday.
4. Since the room is a converted screen porch -- the floor isn't level.  Therefore I measured 22 inches down from the bottom of the windows -- this gave me a level starting point.  If you look real close at the pictures -- you may be able to detect the pencil lines showing the base height.

   
Next step -- get the sky painted and the yard back in place.