Subroadbed Weekend

It was a very productive weekend.  With the assistance of my wonderful wife I was able to get about 80% of the subroadbed cut out.  Patti was a huge help as we took the plotted track plan and transferred it to the sheet of plywood using carbon paper.  I was then able to accurately cut the subroadbed out.

View from the doorway.

Looking down the peninsula.

Closer look at the end of the peninsula.  I have it clamped to the other cuts to figure out where to make the cuts to splice it together.

First connection to the yard (which is to the right).  It's good to be making progress.

Sheer Awesomeness

It's been a quiet period.  Holiday travel and having to return to the thing called "work" has slowed progress down a bit.  The plan this weekend is to start cutting the subroadbed and installing it so I can start laying track. The trick is taking the plan from the computer to the piece of plywood correctly so everything fits correctly.  It also has to be done so the roadbed is cut 1 1/2" wide.  This is easy to do on curves <= 35 inches and straight sections -- but what about those nicely flowing 156 inch radius curves?  Tough to find a yard stick that big.

Weeeellllll -- Here it is !!!  I used a plotter I have access to and simply printed the layout sections I'm planning on working on full size with the correct roadbed width.  Here are a couple of photos of the results:

You can see the 15 inch radius section I've already cut out overlaid on the same spot on the plot.  Perfect fit!!  Needless to say, this will greatly reduce the complexity and time required of cutting out the subroadbed.  I love technology (and being able to get to it).

1st Subroadbed !!!

I managed to find enough time this morning to mark and cut the 1st piece of subroadbed.  This is a 15 inch radius curve at the end of the peninsula.  Everything is simply clamped for right now so I can show people how all of this is going to go together.

That'll do it for today (and this week for that matter).  More subroadbed adventures lay ahead.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas.

Benchwork in Place

The basic benchwork is now in place.  I'm very pleased with the result.  The only change made was a shortening of the peninsula by 6 inches.  Once in the room we realized that it was too long to allow easy movement.  I'm also going to move the workbench to accommodate flow.  Here is the first photo from the doorway:

And a shot from above:

The plan is to try to put some subroadbed down tomorrow but seeing how it is Christmas Eve, that may not happen.  It's exciting to see progress.

Benchwork the Model Railroader Way

The method I'm using to construct the benchwork is based on work done by Lynn Westcott.  Mr. Westcott worked for Kalmbach Books (publisher of Model Railroader) for 43 years and is considered the dean of this type of work.  His book -- How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork -- was first published in 1979.  It is the bible of benchwork.

The book -- being 42 years old now -- is filled with lots of drawings and B&W photos.  A newer book from Kalmbach called Basic Model Railroad Benchwork was published in 2002 by Jeff Wilson.  This book is slam full of color photos.  It is an excellent extension of the original book but also stands on its own as a resource.

I have been pleasantly surprised by how easy the benchwork has come together (even with the mistakes -- all self-inflicted mind you).  The books have more than paid for themselves.

Benchwork Continued

The work on the benchwork continues.  I added the last two wall brackets and the respective L girders to complete the basic benchwork along the wall.

I also constructed the legs that will hold up the L girders that will make the table that the RBS Super built.  You can see them leaned up against the wall brackets here:

They were a bit of an adventure as I ignored the "measure twice cut once rule" and began construction of a set last evening without measuring the height of the benchwork on the far left side of the room.  Remember the earlier statement of the floor not being level yada yada yada...  Yep -- came back to bite me.  The initial effort was a full inch and a half short.

Soooo -- tomorrow I'll attach the L girders to the legs and the initial work will be complete.  Woohoo !!!