@Harry's Trains posted:After several years of planning and preparing, I have finally started work on a basement layout. The layout is approximately 12' by 13' (more precisely, 12' 1" by 13' 4"). The reason for these dimensions is the layout is being built on top of solid core doors, most being 6' 8" long. The doors are supported by steel table legs for shelving units. This has made construction of the benchwork move very fast with almost no cutting save for a notch where a column is located. The pieces are then strapped together from the underside. This yields a modular system that can be disassembled and transported in the future.
Having recently built a switching layout on a single door slab, I like the use of this concept for a larger layout - will be interesting to see how it progresses. The door slabs are very strong and stable, and relatively economical. So much for needing 3/4" plywood...
@Gerald Marafioti posted:Harry ,now you have me thinking about rebuilding my layout over ,the only problem i have is that at 79 years old ,i don't know if i have enough time left to Finnish it ,i may be biting off more than i could chew ,i will think long & hard about this ,but you sure got my interest up & running .I do enjoy building a layout more than running trains ,so we will see where this leads to. ...
While I understand your sentiments about starting over, unless you're currently in poor health, if building layouts provides enjoyment, I'd say go for it. You may not know if you'll be able to finish it, but if you don't try then it's guaranteed that you'll never finish.
