Well, I've been thinking a lot about benchwork since I last posted. I did send off my layout design to Mianne last weekend, but haven't heard a word back yet. 
Unfortunately, after looking through Mianne's catalog, I think they're going to come back with an estimate over $1,000 and I don't think I'm willing to pay that much. That said, I'm leaning toward ripping 3/4" plywood into 3" or 3 1/2" strips (not sure the extra 1/2" is needed) and then trying my hand at pocket hole joinery using my Shop Smith rather than glue.
I also worked on some wiring diagrams. The 1st photo shows the basic hardware configuration up to terminal blocks. It shows four Z1000 transformers, but that's only because I currently have a Z1000 that came with my Christmas set. My plan has been to buy a Z4000, but since I really don't need the controller parts, I may opt for 3 more individual transformers to save a few dollars. If the new Lionel PH-180 is ready by the time I need to buy, I would opt for those rather than more Z1000s because they have more power for a similar price. The point is I need 4 power sources. The Z4000 has a slight advantage in that 3 of those are in one case; two 10 amp transformers for the 2 fixed channels and 14v to power the TIU. With it I could still run some engines conventional if the DCS remote failed. Radio Shack no longer sells the 18v-24v adapter Barry mentioned in his book, so I've pretty much decided to just use another transformer to power the TIU. It could also be used as a backup if another transform went out. AFAIK, the Z1000's 5.5 amps is enough to power 3-4 trains, so 1 would be enough for each TIU channel and that would leave my current Z1000 for the switches. I don't plan on any other accessories.
The 2nd photo shows power blocks, isolation points and accessories (switches) for level 1. There is a marker missing for a switch in the upper right. Also, the actual number of power blocks will depend on the final number of joints. I haven't substituted longer straights for the 10" pieces yet, so the actual number of joints will decease and that will affect the number of blocks I need.
The 3rd photo shows the same for level 2.
The 4th photo shows the power wiring for both levels from the terminal blocks to each power block. Each line represents an equal length pair of common and hot.
I don't have an AIU yet, so I just glanced at it in Barry's book. So far it looks like I would run a wire from the Common on the transformer to the IN on the AIU and daisy-chain the IN connections on the AIU. I'd use bus wiring from the transformer to each switch for Hot and then run individual pairs of 1-2 wires to each switch.
