@Mark Boyce posted:John, The plan looks like a good start. I'll leave suggestions for the yard and turntable area for others, since I never had the space to do either. Are you planning to use a double track bridge for the walkthrough opening on the right? It would be easier than bridges on two levels like I have. That means the grade from there to the first overpass would be pretty steep, though my 4% grades are manageable for the short trains I'll run. I'm thinking Dave is away on his trip to Georgia about now, so I don't know when he will be able to look at it. I never did get figured out how to setup grades on SCARM. He did it for me.
The blue walls look great! Yes some lighting around those ducts would help a lot. Are you going to leave the ceilings open, that is no drop ceiling? I see a lot of people who do that paint all the joists black so they aren't so noticable and it keeps the dust to a manageable level. I left my floor bare concrete. Are you going to do the same, or put in some floor covering? I may do something in the future, like the interlocking rubber mats in the walking area, but there is only so much money to work with.
Hi Mark, The bridge is a double track atlas Pratt truss bridge. I am hoping to have it hinged on one end and swing up. In that area is a steel overhead I-beam which lowers that part of the ceiling clearance. So positioning the bridge maybe determined by clearances. Which leads into the question off drop ceiling or black paint or other suggestions. I realize that this decision needs to be made sooner rather than later.
The blue paint was picked out by my artistic wife, so all credit goes to her. She also picked out the floor paint which I am starting to paint now. I was also thinking about the interlocking floor pads, which will wait until I see if their is any funds left at the end of the build. Lighting is costing more than I anticipated, as I am sure other things will go over budget too!
Thanks for the feedback
