Hey all!
I wanted to give a quick update. This week, the layout is about to go vertical! I'm switching jobs and decided to take some time off between them to recharge, refocus, and shake off the burnout. I figured this is the perfect time to get the area prepped, and start putting the benchwork together.
The benchwork should be pretty straight forward. I've been going back and forth between L-girder and a 2x4 grid base. I decided to just go by 2x4s since I've done that type of construction before and I'm planning on building this in a modular fashion in case I need to move it or take it apart. The layout foundation will be 3/4in plywood.
My next decision is going to be using homosote or pink foam insulation as the base. I've used Homosote before, but I want to add in some rivers, culverts, hills, etc., which makes me think foam is a better way to go. I'm open to if anyone has suggestions on this.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm using the Southern and Pacific RR layout in Ken Hoganson @Ken-Oscale's layout planning book. I'm planning on modifying it a bit, so I've been working on building it out in Railmodeller Pro. I'm removing the sidings on the left hand side and in the middle, so I can work on putting together an urban scene on that side and some station/transition buildings to more industrial on the right had side. I'm hitting a small issue though. When I built the plan to the specs in the book, Its not fully connecting at some spots. It also looks like the curves are a little off. I don't know if this is the difference between Ken using SCARM and I'm using Railmodeller. I attached a screenshot of my attempt from this morning. I want to get everything ironed out before I go off and buy the first round of track for the outer loop this week.
Also, I've finally started to inventory all of the trains I have at my parent's house. My grandfather used to buy me a set or engine or an engine every year for Christmas from about 97 through 2005. After that, my parents kept doing that even when I went through college. The rest of my family knew that if they needed to get me a gift, they'd just get me a train car or a gift certificate for a hobby shop. So, this is what I'm currently going through. I'm going to cull the herd a bit as I build the layout and bring things down to my house. Best way to get some new items is to part with some old items I won't use, right?
Thanks everyone!
