Hello friends,
Its been a very long time since I have posted anything on the forum, but as always, I read it on a regular basis. Life's been busy with work, having two girls in college and life in general. But I finally started my new layout last week. Part of what motivated me to start in early July was that my good friend Marty Fitzhenry started his legendary layout on July 2, in 1982, if I remember correctly.
The top photo was my old layout that was 5' x 8', which consisted of two Lifetime tables with two pieces of plywood and homesite screwed to it and hobby grass on top. It served me well for about 14-15 years. It had two loops on it, an outer loop of Lionel tubular track with 042 curves and an inner loop of 036 Fastrack. The power was supplied by an MTH Z-4000 (overkill for such a small layout), which also had Lionel Legacy and MTH DCS. Since I purchased a new Lionel Vision Line Gray Niagra, and bought a Lionel Southern Pacific Daylight #4449 in Bicentennial colors from Marty Fitz, both last year, and both locos require 054 curves, I knew that now was the time to build a larger layout with wider curves. All my other locos will run on 042 or narrower curves.
The new layout substructure is Mianne Benchwork, and is 7 1/2 feet wide and 12 feet long, or more than twice the size of my old layout. All 16 legs have wheels on them so the layout can be moved as needed, so the track on the far side can be cleaned, and so that I can get to the trains on the shelves behind the layout from time to time. The second photo from the top shows the first two modules of the new layout after they were put together last weekend. The two bottom photos show the new layout substructure in its completed state (finished earlier today) from two different angles. I will be installing plywood above the lower supports in the back two corners so I can store trains there, and intend to use the plywood from my old layout as seen in the back of photo 3 above. I am hoping to begin doing the plywood with homasote on top of the layout in a couple of weeks.
Although not set in stone, my thoughts at the present time are to have 3 loops of some configuration with a siding, the outside loop being 072, the middle loop 054 and the inside loop 042. That way I can run any O gauge locomotive ever made on the outside loop, and can run 3 trains at once. I am going use Ross Custom switches and track. I am also thinking about buying a new MTH Rev L TIU to replace the older Rev G that I have to keep the signal strong, although I have always had 10s in signal strength in the past. Of course, I will also reinstall Legacy so I can run my locos with swinging bells and/or whistle-steam.
Any thoughts that you may have would be welcome. Thanks for reading.
Erol
