New Layout 2022

Here is today's progress with painting. Its 67 degrees here, 31% humidity so its time to paint! 12 panels of 14.5" RossBed done in three hours. The primer dries in the sun to be able to be handled in 30 minutes, then its on to the next batch.

Pizza boxes make great overnight drying racks.

Will be watching this thread with interest! I'm kicking around the idea of using Ross track & switches and potentially RossBed as well the next time I get to build a layout.

Initially I wanted to go with Atlas O, but I found online there are many problems with their switches, so I went to Ross. Steve makes RossBed for Atlas too. He is so personable that there is no other choice.

@452 Card posted:

Steve........ is so personable that there is no other choice.

I agree!

.......and, a great start......452 will we see you at York?

Peter

Peter-

Last time I was at York was 2014. This might sound like heresy, but I think I have acquired all the locos and rolling stock I need. Here and there I grab an item, but my take on the hobby is to model the LIRR and PRR from the 30s to the 70s. So far I have all the psgr equipment I need to interchange engines between the eras while the coaches remained unchanged until the 90s. And since Mike Wolfe retired, there seems to be no one doing anything LIRR any more unless a local club car run that we never ran on the LIRR.

I have all the buildings I can fit in the open spaces on the track plan, and probably too many. I also stocked up over the years on "little people" and die-cast vehicles, signs, and who know what else is packed away. All of this was kept in mind over the years as I polished the track plan with nowhere to put it, so I was limited to a 4' x 8' layout until now.

The supplies I'll need to decorate the layout are really what I am lacking, such as walls, trees, shrubs, grass etc. But I am starting to see online "out of stock due to supply chain issues" a lot.

So, no York for me. I miss the bandit shows that were starved out, and I never went to the Billy Budd. I guess I have become an internet collector/operator now.

April 18, 2022:

The last painting session yielded sixteen 14.5" straight RossBed sections undercoated enough to be ready for their final coat. The rattle-can sounded almost totally empty so I stopped there with no more paint to follow up.....

Searched today online for store availability for the primer. Although the HD site says its in stock, it was not. HD ApronGuy in the paint aisle used his device on the SKU and reported that there is none to be had on LI and even Connecticut. Sooo..I guess its either discontinued or its "supply chain issues".

I can supposedly get it from Amazon if I don't mind paying almost double per can. I'm not that desperate yet.

Rare birds:

Walmart.com to the rescue. Snagged seven cans of the topcoat for the RossBed today. With NYS tax it came to $9.70/can. BTW, the topcoat cans don't rattle, so don't think its defective if you can find it. I could only get two cans of the basecoat from WallyWorld, but I have to pick it up at the store. Better than nothing.

News update!

Just called Rustoleum to see if the primer has been discontinued, and found out it has been out of production for six months, and that it is a Home Depot exclusive. BUT: it is back in production and just re-released to stores. The guy told be to wait a bit and I will find it at HD soon. Yay!

Can't explain why WallyWorld had two cans to sell, however.

My wonderful intrepid wife found three cans of primer at Walmart, it was all they had left and is picking it up today on her way home. As soon as the maelstrom here ends I will resume painting RossBed with the prime coat. I will still keep track of how many pieces of the bed I can get painted per can of primer.

Just ordered 6 lbs. of roofing granules on Amazon to use as ballast. Lucas C76 matches well with the Rustoleum Stone gray topcoat for the RossBed. I don't need a lot because I will only touch-up the RossBed on the switches to lose the saw tooth look where the ties widen out. Its early in this project to buy this, but as everything else now, it may not be available down the road.

Now to find Baltic Birch plywood at an affordable cost- That is a challenge.

@452 Card posted:

At the suggestion of others here on the OGR Forum, I will commence with a time-to-time update on the progress of my new layout. It is located in a second-floor, climate controlled shared room. The size is 8'x16', Mianne benchwork and will be Hi-Rail. From learning here on the forum, I have decided to use Baltic Birch Ply over homasote (thanks GunRunner John!) as the base material.

Track and switches will all be Ross over RossBed. From the experience of Putnam Division (thanks Peter!) I learned the best way to prepare the Rossbed. Base coat of grey primer, then followed by a topcoat of Rustoleum Stone grey for simulated ballast. All that material, except for the paint has been delivered. Still awaiting more primer and restocking of Stone grey for finishing. This will take time. Today I painted twelve more pieces of RossBed 14.5" straights using two methods learned here on another thread, and I have come up with the one I like best combining two styles into one.

Here is the benchwork installed:

And here is the track plan, needs a brush-up to connect the loose ends:

Looks great!

Who makes that support you have there?

Robert,

I think you mean the benchwork? Mianne Benchwork of Attleboro, Mass. Tim Foley is the owner and has been around for a while. It is a superb product made of poplar and can easily be added to, or taken down. Its pricey, and it also saves the pain of buying crooked lumber at the "box store", and maybe not sawing off your fingers.

I also recently bought from them a 4 by 8 frame to use on my former layout relocated to the basement. Tim worked with me to supply a different fastener on the bottom of the legs to support casters so I can move it.

Be advised- It will take 4 to 8 weeks for delivery. He is also a cabinet building shop.

20/20 Hindsight about Benchwork ...

I designed and built my 15x19-feet L-shaped layout with hollow-core doors (extended by one foot) covered with green patio carpeting and perimeter fascia.  The platforms are supported by SKIL plastic sawhorses. The three doors (plus a half-length door) worked for me, except ...

Now 82 years young, I'm thinking about what to do with the layout after I board the Finale Express for a one-way trip to Celestial Station. The layout platforms are clamped together in alignment (no bolts), but the tracks and underneath wiring paths cross all the joints. So taking it apart for delivery to the next owner and subsequent re-installation will be a challenge.

Which explains 20/20 hindsight. I should have purchased and installed Mianne Benchwork. When necessary, it's easy to separate, transport, and re-configure. At Joints in the tabletop, one could install terminal strips underneath at the boundaries for convenient disconnection and re-connection of wire paths at the new location.

When building a layout, probably the last thing on one's mind is ... what will happen to it after ...

Mike M.   LCCA 12394

April 21, 2022

Prime-coated eighteen more 14.5" sections of RossBed this morning. Just a bit left in the can, it sounds pretty empty. The weather is closing in and that's it for today while the pieces dry in the garage. I'm glad I saved all those Haagen-Daz ice cream sticks. Sixteen more 14.5's to go next.

@452 Card posted:

Base-coat painted eighteen more 14.5" sections of RossBed this morning. Just a bit left in the can, it sounds pretty empty. The weather is closing in and thats it for today while the pieces dry in the garage.

I love using the "outdoor/garage" painting booth!

Peter

Yes Peter,

Its the only way I will use spray bombs, because the overspray and fumes just ruin everything indoors. The work is done on an old 1/4" piece of ply that I use for spraying on, over a waste can with a weight to keep the whole works from tumbling over when the wind kicks up around these parts. By noon spraying outdoors is not an option. AND- I'm wearing a respirator.

Ballast arrived today. 6 lb. jar of roofing granules from Lucas Roofing Products. If you buy it in the 5 Gal. bucket its much cheaper, but I don't need that much. Just doing the "sawtooth" edges of the RossBed for the switches, of which there are sixteen. I might mix it with a little white to break up the straight gray color to match the paint with the white flecks.

jhl,

I made my email viewable