So it was time to bring the modules back in and put them back together. Eek!  Luckily everything worked as planned except for one piece of track.  It was a curve that bridged two modules. I re-laid the section of track using rail joiners at the module break so hopefully next time it comes apart it’ll go back together nicely.

For the bus wiring I switched from the previously used Anderson Powerpoles to crimp bullet connectors and labeled wires for the connections between modules.  Much cheaper and much faster/easier to assemble.

After the layout was back together I decided it was time to fill  in the “blue foam hill”.  I used cardboard strips to fill in the empty spaces, then covered the whole thing in masking tape and painted.  I ran out of tape so I still have a little to do.

And while I had the paint out I also gave the plywood top a coating. Looks much better than seeing all that bare plywood.  Got about half the layout done so far.

Still need to pick up 3 or 4 more 2×4 sheets to complete the upper deck base and then permanently install before any track goes down.

I also managed to install a temp loop so I can run trains up out of staging and then right back down through Dixie Curve. You can kinda see the temp track in the upper right of that photo.  This has been a good way to test different trains on the staging ladders and the soon-to-be-covered track/module breaks.  So far everything has been running 100%.

Still to need to clean the rails at the solder points and some dried caulking at spots, but the engine ran great on the track that had power.  The control panel occupancy lights worked great too.  I’m going on vacation next week but I’ll probably place an order mid-week for more suitcase connectors so they’ll arrive just after I get home.

Speaking of bus wires, here’s what I’m doing for my bus connections between modules.

These are Anderson PowerPole connectors.  I really like these for two reasons:

1) They are genderless.  So there’s no worrying about needing to have a female and male to make a connection (cause I know I always ended up with more of one than the other somehow). If you got 2 connectors, your good!  Just crimp down, flip on over and connect.

2) They are interlocking.  Each connector can slide into a grove on another, so you can easily build block connectors of several wires.  Need to add another wire? No problem, just slide it on any existing connector to add it to the block.

So what to do the rest of the week?  I’m working on the mainline on the peninsula right now.  Sub-roadbed plywood is mounted in place.  In the process of laying out track for the rough-in, then I’ll install the risers for the track, cork roadbed, and finally track.

I originally planed on placing the paper mill here on the peninsula, but I’m leaning towards simply having this be an hillside scene or something because the track is all on a grade here.  So we’ll see.

Thanks to a suggestion made by Mike, I used some spare lumber and clamps to jack up the layout (a few inches in the far corner!) to level things out, got the backdrop back level, and seeing that brought back the building bug.

With that fixed I continued on working. So I managed to drop and soldered half of the yard feeders. Rail A is done, need to do Rail B now.

I also began on the work the lift bridge for staging. I originally was going to have a small module act as the lift-out, but decided to keep things simple and will be using a simple piece of angle aluminum. It’s the same stuff I used for my old staging cartridges.

I also began on work on continuing the staging lead up to the main level. I’m using Woodland Scenics 2% inclines and risers for this. I picked up a hot foam knife off ebay and plan to only use maybe 1.5″ of the 2.5″ wide foam piece. The rest will get sliced off with the foam knife.

I haven’t taken any photos yet of recent progress, but I’ll try to get some soon.

I then attached 1/8″ masonite hardboard to the supports.  I decided to go with a 12″ high backdrop for around the sides of the layout.  Just enough to add a little blue sky and something to anchor scenery and backdrop buildings to.

The backdrop is also cut to length for each other modular section.    I’ll probably use some gorilla tape behind each seam to hold them together and fill with a little vinyl spackling. That way each module is still removable from the others. with a little breaking of the joint compound.

Next step is to paint the backdrop.

The benchwork is 1×4 open grid frames with 2×2 legs. The legs were a lesser quality wood than the framing, so I wanted to paint them to help seal them up. I simply used what paint I had on hand. Used one color until I ran out, then moved on to the next. So that’s why I have three different color legs.

As of this morning, all I left to do is level each module section at it’s location and then clamp and bolt them all together. Once that is completed, then it is on to installing the staging yard.

Once done attaching to the supports, it was pretty sturdy and not going anywhere.

The next step was to laminate the second sheet, and I started that this morning.  I used a small paint roller brush to apply Gorilla Wood Glue to an entire 8′x1′ section, and then clamped it in place. I used 1×2 garden stakes for some bracing, and small nails to push the bottom of the brace into the backdrop (like the MRR project did).

I’ll let this sit for a good 24-48 hours at least before removing the clamps.

And then I assembled a Walther’s Double Track Truss Bridge kit, also waiting on a (stainless steel) paint job.

Once those were done I finished up the mounts for backdrop on the layout. Next step is to attach the backdrop itself.

I first cut out the river path in the benchtop with the jig-saw.

Next step will be to add some shorter risers and then re-install the cut-out portion to be the river base.

Then I started adding the supports for the backdrop.  I’m 10″ tall 1×2 supports (cut from a 48″ stick) mounted with 2 “L” brackets.  I added a some wood glue underneath too for a little added grip.