Just a quick update that work continues on the layout.

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.

Shaun Benchwork, General, Track

This weekend I worked on getting a backdrop installed.  I had a bunch of 1×2 wood stakes lying around, so I cut them to size and attached them to the backside of the benchwork frame.

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.

Shaun Benchwork

I had all of this week off from work, so spent nearly all that time building the benchwork for the new layout.

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.

Shaun Benchwork

Earlier in the week I had attached the first part of the backdrop to the supports.  This sheet (plus another 19″ from another sheet) were installed with the glossy side facing the Marigny River side. A 2nd sheet will be laminated with its’ glossy side facing the Elmwood side.

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.

Shaun Benchwork