Building a Ken Oscale Design- New Layout

This point is when the build got interesting.  A good friend is a long term CEO of several children’s museums.  She was discussing the hypocrisy of children’s museums teaching kids how to play and be creative with repurposed items laying around the house, but at the same time spending large amounts of money on having professional displays built for their museums.  Our conversation turned into a challenge.  Build a layout with items easily found in a Habitat for Humanity Re-store.

After searching through my house and the local Re-Store, I built the layout table out of repurposed porch columns, 4x4 replaced deck railing, plywood scraps, and old doors.   Also found a couple of drawer cabinets from an old office to act as storage and support for the layout.  Leg levelers were added to all the legs to allow final adjustment.  Due to the size of the legs compared to the 30” and 36” doors, I straddled two or more doors with each column.

Because of the rigidity of the doors, the plywood was not as necessary to support the top, but gave rigidity to the legs, by providing aprons to attach each leg.  Most of the plywood had reliefs cut in them to provide wire access and support for the wire runs.  Each tables was added and secured together with a few screws.

3ea 30”x80” and 2ea 36”x80” tables created a layout that was within an inch of Ken’s design.  The table size provided 24” hallway access on one side and 36” access on the other.

Next, I positioned the full scale paper template and traced the layout edge on the new table for final trimming.  The outside curves were cut and repositioned on the inside to provide the curved support for the inner loop.  There was no door material wasted in the construction.

Next step is to install homasote to the top to help with sound and give something to attach  scenery.

@jstraw124- I like Ken's plans. Should be a fun layout to operate.

I can't understand why you were so busy in the healthcare field?????

Bob

Progress Report:

Since the last post, added sheets of homasote, leveled the seams and painted.  Picked the reddish paint to simulate our area that has lots of red clay.  Plan is to add other colors with real dirt as needed.  Foliage will be fall colors.

Next on the plan was to build supports that would reduce the 80” open area for the outside loop down to the necessary gap for the removable Lionel Fastrack truss bridge.  That’s where my woodworking hobby kicked in and built supports out of cherry that will eventually match the cherry recycled cabinets and mimics the rest of the house that is timber framed. The bridge supports need to be very stable to keep any accidental bumps from causing derailments.  So they’re beefy, built out of 3” and 1” old  cherry I had in my inventory.

Next, we set up the lower level layout  as tested and see if any issues developed from building the tables.  Only minor changes necessary.

Well done!

Peter

Looking dang good !!!!!!!

Very professional.  Way beyond my carpentry skills.

Since the layout shares basement space with finished common area, including media room, the boss wants it to look nice.  So, plans also include curved shelving units on both sides below the layout that follows the table curve.  It will be for train display on a 072 curve.  Helps that the woodworking shop is only feet away from the layout area for these projects.

Update:

progess has been mainly on wiring and control systems.  The lower level is divided into two loops with separate 180 Lionel bricks powering each.  The control system is a combination of DCS and TMCC.  The later of which will be upgraded to a Base 3 when available.  Wiring is in the star pattern out of Berry’s DCS book.  The mounting location is a recycled built in file cabinet.  I cut the drawer front even with the drawer sides, and installed a board that fit into the hanger file rails.  That allowed me to mount the DCS on the top and then install the TMCC and power bricks in the bottom of the drawer.  I also cut a hole in the drawer front below for access, airflow, and signal strength. Cherry veneer edging will be added to the cuts and finished to match the rest of the cabinet.

The removable bridge is made out of 4 Fastrack girder bridges and a Fastrack removable truss bridge.  It is supported from both sides by cherry arches made out of some leftovers of another project.

I wanted to add a disconnect to prevent accidents if the bridge is removed during operation.  But, the truss bridge is not designed for that so I had to get creative.  The bridge was designed with an option to be permanently wired by use of holes between the bridge and the pier.  The holes align with a 3/8” gap between, and are out of view from above and below by the decking and pier overhang.  

The switch is mounted to the inside of the pier with a bLock of wood secured with a couple of screws.  The hole on the pier side was elongated into a keyhole to allow the switch arm to travel.  To trigger the switch, a bolt was added to the bridge side through the hole intended for wiring.  The switch is compressed by the bolt head when the bridge is placed onto the pier. The last pic below is an attempt to show how the bolt head compresses the switch when the bridge is in position.

To wire the switch I isolated a block for the bridge leading up to both sides.  The block is powered by a drop under the layout just before the bridge.  The switch is wired to the center rail wire by the way of a speaker wire that takes the power out to the switch and returns it if activated.  The wires are hidden by a groove cut into the underside of the support arm and up into the pier at the end.

Other improvements to the layout include the programming of the command switches and mounting the remote switch controls onto the side of the cabinets.  One the last day of York I stumbled onto a deal on some sensor track pieces and the needed cables.  Those have now been installed.

Finally, I started to layout the park area that will include an N scale loop for O scale children to ride.  It will also include Lionel accessories of the carrousel, pirate ship ride, and balloon ride.

Next up is building the upper level.

I like the bridge details but 4 of the images are not showing.
I am also planning a similar lift out or swing up/down section using parts from a Lionel Swing Bridge.

The N-Scale loop is also great - got me thinking what to do with my some of my N stuff...

Strange.  I can see all the pictures.  Will search the forum for this issue in the past.

@jstraw124  Great build thread and great craftsmanship.

As far as the missing pictures, same here, first four pics are missing.  This is what we see...

The remaining 11 pics at the bottom of your reply do show up.  This Image Not Found message can sometimes happen when coping and pasting pictures.  The fix is to Edit the Reply and click the [Add Attachments] link and upload the pics again directly through that interface.

Thanks for the tip.  Something must have glitched when posting.  Uploaded them again and edited.  Let me know if you don’t see them after the correction.

You got it now.  That's an impressive looking bridge arrangement.

This is a very cool layout'..  The N scale kiddy ride is a great idea'... Nice modeling'.  Congrats on a great theme'..

I second the bridge arrangement! Looks fantastic! I'm sure watching trains rumble across that arrangement is a joy.

Your installation of the switch in the truss bridge is very well thought out and executed as well! I have a truss bridge across my layout's inside access as well and I'm constantly scanning when I remove the bridge to make sure I won't have a train, especially expensive Legacy locomotive(s), tumble to the floor. If I do something similar in my next layout, I'll definitely steal your idea

Using the Melrose Park Station from Menards with the N scale loop is also a great idea - it fits right in!

Handsome layout, looks like it is going to be a lot of fun. I love the way you built it out of repurposed things, that is really cool.

Thanks for all the feedback.  The N scale train was on my wife’s insistence.  She likes small trains and wanted one on the layout.  I had to figure out how to make it fit with an O scale layout.  Found the idea through a forum search and ran with it.  Plan is to build benches into gondolas for the O scale figures to ride.

The bridge configuration is right off of Ken’s design.  Really liked the presentation it gives to the front of the layout.

It’s been way longer than expected for an update. I have made steady progress, but it’s been mostly infrastructure related until recently.  I will post several update posts.  This one will be the non photogenic layout improvements.

The hidden progress has been getting the layout drops and control systems working as desired.  It now has TMCC and DCS, with an option to run conventional through either remote.  The reality is, with so many inclines, the only loop I will probably run conventional is the 048 inside loop which is flat.  The system is ready to be upgraded to the Base3 and WTIU when available.

I found a deal at a local TCA event on an AIU, and then a deal on the parts necessary for LCS at York.  The layout has 3 sensor tracks installed.  Due to no Legacy yet, the LCS will not be fully installed until the Base3 has arrived.  I did install the AIU for the accessories.  I do not need it for switches since they’re all Fastrack command control.

I did install temporarily the upper level.  Key word is temporarily, since it would make landscaping the lower level more difficult if in place.  I did figure out that I could change the upper level from a minimum of 048 to 060.  That allows my lower outside loop of 072 to access the upper level and return the same method. It will be much more interesting than the standard 072 loop on the lower level.  I do not have any 072 minimum engines, but plenty of 054 that will enjoy the variety.

Before building the layout, I added 2 additional can light to the 4 already in place over the layout. After installing the inclines, I had unacceptable shadows in key parts of the scenery.  To correct, I added 6 more lights that can swivel as needed.  All of them are hooked to a dimmer.

Update Cont’d:

As far as what can be seen on the layout, I spent way too much time learning how to paint  Scenic Express flexibility foam walls to cover the inclines.  I did like how they looked after painting.  The top is original, the bottom is painted to better match the stone buildings in my area.

It was a lot of painting but it’s all installed.  Later I went back and covered the top with plaster cloth. Do not recommend doing that after the track is installed.  Much more work than it should have been.

I next painted the plaster cloth and started ballasting the track.  In addition, at the point where the track splits to the side yard, I added a culvert and used leftover wall pieces to build an elevated base for the MTH yard tower.  The area below the culvert will be a shallow pond area made out of poured epoxy.  I originally planned to make it a marsh, but I’ve found being able to place a hand in that spot is key to access some spots on the layout.  The marine grade epoxy I have leftover should be able to handle the weight.

Update Cont’d:

At the same time as the walls, I worked on the park area.  First step was to add visual interest by installing some foam for a slight hill. It also helps that is allowed a recessed area to house the Lionel animated accessory.

The foam was painted this ugly green paint that looked better than the card sample than in reality.  Hand planes make great clamps for the glue. The park is surrounded by an N scale train with O scale riders.  The backside and carousel area was edged with more of that leftover wall material.  Sidewalks will be cardboard topped with cobblestone graphic paper.  I also added HO scale fencing found at York.  One piece broke so plan to make it a feature of damaged caused by a piece of scrap lost by a passing train.

I also added fiber optic crossings for the eventual pedestrian path to the park.  It’s an HO scale crossing over the O scale and N scale track.  There are 4 IR sensors that trigger the 4 crossing signals if a train passes on either track from either direction.  It’s the crossings that Trainz recently started to offer.  I am still formulating my opinion on these and have things I like and don’t like.

It’s my first experience with IR sensors, so I do not know if they all are this temperamental.  I had to mount them much higher than the instructions for them to work with my Fastrack.  Got creative to adapt with a piece of painted foam.

Finally at the point of adding grass to the park.  I adapted a Mr. Spiff Lionel animated accessory into a dog park.  Added a pet pig and will install hedges and fencing to hide the gap on the foam cutout.

And finally again, I experimented with scenery options along the walls in a less visible portion of the layout.  I am going for a late summer/early fall time period on the layout, so trying to introduce some browns, orange, yellow colors to the trackside weeds and vines.  Still don’t know if I like the results yet.

Some great progress with wonderful outcomes! I really like the N scale you added too. Thanks for sharing!