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...and I'm not done yet.

 

All of my other layouts have been little more than track on plywood. If I was really "into it" perhaps some green paint and sawdust for grass.  Now that I'm retired, I can work as little or as much on it as I desire, so I'm taking my time to do what *I* want to do.

 

First off, it's a layout in the "toy train display" genre.  I'm not into full scale or super details, but I'm progressing beyond the green paint.  The layout is 4.3' x 10'.  Strange measurements?  Well, the board started off life as a slide-under-the-bed layout for #2 son, so it was 3.5'x6'.  It was ~1/2" OSB on a 1x2 frame.  I cleaned it up and put it on L-legs made from 1x2 and 1x3s.  I then found a nice length of OSB that was long enough by 10" wide, so I fastened some L-angle brackets to the legs and slapped that on top, making it 6' long by 52" wide (4.3').  I was rewarded by having my son remove a sleeper sofa from the train room, so was able to lengthen the overall board to 10'.

 

All track is Atlas. 045 for the outer loop, 036 for the inner.  Two TMCC PowerMasters & PowerHouses drive the track; the K-Line transformer powers the switches and (if you can see it) the trolley line on the far left.  Will add another transformer for accessories and lights at some point.

 

I'm a private pilot, #2 son is an airline pilot, and #1 son is an air traffic controller, so the main thing we had to include was an airport; Plasticville terminal and hangar buildings go well with the radar antenna and rotating beacon. The rest of it is fleshed out with accessories I either had or thought would fit in the confines of the limited space.  The 4 white squares are pieces of paper that represent my future "business district", but after seeing the Menards hobby shop a few minutes ago, I may have to reset my building plans....

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Carl, it's looks good.

 

I believe it's much more difficult to hint at realism on a table that size. Putting in what you like, the airport, gave the whole a layout a focal point to build around.

 

The faux siding near the radar tower is a nice touch. I like your crossovers at the corners.

 

Don't sell yourself short because it's not a room size table. Nice, interesting layout.

 

Thanks for sharing your layout.

Thanks, Carl!  About that "faux siding"....  I had an unused section of 40" straight left over, and I didn't want it sitting around in storage where it could get damaged, so I added it to a 10" section, but bumpers on each end, and now have a place to run a #50 gang car or other bumper car.

 

I had to take some liberties with realism; no way would a rail line be that close to a runway threshold (either end!), so I tried to provide "some" small distance.

 

Jay, I thought about an elevated line, and even have the trestles to do it, but there's that darn runway to consider...  ;-)

Carl, in response to your question on "why the lip", the answer is nothing special.  I'm sure there's a bit of rollover protection there, but mostly I just wanted  stained/urethaned finish on the edge, and I'd seen other layouts done that way.  I could have gone with a 1x3, but just kind of liked the look. Maybe lends more of a "diorama-ish" feel to it?  I can always claim it's there to keep the livestock and eventual dogs from plummeting to their death....

I have the lip on my postwar layout. I painted the inside to match the scenery and the outside is a finish paint. It is made from a victorian trim molding not wood. Paint is very smooth and level.

 

I like Carls layout. The 4 paper squares remind me of the days when I would cut out the footprint of postwar accessories label them and put the paper in the future location. The days when the imagination ran wild.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Ste 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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