Chris' point is actually a very good one....if you're so inclined.
Sadly, my basement has poured concrete walls that are not painted but are off white in color. All the smoke that I "generate" gets lost with walls of that color.
Blue would be.....beautiful, IMHO.
I would paint the walls if the layout was going to be permanently here. I built the base to be able to take apart in sections and it will be moving to my new house that I am planning on purchasing next year. Great suggestions tho!
My basement also has poured walls. The walls were wrapped with a white plastic coated insulation. I bought steel studs and framed around the wall leaving the insulation in place. I might have lost six inches of room space, but I think it paid off in the long run. I added a drop ceiling and track lighting one one side. I only hung one sheet of drywall spaced low enough for the drop ceiling to cover the top seam and built a box beam for the bottom edge to rest on and support the benchwork around the wall. I figured there was no need to cover the bottom part of the wall since the bench would cover that area. Once I'm done I'll wrap the bottom of the bench with a cloth drap and no one will know unless they lift up the cloth.
Lance, you've made a lot of progress (and you sure are putting the hours in) and the track work looks really good.
I may have missed it, but how did you decide to bend the Gargraves, or did you use sectional curves?
Lance, you've made a lot of progress (and you sure are putting the hours in) and the track work looks really good.
I may have missed it, but how did you decide to bend the Gargraves, or did you use sectional curves?
Hoorah, heat!
I think it's time to put a set of jumper wires to the track and run a train. Play with some trains, umm...er...I mean check that track work.
Great work! I had to teleport in and test the layout.
Hoorah, heat!
I think it's time to put a set of jumper wires to the track and run a train. Play with some trains, umm...er...I mean check that track work.
Great work! I had to teleport in and test the layout.
My basement also has poured walls. The walls were wrapped with a white plastic coated insulation. I bought steel studs and framed around the wall leaving the insulation in place. I might have lost six inches of room space, but I think it paid off in the long run. I added a drop ceiling and track lighting one one side. I only hung one sheet of drywall spaced low enough for the drop ceiling to cover the top seam and built a box beam for the bottom edge to rest on and support the benchwork around the wall. I figured there was no need to cover the bottom part of the wall since the bench would cover that area. Once I'm done I'll wrap the bottom of the bench with a cloth drap and no one will know unless they lift up the cloth.
My basement also has poured walls. The walls were wrapped with a white plastic coated insulation. I bought steel studs and framed around the wall leaving the insulation in place. I might have lost six inches of room space, but I think it paid off in the long run. I added a drop ceiling and track lighting one one side. I only hung one sheet of drywall spaced low enough for the drop ceiling to cover the top seam and built a box beam for the bottom edge to rest on and support the benchwork around the wall. I figured there was no need to cover the bottom part of the wall since the bench would cover that area. Once I'm done I'll wrap the bottom of the bench with a cloth drap and no one will know unless they lift up the cloth.
The styrofoam in the previous picture is Woodland Scenic's foam risers. The blocks on the other side of the bridge are solid 6" X 12" X 48" foam blocks I purchased from a company that makes foam panels and the 6 X 6 X 12" blocks I bought from an art supply place. My track rises six inches where the bridge crosses. I found out the hard way that six inches isn't enough clearance for a Double Stack Train. Luckily I only bought one car. The Woodland Scenic is a combination of two inch and four inch riser sets. I put four of them side by side to get the desired width to fit the double track profile. After this photo was taken I covered the risers with one inch green foam cut to fit the curve. I covered everything with a product called Fibatape Super Crack Stop. Home Depot sells the stuff and it comes in a roll that is 36" wide X 50' It is the same type of material they make fiber drywall tape out of. I used it to give the plaster something to stick to. Once I covered all the flat surfaces with the mesh, I covered everything with a skim coat of Gypsolite. After it dried I painted the surface to seal it. I used it too fill in some voids between the foam boards and to add a little profile to the edges of the risers. On the other end of the layout I had the company do some custom taper cutting on three 24" X 48" blocks. One was taper cut along the long edge from 6" to 4", another from 4" to 2" and the last one from 2" to 0". In the back left corner I put the 6 to 4 block and ran it down to two 2" X 24" X 8' pink panels. The 4 X 2 went down to the end making a 90. This went to a 2" x 8' pink panel and the 2 to 0 was added to the end side of this panel.
I looked up a dealer for Polystyrene Foam and happened to find one that was twenty miles away. Check the internet for a company near you and see if they will cut some for you. It made the raised level very easy to construct.
Lance, It sure is coming along 
Try the fastener isle at Home Depot or Lowe's. Look for trim screws near the drywall screws. They have a small square drive countersunk head. They worked well with my FasTrack.
Now, connect two wires, and run some trains! Have fun, Lance. We're all having fun,through you.
Richie
Now, connect two wires, and run some trains! Have fun, Lance. We're all having fun,through you.
Richie
Well put Richie!
The outside loop is wired and I got to run the NS around it! Felt like a little kid haha!
Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...Pw0&feature=youtu.be
Congratulations Lance! It's looking and running mighty good!
Great Looking benchwork & layout !
What a great layout in the making. Beautiful track work and foam.
Have fun. Keep the pictures coming please.
Glad to see you're still working on the layout, Lance.
Suggestion: get some Avery labels and attach them to your wire pairs to identify the circuit; just write on them and attach, even if they will only be a temporary measure. Likewise, get some tiny zip ties to keep multiple pairs of wires segregated from other similarly colored wires, and add the Avery label. For longer runs, use multiple labels on the same wire pair; e.g. when you go through a riser, you may have multiple pairs of red and black wires and you'll want to know which circuit they are for.
Not too much to update you guys on. Right now I'm just knee deep in wiring lol and almost done with track power. Decided im going to go ahead and get a z4000 to power everything.
I notice you have some wire sag. Get some of the plastic U Brackets for mounting electrical conduit. 1 inch is a good size. Screw them to the bottom of the plywood where you think you want to gather up some of the wire sag. Use just one screw. The plastic is flexible enough that you can slip wire in and out - but will hold up the wire. Helps with wire management.
Steve
OK -Big Boy on the Right - Nice
Whats that streamline Loco on the Left ?
Looks like a UP 49er.
As 86TA355SR posted, it is the Union Pacific 49'er. Info and image below:
Image:
Nice progress!
Thanks for the update
Finished up the wiring on the inside loop tonight. Switches are the next thing up after I pick up my z4000
Nice solid power, even with the small transformer. You hit it hard, from paper to trains running!
I would consider a control table on wheels or drawer glides to go under the table. I don't like the visual distraction of the power and control area, especially right in the center. You are running command, not conventional. Just my 2¢.
Bundle the wires and securing is no big deal. You needed them loose until it was all tested.
Nice execution of the build. You must feel good now.
Where's that heater guy before the Arctic Vortex rolls in this year?
Nice layout and video! I'm new to this and trying to wrap my brain around the powering, are the dual trains running on one powered track and transformer?
Nice progress!
Thanks for the update
Thank you!
Nice solid power, even with the small transformer. You hit it hard, from paper to trains running!
I would consider a control table on wheels or drawer glides to go under the table. I don't like the visual distraction of the power and control area, especially right in the center. You are running command, not conventional. Just my 2¢.
Bundle the wires and securing is no big deal. You needed them loose until it was all tested.
Nice execution of the build. You must feel good now.
Where's that heater guy before the Arctic Vortex rolls in this year?
Still brainstorming on where i'm going to put it. Just ordered the 4000 so hopefully it will be here later this week! I've been dragging my feet on getting that heater up out there haha. Holidays have had me swamped. Hopefully I decide on something soon!
Thanks Kon!
Nice layout and video! I'm new to this and trying to wrap my brain around the powering, are the dual trains running on one powered track and transformer?
Thank you Todd. My inside loop and outside loop are powered on 2 fixed channels on the DCS system. Each section is insulated into blocks and has power running to every 6 foot or so of track (from terminal strips that are fed from the Fixed Channels on the TIU). In the video, I just wired together both channels so I could run everything and make sure I was getting adequate power to everything.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
. Merry Christmas all! 
