Thanks RTR, I got all the bench support structure finished today and set a piece of plywood on it. Tomorrow I will cut the plywood, paint it and set it in place. Pictures tomorrow on my train room post.
RTR,
You are right about the time. Today I didn’t work, took the dog to the vet, caught the end of my men’s Bible study, then joined my daughter and son-in-law who may eventually move in Dad’s house to move some stuff. I talked with the neighbor about the sewer line we are going to put in. Dad’s septic tank is about shot. He hand dug the pit and drain field by hand when I was too little to help. He and I dug trenches for drain water later on. Anyway the sewer line will be 800 feet long down the hill to the sewer line the put in to a house plan they put on the farm behind us about 10-15 years ago. Tomorrow I’m meeting the contractor and his crew leader to look over the job again! Then I’ll mow for a while before the rain comes and grows the grass again. It’s getting late for that. I rest when I am at work! LOL
Mike, I’m looking forward to seeing your photographs. That reminds me, I missed some very long 1x4s stuck in the rafters of the basement of DAd’s shop. They have yellow paint on the edges. I can’t figure where Dad pulled them out of. They may have been there since he fixed the living room in the mid ‘60s or before. LOL. The lumber I already brought back home is a lot newer than those. I’ll have to pull them out and see how they look in my environment.
Mark, good luck on the sewer hook up, we did everything we could not to hook up to sewer in our old house as they wanted $1200 to hook up then $75.00 a month for the service. I snuck in a new drain field on one weekend and it is still working. That was 10 years ago.
I would grab all the free lumber you can. You can always use it somewhere else if not the train room! I will be heading out here in a little bit to get working on the train room. Its my day off! LOL
Thank you Mike!! Good job on the drain field. Why am I not surprised you did it in a weekend! 
So right about the lumber. I'm going to measure the length of them when I am there today to see where I can store them.
The good think for you is you know nobody else is going to take them! Sometimes in my family we have 6 kids and if you didn't get it first, you might not get anything at all! LOL I guess its bread into me to work with what I got and what I can get!
You are right Mike. I did measure them yesterday when I got the mower out. They are all a little different size, but close to 8-feet long. I figured out where they came from. Dad took out the rotting door frame for the back door of the shop about 10 years ago. He got rid of the bad stuff, and just walled in where the door was. On the interior, he pulled out some wall boards to fit in his new wood, and these came from there. Then he piled a bunch of junk up where the door was again. I was paying more attention this summer to what was junk, salvageable, and things to keep, and hadn't paid close attention to his handy work walling in the door. And yes, at 8 feet, I wasn't going to put them in my '04 Hyundai Sonata to bring home. 
On another note, I pulled out the temporary tracks for my operating accessories on the layout build in the 11 x 11 room. It had sat that way since my wife suggested I build in the family room. I put some town buildings in their place that are a bit more delicate, just for safe keeping.
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Mark, nice story about the door being walled in! Here is an idea, when the move the piano have them move the 8 foot boards back to your house! LOL
I like the little layout, that just reminds me that when the bench work is done I am going to have to start buying roadbed and track. I have some but not much!
Mike, Good idea on the moving.
I have a good bit of GarGraves track and Ross switches. I bought them when I was working full time. Wow, the price of O gauge track compared to HO is remarkable! I considered getting a lot of Lionel tubular track and making extra ties for the gaps, but I had the money at the time, so I pulled out the stops!! I'm glad I have the stuff now.
I am going with MTH Scaletrax, I already have a case of 30" flex track, just need all the curves and switches! So that will be slow as I can only get one or two switches at a time!
mike g. posted:I am going with MTH Scaletrax
Mike, what is the availability of that stuff? I thought it was pretty scarce.
George
G3750 posted:mike g. posted:I am going with MTH Scaletrax
Mike, what is the availability of that stuff? I thought it was pretty scarce.
George
Hi George, I hope its there, everywhere I look I can find what I need, Ebay, MTH, Some of the online train stores. It seems to be out there and with new and improved switch's! I guess I will find out for sure when I start ordering it! LOL
Mark Boyce posted:... Wow, the price of O gauge track compared to HO is remarkable! ...
Indeed it is! I use Atlas track. When I visit my LHS, I almost cry when I look at my O gauge switches and then go look at the Atlas HO switches. It's like 4 or 5 HO switches for the same price as one O switch! Not to mention the straights, curves and other items... OUCH on all counts!!!
On the brighter side, I really like that Atlas O track and am still happy I am using it. I also get the same feeling comparing the O gauge track to HO track as I get when comparing an O gauge engine to an HO engine. The O items are just much more like 'tracks and trains' to me. I even like the 3rd rail! That is also all I have ever had. However, I do admit there are definitely some advantages to HO as well.
I like the looks of both Atlas and Scaletrax, but I know as George mentioned about Scaletrax, they can be scarce at times. That is why I decided to get GarGraves, there seems to be an endless supply.
I have gotten so used to the third rail in the last 6 years, that now it looks odd when I see photographs of two thin rails on other layouts.
Mark Boyce posted:I like the looks of both Atlas and Scaletrax, but I know as George mentioned about Scaletrax, they can be scarce at times. That is why I decided to get GarGraves, there seems to be an endless supply.
I have gotten so used to the third rail in the last 6 years, that now it looks odd when I see photographs of two thin rails on other layouts.
Mark,
Is there any hidden track or track that isn't easy to see? Depending on the cost of the transition tracks/pins, you could use Menard's Tubular track in places where aesthetics aren't important.
Oddly enough Scaletrax is the only track type that my LHS does not carry so I don't know about their supplies of things. I think Atlas seems to have overcome most of the shortage problems they were having. During the shortage period for Atlas, my LHS got me straights and curves, but the switches were another story, rare as hen's teeth! It was used switches or none at all for a while. Gargraves and Ross are usually always available as far as I know. The 2 rail track now looks odd to me as well! Something just doesn't seem right without that middle rail.
John, Yes that is a good idea. I won't have a lot of hidden track, but there will be on both the upper and lower 042 turnback loops in the upper left of the plan. This drawing has the lower alignment right under the upper level, but I don't expect it to work out exactly that way. I will have the town of Thomas over this area which in real life is located on a hillside.
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No image Mark. "image not found" 
Adriatic, Thank you for mentioning you can't see the image. Do you see it here?
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I can see this one, and I can see the layout plan in the other one as well. The other one has one picture missing below the text. Maybe it will show in a quote?
Mark Boyce posted:
John, Yes that is a good idea. I won't have a lot of hidden track, but there will be on both the upper and lower 042 turnback loops in the upper left of the plan. This drawing has the lower alignment right under the upper level, but I don't expect it to work out exactly that way. I will have the town of Thomas over this area which in real life is located on a hillside.
Yes, that seems to have worked. This "quote" looks just like the earlier post does in the thread, at least here anyway.
Mark Boyce posted:Adriatic, Thank you for mentioning you can't see the image. Do you see it here?
I can see it! 
Nice expansion mark!
Thank you, Chris! I hope to get started soon, although to be realistic, it may not be until January. I am going to take the table top off the roll out section I built in the little room, and turn it 90 degrees on the roll out to work for the lower level of the turn around in the upper left. I ordered a benchwork kit from Mianne for the section along the left hand wall. I can do the rest of the benchwork with two more Mianne kits later when funds permit. I decided to go that route after building the roll out, and having a knee that will need replaced in a couple years and back and sciatic nerve problems. Carpentry isn't my specialty, and I decided I should make that part as easy as possible.
I have been thinking of writing some more ideas, but will get to that later.
Hey Mark, we can try and go at the same pace! Slow and easy! LOL
That's right, Mike!! I can't overdo it, I'll be 62 in 3 hours!
We just moved my 88-year old mom and dad into a different and I think will turn out to be a much better for them personal care home today. Then I visited my 92-year old aunt. I still have leaves to clean up at my house and my parents' empty house, winterize the mowers, do a few other small jobs at the empty house, then get the new and improved Christmas layout going.
It's a good thing I am semi-retired, and they haven't needed me at all the last couple weeks, or I would probably been checking into the personal care home too with all that's going on!!
Happy early birthday, Mark! I hope you have a great day and fantastic year.
Happy (slightly early) birthday!
Thank you JD and Dan!!!
Hey Mark, only an hour to go! So Happy Early Birthday! I hope you have a great day!
Happy Birthday Mark!
Bob
Mark Happy Birthday wishes from Lakewood NY as well !
Pat
I missed this last night, so here's a "belated" Happy Birthday for you.
Happy birthday.... to one of the best posters here!
(Always positive and very helpful.)
Happy Birthday and welcome to the 'old timers' group! Hope you have a great day and enjoy all the new train gifts you will be getting for your layout!
Mark Boyce posted:I like the looks of both Atlas and Scaletrax, but I know as George mentioned about Scaletrax, they can be scarce at times. That is why I decided to get GarGraves, there seems to be an endless supply.
I have gotten so used to the third rail in the last 6 years, that now it looks odd when I see photographs of two thin rails on other layouts.
Mark.....I know what you mean.......I've been looking at 3 rails so long, that I think the 2 rail tract I see at grade crossing is abnormal.....
Peter
Happy birthday, Mark.
Thank you, Pat Kn, Tom, Joe, Dave, Pat M, Jerry, Bob, Mike!!
Hey Mark!
I was late for the party lol
Take it easy and remember to relax
Happy Bday!
Have a good one
Al
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Thank you, Al!
I'm in late!!!
Bon anniversaire, Mark!
jpv in France
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