Joe, that’s plenty of clearance
Joe, looking great! you have a wonderful start! It's going to be a wonderful mixture of both worlds!
Looks great, Joe!!
Hi Joe,
Looking great so far, can't wait to see more progress. These are the best threads !
Alex
Exciting stuff Joe. This is another milestone in the process and things are looking real good.
Dave
Wow, Joe, you have your own train museum there. Congratulations on developing a wonderful room'. Looks like a fantastic layout is in the works'... Look forward to seeing the finished product'....
WOW!
The benchwork for the standard gauge section is done except for the Homasote. Next I need to order track to verify the exactly where the tracks will go. I want to slightly elevate part of one loop so I need to make sure everything lays out as planned before I cut the top board and Homasote.
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Looks great Joe.
Most guys would be happy with one Hellgate bridge. You have two? And standard gauge no less......
Bob
@NJCJOE posted:Yeah, but I want to replace one with the red/ivory/silver version. Need to to have a variety.
I would expect nothing less.....
Looks great, Joe! Variety is good, but sameness can be too. Right away I thought of the Three Sisters Bridges crossing the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh. I would include a photograph, but don't have one of my own. Here is some scoop from that Hallmark of Knowledge 
if interested.
The Three Sisters are three similar self-anchored suspension bridges spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 6th, 7th, and 9th streets, generally running north/south. The bridges have been given formal names to honor important Pittsburgh residents:
Holy Cannoli Joe! You are haulin' A**! And... it looks FABULOUS!
Very Nice work Joe! I only wish I had those same skills!
Looks great. What radius curves for Std Gauge you going to run?
Hi Joe! Love the layout. Looking to do a standard gauge layout as well and something similar with the two Hellsgate Bridges. What is your layout size and track plan?
Frank
@Sean's Train Depot posted:Looks great. What radius curves for Std Gauge you going to run?
STD57 and STD72.
@Frank Ranzino posted:Hi Joe! Love the layout. Looking to do a standard gauge layout as well and something similar with the two Hellsgate Bridges. What is your layout size and track plan?
Frank
Frank,
A sketch of the layout plan with dimensions is on the previous page of this thread.
@NJCJOE posted:Yeah, but I want to replace one with the red/ivory/silver version. Need to to have a variety.
Joe, you might want to reach out the @Rocky Mountaineer who had 3 red/silvers available a few years ago. IIRC you're also not located too far away from one another (New Ringold-Lehigh Valley).
Thanks Keystone.
@NJCJOE posted:Thanks Keystone.
You're welcome
@NJCJOE posted:Well, I have finally started on the benchwork. Ughh....the price of lumber.
I am starting with the standard gauge portion of the layout first. This part of the benchwork will be low as it will travel under the O gauge section. Doing L-girder for the first time. I got a bunch of the girders assembled last weekend. Here are a few starting photos.
Joe,
Really love your GSS and it’s shelving distance. No wasted space. What distancing did you go with?
Joe Gozzo
@Trainlover160 posted:Joe,
Really love your GSS and it’s shelving distance. No wasted space. What distancing did you go with?
Joe Gozzo
Joe,
I used beer cans to space the shelving. I wanted them fairly close together to help minimize the look of the shelving and to maximize the number of shelves I could install.
@NJCJOE posted:The benchwork for the standard gauge section is done except for the Homasote. Next I need to order track to verify the exactly where the tracks will go. I want to slightly elevate part of one loop so I need to make sure everything lays out as planned before I cut the top board and Homasote.
That is going to be one great layout Joe.
Super basement too! I wish I had space like that. I'm at the point where I can't really fit more than 7 or so guys downstairs without us bumping into each other
5/5/22 - Not too much to update. I'm waiting on my standard gauge track order to come in. In the meantime, I was able to find the other color Hellgate bridge I wanted at York.
I started pulling out some of my tinplate accessories. Not sure why I did this since they all need to come off the layout when I start laying track. I just starting opening boxes and it felt like Christmas. 
Haven't seen these pieces in five years.
I may pick up my Homasote these week and get that laid down.
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Looks good Joe.
I like your choice of shelf spacer too!
Bob
"I started pulling out some of my tinplate accessories. Not sure why I did this since they all need to come off the layout when I start laying track. I just starting opening boxes and it felt like Christmas."
Joe, I'm guilty of the same thing. The other night I took out my Lionel factory, which was still brand-new in the box. My Dad bought it many years ago and this was the first time it saw the light of day. I wanted to see how it would look and make sure it was going to fit where I wanted it to go. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Sometimes you just can't help yourself. 
5/27/22 - So I decided I did not want to drill holes through the joists for running wires. Instead I used a pair PVC pipe hangers screwed to each joist. I'm not sure there is really any advantage to this method, but we'll see.
I also picked up my Homasote (at $40. a sheet 
). I got that cut up and painted. I found a gallon of oops paint at Lowes called Milk Chocolate. Talk about perfect timing. The Homasote is now installed and I will be getting my track order shortly.
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Most excellent!!!!
Peter
Looking great Joe! Bummer about the price of the Homasote, I won't tell you what I paid in 2019... 
Looks good Joe. I like the PVC straps. Good idea You can snug everything up with some tie-wraps when you are done too.
Bob
Hi Joe,
I used the same method for running the wires under my layout too,PVC pipe hangers. One thing i did different is take one screw out , let one side remain open so you can slip the wires right into the hanger. Much easier then pulling them through each hanger. Once all wiring is done , then put the other screw in.
Alex
Joe these hangers are a good idea and will work great and eliminated a lot of hole cutting cleanup. The one downside is that these place your wires closer to the floor. This may not be an issue for you, however if your like many of us, below the table becomes a storage area. I don’t remember the height of your lower standard table. It’s just something that may come into play later. Looking forward to the track.
Joe, I can see you have done a lot of planning and work. I like what you have done.
Looks great. That is going to be one heck of a man cave.
Hi Joe:
It all looks great. I love the cutout/channel you've created for the waterway under the Hellgate bridges. I'm interested to see your progress as it unfolds.
One question I have is this: How did you cut your homasote? Did you take it outdoors and use a jigsaw? Or did you use a utility knife? Homasote is wonderful material once it's fitted and in place but it can be a royal PITA to work with before then. I'd love to hear your approach including what worked and didn't work for you.
Steven J. Serenska
@NJCJOE posted:5/27/22 - So I decided I did not want to drill holes through the joists for running wires. Instead I used a pair PVC pipe hangers screwed to each joist. I'm not sure there is really any advantage to this method, but we'll see.
Looks great, Joe - things are really coming along nicely. I also used the conduit holders on my layout (pretty sure I got the idea from someone hereabouts!!!). Two thoughts… I only used one screw to hold them so I didn’t have to feed all the wires through each loop, just twist it “open” and lay the wires over the holder. Also, the one issue I had is that, since the holders are on the bottom of the joists, the wires dip a good bit below the benchwork. My benchwork is 40” high, so when ducking under, my head tended to get hung up in the wires.
@NJCJOE , Wow, your layouts coming to life and looking good. Thanks for the pictures and updates. (When I cut homasote, I started with a circular saw, Wow, Dusty, then I changed to a Jig saw with a super coarse blade, took all my cutting outside, and would have worn a COVID mask if it were today. We drew the lines on the homasote, for the curve pieces, before installing we painted the top. It deadens the sounds of vibration if you simply screw the track to the homasote.) Your going to really enjoy your new train room, a wonderful man cave. Happy Railroading Everyone
