Hello Folks,
Here are some pictures of my temporary layout which I briefly described in my earlier Homasote thread. Here are the boring details...
The layout is 8' x 12' and is on two levels and in three sections. The first 4 'x 8' section is raised about 4" higher than the remaining 8' x 8' by necessity, as that section is/was a plywood shipping crate (4' x 8' x 4" deep) that was used to transport our 42" x 84" glass table top for our dining room table. The second section section is 4' x 8' x 1/2" plywood and is the 'lid' to the aforementioned crate. The third section is 4' x 8' x 1/2" OSB which was leftover from our ongoing garage expansion project. All three sections are attached to each other to keep them from separating during operation. The entire surface is covered in a thin indoor/outdoor carpet remnant I found (cheap!) at Home Depot and is stretched over the surface and held in place with spring clamps all around the perimeter. The track is Menards; I started with the biggest simple oval I could fit, using O-42 curves, but I'll be adding more track/switches/crossings in the coming days. I used all the trestles from a Lionel 110 Trestle Kit to transition the track from the raised 4' x 8' portion. FWIW the cheapo indoor/outdoor carpet does an amazing job of suppressing the rail racket inherent to the tinplate track, although the track is not attached to the surface at all, which probably helps.
The table that the layout sits on is a Direct Lift 4-post automotive lift which I have owned and used for several years, although this is the first time I have used it as a train table! And the best part is I can lift the layout up and out of the way when not in use; I just have to remember to unplug the transformer cord, lol!
At this point, and based on the construction timeline, I have almost eight weeks to take advantage of this setup, after which it will all come back down and into boxes for a while.
