Started construction on a completely new holiday layout. Previously, I just had a loop of Fastrack around the tree.
First order of business was to frame up a platform for the layout and tree to sit on. I used 1x3 for the structure and trimmed it with 1x4. Dimensions are 4' x 5 1/2' inside the trim pieces.
Next, I stained my outer trim pieces. Two coats of stain and three coats of polyurethane. I'm really happy with the way it looks. It is almost an identical match to my existing furniture.
Here in California, homosote it a special order and I didn't really want to wait for it so I ended up using MDF for my top. To reduce noise, I floated the MDF on foam weatherstripping to keep noise from transferring to the framework. In my test run, I found it to actually be quieter than homosote, which I assume is due to the sheer mass of the MDF.
Here, I'm just playing around with the arrangement and deciding where to drill holes for wiring.
I decided to use O27 track because I have a ton of it that belonged to my father just sitting in a box. Plus, I figured I could get a bit more straight track in there. After doing a test run though, I was having issues getting the 1122 switches to throw reliably at low speeds and I don't really want to modify them to run on a constant voltage. My solution was to pull out my regular O gauge track. Switches are much more reliable but I need to cut a couple pieces of track down so I'm not right on the edge of the platform. Had I known I was going to use O Gauge track, I would have made the platform 4x6.
Overall, I think it ended up being a better track plan anyway; It leaves me more room for buildings and winter scenery. Haven't decided if I'm going to actually build up a mountain around the stand or just use a tree skirt. I'm leaning toward the latter as I want to keep this simple and rather toy like.
