Two years in planning. Today we begin, All Comments and suggestions welcome. Thanks

Caljah

Excellent progress. If you need to take a break and have questions, please feel free to come visit the TMB model Train Club in Farmingdale LI, We are practically neighbors. Club Website included in my signature below

Steve

Layout is moving right along. I think those arches look cool.  I like the tunnel idea. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Great job so far.

Al

Day 3.

A few snags, but overall its coming to life. Measurements where off a little, So Ondrew spent time  adjusting measurements on parts of the layout to compensate. It turned 21 degrees outside, so cordless saws where dying fast outside. Lower level mostly completed. Upper level about 60% done. Another day, and we should have all the framing in place. Then a few days break, (I mean work), then on to Homasote, then road bed, then tracks, then wiring. Oh, yeah, painting the pipes gray, while i think about how to incorporate them into overall design and the walls. Ok, I have a few more weeks/months!! But this is fun!!

Thanks for watching and please keep the updates coming.

Good Night!!

Wow!!!! Look at all of this incredible work you have done! Can't believe you're at this point already. The bench work looks phenominal, design is genius, and its only going to get better. Super glad you're sharing your progress. I'll be watching closely. Thanks for the recognition and keep up the great work!

Jason 

I'm blown away by how fast this is coming together!  Wow!

I need to hire you!

Caljah,

As I keep seeing all of those wonderful holes in the cross members, one thought occurs to me- how easy it would be to pull a lot of wire before the deck is attached.

Reducing the amount of time spent under the layout will make your back happy.

It is some MUCH EASIER to pull your buzz wires and all of the main wires BEFORE you put the top or deck on. It will save you lots of time and will save your back and sanity.

CALJAH,

  Looking good.   Are you using a Kreig Jig for the pocket joints?  Nice touch on the joinery of the plywood.  Keep up the good work.

Its 12:20 am, on day 4. we are done for now. I am posting some finished, uncleaned, its a mess, shots of phase one of the layout. I will say much more at a later date. Heading out of town for a few days. I will clean and take better pictures in a few days. 

Thanks Ondrew

Caljah,

It really looks good. Have you made access hatches for doing maintenance? Your going to really have a good time with that layout. That's a great layout for using Legacy, DCC or Lionchief. Whatever tickles your fancy. Once you get the basic setup going, then you can take your time with accessories and buildings. I wish the ceiling in my basement was higher I keep whacking my head on pipes and beams. I can't wait to see more post.

CALJAH,

You and Ondrew have done a fantastic job!  Yes, I do like the joints that look like they were done with a Kreig jig.  I need to get one myself.  Looks like a nice engine facility in the making with the turntable in place.  Thank you so much for sharing your work!

Fourth Day? At this rate, you'll be able to rest on the seventh.

Stoshu posted:

In the corner where the drain comes down, I would make it so a plumber has some access to get a snake in the drain. If

it has a plastic plug in it like the other one I would install a "no hub" cap for easy access.  That is some really old pipe.

Because you know as soon as you scenic the area the drain will plug up....

 

 Bruce...

 

This was a good call. Although there was room to get in there it was tight so I modified the benchwork slightly to allow someone to stand in the corner if needed. Thankfully the benchwork was not supporting anything in that area so it was relatively easy to just move the leg to the next crossmember and cut off the extra bits. 

Ondrew 

laz1957 posted:

CALJAH,

  Looking good.   Are you using a Kreig Jig for the pocket joints?  Nice touch on the joinery of the plywood.  Keep up the good work.

Yes I used the Kreg jig pocket hole system for the entire layout.  It was somewhere around 3,500 screws total. 

Ondrew 

Ok it's done and I'm finally back home in Florida - yay. 

Total build time was 65 hours over 5 days. 

I started with my modular benchwork system. You can find my ad in OGR magazine. 

The entire layout was built with the kreg jig pocket hole joinery system which makes splicing roadbed joints very simple and eliminates the need for splice blocks in most cases.

Everything is 3/4 plywood. This is kinda overkill for the roadbed but it does have some significant advantages over 1/2 plywood in that you can splice using pocket screws, less risers are needed and you can walk on everything if needed. 

The layout had to be heavily modified from the original plan due to measurement issues.  Somehow a 21 got turned into a 12 and a 6" pipe stood out 10" from the wall leaving me short 13" on the room width.   Additionally there was a support pole by the turntable that was 4 inches closer to the wall than the original measurement and the sewer pipe coming out of the ceiling on the right side of the room was about 4 inches lower than the original measurement.  What the sewer pipe measurement issues meant was I couldn't cross the mainline over itself under the sewer pipe because there wouldn't of been enough room for the engines to pass safely.  This to me just proves that following computer generated drawings exactly never quite works.  In this case the required layout modifications actually made the layout better. The elimination of the main lines crossing over each other on the right in particular allowed for a gentler grade and larger area for industry and the main lines going on either side of the pole by the turntable adds some visual interest.  

---------------------------

Someone said something about humidity possibly being a issue. I assure you that is not an issue. The home uses a boiler for heating and the result is incredibly low humidity in the basement and about 75 degrees constantly. This by far was my largest issue to contend with. I drank an incredible amount of water while working on this layout.   There's also a large sub pump and no evidence of past water issues so the layout should be fine. 

OnDrew - modelrailroadbenchwork 

Snow day, Perfect day to clean the bench work and edit pictures.

What a great space for a layout - a veritable cavern!

Very nice. I went back to your original post to look at the track plan. It's amazing how much larger things now look with the benchwork in place. Sure didn't take you long to fill a large space and it looks very nice.

Looks great!  

Sweet!

Does the railroad have a name? 

Looks awesome!  The layout is progressing along nicely, I can't wait to see it once you have the track installed and trains running.

Thanks all for your comments

Darren: Thanks.  I am about 2/3 years behind you. I am about to mark up Homasote and cut. Will cut outside once the snow stops, ( if that ever happens). I have been watching your progress for a while, I am very very impressed. Any thoughts of painting?

MoonMan: Name of the railroad is the topic of conversation at my house every night. Still working on it.

RTR12, yeah its the measurements I was hoping for, but seeing it built, I am more excited than I thought.

John

I am excited about it too, and it is not even my layout! Keep up the good work!

At your current rate I'll be 2-3 years behind you , LOL!  I learned that you can cut the Homasote with a sharp utility knife and a straight edge.  Much neater than using a table saw or jig saw, which I used for the larger sections.  I was able to cut most of mine outside on the rear patio and the rest in my garage.  As far as painting the Homasote, I decided to go with a dark gray the first time, now I have a gallon of flat black paint I got from Home Depot.  I have read others using a earth tone, but based on the colors covering the Homasote being mostly gray ballast or coal colors, I like the darker colors.  Regardless, you need to paint the Homasote to seal it from moisture, not just the top but the edges too.

Darren

Calja,

Looks great. How about sharing your track plan and your layout mission with us.  It is going to be fun following your progress. 

Earl 

Caljah,

Nice and neat. Very impressive. I used Homasote on my layout too, and as Darren mentioned, I also cut it with a sharp utility knife. You will go through blades fairly quickly, but it gave me the advantage of cutting in the basement. I cut it slightly larger than the plywood, screwed it down, and then used a flush trim bit in my router with a shop vac to make the Homasote flush with the plywood. Very quick and neat opreration. I painted the Homasote earth brown. Check my build thread here: 

https://ogrforum.com/t...ad-oyster-bay-branch

Andy

Looks great --- Neat and clean

Can't wait to see track plan   

dorfj2 posted:

Looks great --- Neat and clean

Can't wait to see track plan   

It's in the very first post. The only difference between the posted plan and the actual layout is the mainline overlap on the right side doesn't exist due to clearance issues 

Darren/Andy/Roger anyone that use Homasote?

Any specific kind of base paint that works best?

Are you suggesting  painting both sides and the edges or just the side facing up and the edges?

Do you glue and/or screw the Homasote?

Thanks

I just used a flat paint from Home Depot, nothing fancy.  I only painted the top and edges to seal it, the underside is covered by the wood.  I did screw the Homasote to the wood in case I ever want to move, which I have done many times already.

Darren

Really like your layout and enjoy watching it unfold.  Thanks for sharing.  As for incorporating the pipes.....did you ever consider relocate the horizontal sewer line that run over the layout to tucking up near the ceiling? 

Like Darren, I painted the top with a flat earth brown latex, and screwed it to the plywood. When I run my trains it's very quiet. I'll be covering up the edges with the fascia so that won't be seen. 

Andy

Caljah - no need to glue homosote - sheet rock screws are enough to secure

I too forgot you had already posted the track plan, but upon seeing it I remembered.  So a lower level in green, then a transition between the two levels in blue, then the main action on top in pink/purple, whatever that color is.    Looks like a lot of fun running trains and switching cars to me!! 

Cutting Homasote, QuietBrace, Asphalt Board (*), etc.

As many of you, I have used Homasote, and later on, QuietBrace. For a small layout expansion I am making now, I could not get QuietBrace at our local Home Depot, so I bought their new-to-me (*) Asphalt Board. It is similar to QuietBrace but not quite as stiff. It still works fine, and at $10/sheet is appreciably less than the $25/sheet Homasote.

Cutting: As mentioned above, a utility knife works fine and there is no dust at all! For cutting curves and/or angled cuts, as well as straight cuts for that matter, a KNIFE-EDGE Jigsaw Blade works wonders! I bought three, 3-blade packs anticipating that they would get dull in a hurry, but ended up using only two blades for my entire layout. They do get dull, but a quick pass or two with a sharpening stone restores and improves the cutting edge. 

When cutting QuietBrace or Asphalt Board, there is a black coating that builds up on the blade; whether a jigsaw blade or utility knife blade. While it is not necessarily detrimental to the cutting action, it can easily be wiped off with lacquer thinner. 

Painting: I never painted any of the Homasote I used as all of it was covered with ground cover material of one type or another. I never noticed any degradation - even after 14 years (reused homasote from 1977 in 1991).

I did paint (well, my wife did) the first few sheets of QuietBrace I used - we used regular wall latex paint. But I then realized that I would end up covering the surface with ground cover, track ballast, etc., and any voids or cracks on this cover would show up black and look juts fine. Lesson - no real need to paint it.

Good luck to all you lucky layout builders!

Alex

In the past I used both a utility knife and jigsaw blade to cut Homasote.  I preferred the jigsaw, though it made more mess.  I have never used Quiet Brace, and this is the first I heard of Asphalt Board.  I was looking at Home Depot and Lowes, last year just for pricing, but did not find the first two.  I will keep Asphalt board in mind when I go again.  Thank you for the tips one and all!  We all benefit from one person's questions.

Thanks all for all the advice around Homasote. I will, over the next week, try and get the pieces cut up, hopefully a couple of hours overnight after work. I am still not sure I am going to paint or not. 

Alex, Thanks for you thoughtful response. Always welcomed. would you also agree with using sheet rock screw rather to the board, (btw, we used birch for everything) rather than gluing has also worked to your benefit?

Mark- Correct description of the layout build. One small change on the left upper level.

Andy, Paul, Roger and Darren, please keep the info coming. I am like a sponge with information.

Steims, " relocating the pipes", not happening!! I am blessed with a partner thats understanding and helps with my layout, but she is only so understanding. Thanks for the suggestion. 

The archway that you see to the back of the left hand side,( currently stuffed with boxes) I am going to put a train light deep inside to give the elusion of a train coming down a tunnel.

Keep the suggestions and thoughts coming Gents!!

John

I used a pneumatic staple gun to hold mine down

Ken M

THATS ONE AWSOME LAYOUT...