Working on my layout.

Electrical is finished.  Just waiting on the inspection.  Then onto foam and sheetrock. I cant wait. It is finally back on track.  We had a tornado close by a couple months ago and had to spend money and cleanup the yard. Lost about 20 trees. Only 2 got close to the house.  I bought a goose neck light for the outside. I really like it. I put receptacles every 6ft. There are 12 total. 2 are dedicated 20amp circuits for power to the track.  Lights are 2x4ft led panels that are dimmable. There are 4 of them. Next i am looking at either a variable speed bathroom fan for smoke removal or a air purifier. Both costs are about even. Not sure which way to go yet but i will have to make up my mind before the foam. Any input is appreciated.

Foaming is scheduled for July 13th.  

I’m glad you have recovered from the tornado setback and didn’t have any serious damage.  I’ll look forward to updates on the building progress as you have them.

@Southern4501 posted:

Electrical is finished.  Just waiting on the inspection.  Then onto foam and sheetrock. I cant wait. It is finally back on track.  We had a tornado close by a couple months ago and had to spend money and cleanup the yard. Lost about 20 trees. Only 2 got close to the house.  I bought a goose neck light for the outside. I really like it. I put receptacles every 6ft. There are 12 total. 2 are dedicated 20amp circuits for power to the track.  Lights are 2x4ft led panels that are dimmable. There are 4 of them. Next i am looking at either a variable speed bathroom fan for smoke removal or a air purifier. Both costs are about even. Not sure which way to go yet but i will have to make up my mind before the foam. Any input is appreciated.

A fine looking train house! I would be inclined to install the exhaust fan. Moving air out would work.

Foam is done!!!!!!!!!! On to sheetrock and paint.  

That really looks good and ready to go!

Sheetrock is done.  A/C is going in today. Then onto paint.

It looks great!  AC is great news.

A/C is installed.  Ready to move onto paint

Painting has begun. Light frames are in. I will take a better picture when the lights are hung and on.

@Mark Boyce posted:

It looks great!  AC is great news.

Thanks. Yep it is nice and cool in here.

1/2 the lights are up. Sucks hanging them by yourself. They are set on 4000. They have 3 settings. 3500,4000,5000

Lights are finished. 5000 i think is the way to go to make the colors pop.

The room is really looking great!

@Southern4501 posted:

Lights are finished. 5000 i think is the way to go to make the colors pop.

I liked 5K . I had spots/floods on a dimmer to reduce the intensity and still have the "pop".

I didn't notice in the bare drywall photos that you had angled the ceiling sides. VERY NICE ! It gives the room a passenger railcar feel.

@Moonman posted:

I liked 5K . I had spots/floods on a dimmer to reduce the intensity and still have the "pop".

I didn't notice in the bare drywall photos that you had angled the ceiling sides. VERY NICE ! It gives the room a passenger railcar feel.

Yeah i installed a dimmer as well.  We just followed the framework. It is just about ready for clouds.  i am going to get my niece to paint them.  She really makes them look real.  

Its painted.  Clouds will start soon. Meanwhile flooring and trim next.  

That building is looking mighty comfortable!!  Great job!

I installed a ramp and working on handrails for my dad to be able to get in the building.  Found a 3’x6’ aluminum ramp with treads.

Carpet has started.  Ended up getting 39”x39” squares so i can change one out if it gets damaged.  $1 a sq ft.  

That’s an excellent choice of carpet.  We had it at work and sections were changed out as time passed.  We got it a few years ago for our church fellowship hall as well.  In both cases the squares were smaller than yours, maybe 18” square.

@Mark Boyce posted:

That’s an excellent choice of carpet.  We had it at work and sections were changed out as time passed.  We got it a few years ago for our church fellowship hall as well.  In both cases the squares were smaller than yours, maybe 18” square.

I figured with scenery and this awesome colored georgia clay i would have to change out a couple of squres for sure. I started the first piece at the door.  I paid for 400sqft. They gave me the whole pallet so i have extra. Free is free.  

Wow! That is a good deal.  Nice planning on the color resembling Georgia clay!  Here in northwestern Pennsylvania the pick would be a brown to light tan.  Even our clay is tan, although I have dug ditches and pits before where I ran into natural streaks of gray mixed into the mostly tan clay.  Knowing a bit about the geology of the area you want to represent really helps convey the image of realistic scenery

And so it begins. My friend Chris came over and we started with the highest level. This will be the polar express loop. Reversing loops at each end.  It will be a multiple level open grid frame. I have never built it like this. Chris’s layout is this style. I was going to try and do a one level helix for the mountain climb but I changed my mind and it will just be what you see now.  The mountain with the cave face will be there with the tunnel. It will reverse inside the mountain. Once the track is down for the polar we will drop down and start the next level. The legs are just supports as we move out away from the wall. I hope to be able to run at least 5 trains on separate loops 4 will intertwine. The most inner loop will have the yard. I like this style because i can climb in an out for wiring and scenery which will be all pink foam.  I also have enough ceiling height to hang my 1/18 scale planes.  

Seeing the photographs, I wondered what the construction plan was.  It looks great!  I'll look forward to seeing how everything progresses!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Seeing the photographs, I wondered what the construction plan was.  It looks great!  I'll look forward to seeing how everything progresses!

Me tooooo. Saturdays will be my work days.  I cant wait. Had to power up a train even though all i can do is go back and forth at the moment🤓.

@Southern4501 posted:

Me tooooo. Saturdays will be my work days.  I cant wait. Had to power up a train even though all i can do is go back and forth at the moment🤓.

I've been there!  Exciting, but frustrating when you have to leave it for a few days or longer.

@Mark Boyce posted:

I've been there!  Exciting, but frustrating when you have to leave it for a few days or longer.

Yep. I ran out of studs to keep going down the wall. I did get everything moved into the building though. Now i get to paint the spare bedroom and fix it up for my wife to use as an office and a have a spare bed.

Finished construction on the polar express loop. Outer legs are just temporary as we expand out. Next up are the two main loops. I will be using gargraves 96” and 72” curves. Only the outer most loop will be flat. I want to be able to pull all 20 cars of my American Freedom Train. There will also be a 4th loop that will be 60” fastrack with a yard. The christmas village will be on the right reverse loop.  The spiral mountain will be as the curve turns towards right. It will have a fake spiral but will have the tunnel with the face. The swervy section will be where the caribou will be.  The left reverse loop will have the boys house and other buildings.  Im also going to try and carve out a spot for the grinches cave on the mountain.  

Excellent plans!  What you have now is looking good!

Wow!  The 20-car American Freedom train will look great on the wide curves.  I saw the real thing in 1976 when I was working in Richmond, Virginia.  It’s amazing it has been almost 50 years since then!!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Excellent plans!  What you have now is looking good!

Wow!  The 20-car American Freedom train will look great on the wide curves.  I saw the real thing in 1976 when I was working in Richmond, Virginia.  It’s amazing it has been almost 50 years since then!!

I cant wait to see it running again.  I want to make 4 flat cars.  Im still looking for the forklift and the K-5 blazer. Im going to get the 20ft containers and paint them up for concessions and tickets.  I will have to doublehead it though. The K-line engine isnt strong enough to pull the whole train.
Your layout is also looking great. Once up and running i would love to tackle led lights in my passenger cars and add people.  

Yes, I can see the K-Line can’t pull all of them.    I wonder if they used helpers over the mountains back in ‘76.  🤷‍♂️  That sounds great!  That’s the classic Blazer!  
Thank you!  The LED lights sure are great!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Excellent plans!  What you have now is looking good!

Wow!  The 20-car American Freedom train will look great on the wide curves.  I saw the real thing in 1976 when I was working in Richmond, Virginia.  It’s amazing it has been almost 50 years since then!!

Enjoying watching the build as your pace is probably better than mine, it's nice to see your progress.

Saw the freedom train at the RF&P Station in Fredericksburg, VA.  So cool to see if cross the rapahanock...   sorry, not trying to hijack the thread.

@2naboat posted:

Enjoying watching the build as your pace is probably better than mine, it's nice to see your progress.

Saw the freedom train at the RF&P Station in Fredericksburg, VA.  So cool to see if cross the rapahanock...   sorry, not trying to hijack the thread.

Thank you. I love hearing everyone’s experience with the AFT. I helped my great uncle film it when i was 6 years old. He drove and i filmed. Sadly the films are lost.  

Yes, I know the RF&P station and bridge in Fredericksburg, though it’s been many, many years.  That would be great seeing it on the bridge.

That’s sad your film is now lost.  I took a few photographs myself, I believe they are buried in boxes.  

And so it begins

She is still working on the white parts first but she added some grey to this cloud to see how dark we want to go.  The polar express north pole clouds will be darker for snow.  It is a great start.  

Your niece is doing a great, Job!!

Had another work day today.  096 curves for the outer most loop and 072 for the inner. This is the lowest point of the layout.

96 will be flat all the way and 72 will be above at this end and transition down into the other end for the yard area.  This is at 3 feet.  The middle layer will be at 4 feet.