The Layout
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The Train Room:
The Train Room is actually our home office. My wife agreed to let me use half of the office to house my Train Layout. In return, I agreed to remodel the room. When we moved in, the room was painted a pale green color. Beneath the green paint, we found a layer of white paint, three layers of wallpaper, and four borders. We removed the various layers, patched and preped the original plaster, and applyed two coats of primer and two coats of antique white with royal blue trim (The colors of the J&S Railroad). Here are some before and after pictures of the Train Room. Click on any of these thumbnails to see the full size image.
Table Construction:
The construction of my layout table is relatively simple. The frame has a 1X4 frame with several 1X3 center supports. The frame is supported by 2X2 and 2X4 legs. The table top is built in three layers. The base layer is 3/8" OSB. The center layer is 2" Extruded PolyStyrene (Rigid Insulation). The top layer is a 1/2" Homosote. The Homosote provides excellent sound absorbtion, as well as, a duriable and plyable construction surface. It is soft enough to bend into realistic grades and easily install and remove pins or tacks, but strong enough to provide a stable base for scenery (or crawling around on). The Foam layer allows me to "dig" terrain through the top of the table. I prefer this method to open-grid because I can crawl around on the layout to work on scenery without damaging the table top. Here are some pictures of my layout in various states of table construcition...
Track/Roadbed:
I used code 100 nickel silver Atlas sectional Snap-Track and Flex-Track. This approach was just too easy to pass up! I laid the track over cork roadbed using the 1/2" layer of Homasote as a sub-roadbed. This combination helps eliminate most the road noise produced by running trains over the sectional track. Besides, I like the click of the wheels on over the sections of track.
Structures & Scenes:
I'm in the process of adding structures and scenes to the layout. That way, my trains have somewhere to go and something to do.
- Unnamed River: The Unnamed River flows through the layout from front to back. This scene features three bridges (front to back): A scratch-built three-track plate girder bridge, a double-length single-track Model Power through truss, and a Walthers double-track truss. I built the plate girder bridge using Atlas plate girders, Evergreen sheet styrene, and Plastruct I-beams. All of the bridges rest on hand carved, extruded poly-styrene piers and abutments. Here are some shots of the Unnamed River and its bridges.
- J&S Rail Yard: The J&S Rail Yard features a Model Power Locomotive shed and a scratch build diesel fueling station. I will be adding other structures to the J&S yard as time goes by.
- Hillside Junction Hillside Junction features an Atlas interlocking tower and a Model Power Signal Bridge. The tower kit was an older kit with green walls. I painted the tower to resemble the newer white-walled kit. Hillside Junction sits at the base of the future mountain that will envelope the entire end (and most of the back) of the layout and will contain the Stuber Coal Mine named after a friend from High School.
- Gutzman Freight: Gutzman Frieght features a kit-bashed DPM depot. I added two freight docks, one to either side and several smaller details to help bring the depot to life (I'm still in the process of getting the depot painted). The name for this one came from another friend from High School.
- Fleming Coal Co.: This is the project that I put the freight depot on hold for. On a whim, I got really adventurous and decided to try my hand at scratch building. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I decided to build my own! I named the Fleming Coal Co. after one of my roommates. I started with sheets of Evergreen corrugated styrene. I added Grandt Line windows and doors. I also added several details including the stairway made by Plastruct.
- Starr Oil Co.: I'm in the planing stages of Starr Oil Co. This industry is named after my other roommate. It will feature two large storage tanks and a loading platform for loading tank cars. This outfit will be located just behind the J&S Locomotive Shed.
- Rolling "M" Ranch: This structure is also in the planning stages. Its named after my old homestead and will feature livestock pens for both horses and cattle. You'll find the Ranch just to the left of the J&S shed and Starr Oil Co.
- Miscellaneous: Along the way, I have built an extra structure or two. There is the deisel fueling tank located next to the J&S Loco Shed, which I built from stratch using an old tank car and Plastruct scale lumber. It services all of the J&S Locos. Also, I took a Model Power dummy Signal Bridge and added working signal lights.
Scenery:
Still to come...
