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Wow, I just searched for 7x7 wire rope and found 250' for $15 plus $10 shipping. That seems very reasonable. It's only 1/16"... tiny, but rated at 480 pounds. That should do the trick. 250' is way more than I would need. I may double it up just for safety sake. Can you split the end of a...

Hi, It would be 4 cables going straight up from 4 mounting points on the table top. 4 pulleys on the ceiling to turn the cables toward a center axis. 4 pulleys on the ceiling at the center axis to align the cables to a common direction toward the winch. The cables would converge at that...

Here we go again. First layout started was a 6x10 donut that got as far as bench work and foam. No roadbed and no track. Second layout was 6' x 12' with two 1' x 4' staging extensions... also benchwork and foam. But that time I also got started on foam mountains and a tunnel. Moved again...

To my great surprise, I drove by the site of Despatch Junction a few days ago and a brand new building was standing!!! A quick internet search and I found that Stan had decided to rebuild. AWESOME!! The new building is in the style of the old station and is currently open. I can't wait to...

Better yet.... You can get trains and trucks too. I also created a couple of different types of oil storage tanks. The basic trucks came from the SCARM site. Then I tweaked them a bit and created a flatbed. Also used the 'ungroup' function to change the colors. Go to the SCARM site and...

Having fun with SCARM Hi, Great tool. I started trying to use Visio... OK for concepts and rough drawing, but no templates for turnouts, crossovers, etc. I tried Xtrkcad too, but found SCARM much easier to work with. My layout is a 6x12 duck-under with two staging extensions. I've also...

I've messed around a bit with xtrkcad and recently rediscovered SCARM. So I did a quick 3D view of my layout. Some of the mountains are already build using pink and blue foam visible in earlier posts on this thread. I added some other features as well including roads, some buildings, a water...

Iron Horseman, Yes I added those tails (your red rectangles). The early drawings show a dense but short yard on the biggest part of the table. Feedback made sense and I decided to put the extra staging/yard area on and use the larger area as a town. I like the idea of varying the inner loop...

... and a few more.

Benchwork To be honest, the trackplan is still up in the air. I know the track plan is supposed to come first, then you build the benchwork to support it, but in my case (probably in many cases) I wanted to maximize the square footage available, so the bench work came first. I'm still stuck...

Hi, On a whim, I decided to take a prototypical "Oval" and find out what model scale would be most appropriate to model on a 4x8 sheet of plywood. To be honest, my goal was to prove that HO is the best. My results, unfortunately, do not agree with my hypothesis. So for starters, assuming a...

JazzDad, Do you build them out of strip wood? I'm thinking 1/16 x 1/32 would be good for the slats. Maybe 1/16 x 1/16 for the support bars. Can you share any pictures of some of your completed pieces? Also, do you have a jig or freehand? Thanks, Doug

Hi, I recall an article, maybe two years ago, that explained how to build a tie pile... So I cut up some match sticks and built some piles. Very cool. Once I stained the matchsticks with some India ink and let them dry, I was able to build these mini projects in one sitting. What other...

Hi, I've used wooden kitchen matchsticks to make ties in the past. Used them for spare ties placed along the side of track and for tie piles. A little india ink with thinned dark paint and they look pretty good. I know they make extra long matches for lighting grills and candles... they may...

For anyone in the Rochester NY area, you've probably heard of and perhaps been to Despatch Junction. Unfortunately, it caught fire on Monday evening and burned to nothing. Here's a couple of links...

Added a workbench The plan includes this 2' x 4' workbench area just below one of the staging areas. I plan to have a 3 track pivot on this ~10" x 4' extension. Below, a workbench with a couple of power outlets. Plenty of light from the 48" fixture above. Oh, and I just notice my cardboard...

Hi, Long story short: Packed up the old layout in progress about 3 years ago to prepare for a move. Moved and settled in and now working on the new layout. It's a 6' x 12' doughnut. Walls with sky backdrop built and painted. 2x4 benchwork built. 2" foam base installed. NOW I've taken all...

Foam Started Bench work is done. Many holes drilled for future wire. Hope there are enough. I still plan to build a shelf or two under the benchwork to store stuff, but don't want that in the way right now. I also have a space for a workbench area. Was planning to build one, but have been...

Wow. World of difference already. Looks great.

Hi, I'm looking forward to watching your progress. Do you have a 'before' picture? Doug