My first Layout

[adurbin]

It has begun. I finished this a few days ago, but Im just getting around to posting pics. Track, Loco, and a few cheapo freight cars are on there way, just for some inspiration, the real stuff will come later. I will be modeling the transition period from chessie, b&O, C&O, L&N, Conrail, and CSX

Its a four by eight table that will eventually have a 2 foot by 4 foot extension for a staging yard:

 

[UP2CSX]

Looks like good, solid construction so far. Are you planning on putting foam on the top?

 

[adurbin]

Looks like good, solid construction so far. Are you planning on putting foam on the top?

Yep. Gonna go with the one inch pink stuff.

 

[tankist]

sturdy looking bench.
if you have it available nearby , IMHO 2" foam is better. not much more expensive and gives more room to excavate your landscape (river, pond, underpass, etc). although if it going to be all flat it doesn't matter.

looking to see more progress.

 

[UP2CSX]

I agree with Anton. 2" foam give you the chance to have a lot more variety in subbase features. Even the praries have streams, lakes, and ditches along the tracks. I used 1" foam and regret it now. Even if you can only get 1" foam, get two sheets and glue one on top of the other with cheap latex caulk.

 

[adurbin]

yeah, I would like to go with 2 inch, but I was thinking about the ease of drilling holes for feeder wires to the track. I dont have a bit long enough to drill through two inches of foam and a half inch of plywood.

 

[UP2CSX]

Aaron, you can buy bits up to 1 foot long at Home Depot. Another inch of foam won't make it any harder to drill holes for feeder wires. A brass tube of the right diameter is what you need. Drill the hole, shove the brass tube down until it comes out the bottom of the layout, and feed the wires down the tube. You'll need this with any foam so you might as well make it 2" and give yourself some modeling room.

 

[ICG/SOU]

I'm rocking 4" of foam (2x 2" sheets) and 3/4" plywood (I overbuilt the benchwork) and picked up an 18" 1/4" drill bit at Home Depot for $10 or so. It's much longer than I need, but is very handy.

I went with such thick foam because I'll have a railroad overpass, and wanted to keep my rails at 0% grade all around the layout. What I'll do with some of the surrounding terrain will hopefully give the illusion of, in places, a filled roadbed, while not looking like everything was level.

 

[tankist]

the only real reason i see not to use 2" sheets is if none available locally (like that guy from texas that had to go on a mission to find some).
drill bits are not that expensive either. instead of brass i was thinking to go with plastic tubing AKA a drinking straw or hollow coffee stirrer.

not only that 2" will give better depth, building up landscape (mountain or hill) later on is much easier when layers are thicker. but i guess if you already have 1" is not end of the world either, just slightly more effort

BTW, take a look at "AS IS" sheets. on several ocasions i found and picked up 2" sheets for 5$ each in my not so nearby home depot . once i even couldn't tell why it was marked down. this applies to other stuff as well actually, somehow my mood goes up when i pick up a 50$ 3/4 plywood sheet with busted corner for 10$

 

[adurbin]

the only real reason i see not to use 2" sheets is if none available locally (like that guy from texas that had to go on a mission to find some).
drill bits are not that expensive either. instead of brass i was thinking to go with plastic tubing AKA a drinking straw or hollow coffee stirrer.

not only that 2" will give better depth, building up landscape (mountain or hill) later on is much easier when layers are thicker. but i guess if you already have 1" is not end of the world either, just slightly more effort

BTW, take a look at "AS IS" sheets. on several ocasions i found and picked up 2" sheets for 5$ each in my not so nearby home depot . once i even couldn't tell why it was marked down. this applies to other stuff as well actually, somehow my mood goes up when i pick up a 50$ 3/4 plywood sheet with busted corner for 10$

I hadnt thought of this. I used to buy "as is" lumber as a kid to build skateboard and bike ramps. I will have to check into that. I havent purchased any foam yet, but i will be here soon. I will go with the two inch.

 

[Jon NFL]

Hi, Aaron and welcome. Are you going with DCC or DC? I like the carpet - I'm jealous ;o) If you haven't already, you may want to consider a diagonal leg brace on the 4' sides.You are away from the wall and any leaning may cause weakening of the legs. Do you have a track plan you can post? Its fun to watch the layout progress.
Regards,
Jon

 

[adurbin]

Hi, Aaron and welcome. Are you going with DCC or DC? I like the carpet - I'm jealous ;o) If you haven't already, you may want to consider a diagonal leg brace on the 4' sides.You are away from the wall and any leaning may cause weakening of the legs. Do you have a track plan you can post? Its fun to watch the layout progress.
Regards,
Jon

I thought about the bracing and will be doing that soon too. I had originally wanted to go with a double oval with two turnouts on each side, and then run that to my staging yard, but I dont know now. Right now I have a small oval with my first loco (a chessie GP38-2) pulling a bunch of el-cheap-o tyco cars around it. It will definitely be more of a marathon build, rather than a sprint. Thats for sure.

 

[Rico]

I'd also go with the two inches, but maybe using two sheets of one inch.
I did that for an N scale layout years ago and it made raising the track and scenery levels much easier.
Still two inch thick uses less glue and can be shaped with a sureform tool. (outside!)

 

[adurbin]

Well, the bench has a train running on it!! (temporarily of course). I also tryed my hand at my first bit of weathering on some of the cars that came with the lot i bought. I will post pics here in a bit. Also, I just noticed that I posted this in the wrong forum. Can a mod please move this thread to the "layout design and construction" forum. Thanks.

-Aaron