Royal Pacific Railway Layout....

[Iron Horseman]

Starting to look something like an open grid/cookie cutter layout:

open on the left and cookies on the right. I remember the first cookie cutter I did. It was only 1/2" plywood and I cut so long of a cookie down one side I almost ruined the structural integrity of the dough. Fortunately it was N-scale and only 2 feet wide, and by adding a couple more cross members I saved it.

Now because of this wonderful foam they have developed I am probably always and only going to be an open grid person going forward.

 

[wombat457]

So this is where I am at the moment:

 

[wombat457]

Horseman, there are going to be a couple of places where I am going to have to insert risers a little closer together to support the "single lines" better and give them a little more rigidity. Needless to say, I need a few more cross members/bearers in some places for additional risers and they will be added once it is all cut out, ready to go and I can see exactly where they all need to be.

I still have 5 areas where the sub roadbed needs to be cut out so once that is done, I think it will look more like what it supposed to look like, hopefully

I'm also pretty lucky in that I only had to use three pieces of ply so I will have minimal joins and those joins will all be braced with the 3/8 ply, Titebond Wood Glue and Durham's filler/adhesive. All in all, in it should be pretty solid when complete I think.

 

[tootnkumin]

Doin' a great job, Tony.

 

[wombat457]

Thanks mate, appreciate that. It is slow going but, unlike previous layouts of mine, I want this one to be right and right the first and done as well as I can possibly do it.

 

[Iron Horseman]

but, unlike previous layouts of mine, I want this one to be right and right the first and done as well as I can possibly do it.

I didn't think you did too badly (not right) on your earlier layouts..... I'm up to 30 or 40 layouts and still making mistakes and misjudgments. (That is counting all the other peoples, clubs, and museums that I've worked on too).

 

[wombat457]

Thanks Horseman that means a lot coming from you.

 

[tootnkumin]

You'll always be learning Tony, but the learnings (things that could have been improved on) get more "liveable with". As it's been said "If you don't learn something new each day (I'll modify that to each month) you must be dead".

 

[wombat457]

Agreed and with this build, I have learnt a lot as I have progressed. Mainly little things but things that add up. That is one thing I enjoy with this hobby, no matter how long (or short) you have been in it, there is always something new to learn or try.

 

[wombat457]

Ten minutes ago I soldered the LAST rail joiner in place. The track work IS finished!

 

[Iron Horseman]

Ten minutes ago I soldered the LAST rail joiner in place. The track work IS finished!

Did you use gold solder and have a train from each direction meeting at the location?

 

[wombat457]

Of course! Wouldn't that be a good way to finish the track work ... and have one of the trains trip "something" that set of fire works and streamers and stuff!

Gold spikes, fireworks, streamers, a celebratory crowd ... might be nice but am just glad it completed

 

[Sirfoldalot]

ERMMM! I really like that!

 

[wombat457]

Thanks Sherrel ... I'm glad it's done that's for sure

 

[migalyto]

Great job Tony! You have worked on this at breakneck speed. Thanks for sharing your progress with us.

 

[wombat457]

Thanks Mike - It took me 3 1/2 weeks to lay the track work alone - my first layout was built, had scenery, run and torn down in less time

 

[KB02]

Man! I disappear for a couple weeks and you've made some great progress! Looking good!

 

[wombat457]

Thanks KB02, a lot has been done I guess. Tomorrow I get the foam I need for the roadbed underlay so nothing more will be happening till then. Thank god the foams coming UPS and not USPS

 

[wombat457]

Been a long week of lots of "real world" things to do; BUT, this evening I finally completed cutting it all out. It is now ready for the risers to be installed!

The pieces of ply you see sitting on the frame are only there to be kept out of the way and will be removed sooner or later.

 

[wombat457]

I got impatient and did the cleanup of the layout so, here is a quick video over view of how it all looks so far: