The Return of the D&J Railroad


It's about time I got around to posting a illustration of the new layout design of the D&J Railroad.
This is the lowest level. Level A. The single track loop on the left is at the lowest point on the layout, 30" off the floor. The distance to the 37" point will be about 70' or a little more. The second level above the 30" point will be 43 - 45". The depth of the right of way on the lowest loop will be about 18" and 18" on loop C, which will be the 45" high loop. Radius is 48" or 8' in diameter.

I will probably put a staging yard on the loop at the 37" high point.

NewLayoutDesign.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sheet rock as background

Well the sheet rock was a good idea. That's what I did except I used two seperate 15" pieces of 3/8's inch rock for the background. Are you using any type of floor levelers to adjust the layout height? I think thier a must to get the layout level. Looks great.

NYC_George
 
I won't really need floor levelers for this layout. The shelf parts will be attached only to the walls. The loops will be built on the floor and leveled by adjusting the bench work at the foam application.
 
Some more progress. I have decided to put a sheet of plywood on top of the 2X4 that is screwed to the wall to provide some additional support for the foam.
First photo is looking over the lowest level turnaround loop into the first corner of the trip up the grade.

Benchwork2.png


This next photo is looking down the grade. The levels of the benchwork build up can be seen.

Benchwork3.png


No track yet. I will build out the first right of way level then go back and start putting road bed and track down.
 
D&J

Just wanted to say WOW. I really like your idea and setup. This thread may be the one that gets me back into the hobby. Wish I had the room that you do. Just wanted to say that it all looks really great so far and I am excited to see the construction process play out in this thread! Good luck.
 
Made the second corner and now I'm at the point of going through the wall into the smaller room of the basement. The plywood undersupport looks kinda flimsy, but this will be supported by 2X4s extending down from the return run roadbed and will be concealed in scenery.
The point where the road bed turns toward the wall will be a mountain with tunnel portal facing away from the camera position. The picture doesn't give as much depth perception as there really is. Those are 8' drywall panels on the wall with the last one only 4 foot wide just past the light switches.


ThroughtheWall.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nice job so far. I haven't had enough nerve to ask the CFO for permission to tunnel through any walls yet. :)
 
That's looking awesome Ken, you're making me extremely jealous of all of the room that you have there.

BTW, I have to clean up after each day of working on a project too. Always like to start the next one with a clean slate. :)
 
If ya want the area to build your railroad kingdom, ya gotta man up and take charge. Let em know who's the boss and who is the land lord. You're not going to have much to work with if you aren't going to use the power that the good lord gave ya.

Oh, I gotta run now. The wife wants me for something down stairs.
 
Well Ken, sounds to me like your boss/land lord duties are about the same as mine. :D That's cool though, it helps if everyone is happy about it all in the end.
 
Check out Chapter 8 in Tony Koester's "Designing & Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads. I think there is an answer there to not having to have the layout supports attached to your walls. Separate email with attachment has been sent to you.

Eriefan
 
Geez, I gotta buy a book to see this? :cool:
Actually, having been doing constuction on layouts for over 20 years, I have it pretty much in mind of how to tackle the tight spots. The details will work out as I reach them.
I'm running up against another delay now as the wife may have to have another bypass surgery. I'm tryin to push as far with the noisy work as I can before that date. She is going to need a lot of rest.
 
Ken, indeed she will. I hope everything goes well with the sugery and she is restored to good health. She will feel pretty crappy for about a month after the bypass and I suspect most of your time will be taken up looking after her.
 
She had to undergo a bypass last October, but it doesn't seem like it worked. So been there, done it and it does take a lot of attention.
 
Very nice and quite impressive. I am watching with interest as you build seeing there is knowledge to gain for a future layout yet to build. Thanks for the posted updates.

May the best be with your wife and you in the upcoming sugery.
 
My wife is fine now. A little balloon catheterization was all she needed. She's home now and quite a bit more energetic.

I've been able to do some more work on the new layout. This photo is looking into the smaller room that is on the right side of the layout map that I posted further up the page. The hole in the wall is to the far left in this shot. The far wall of the room is 20 feet from the doorway. There is enough room on the far end to walk between the layout and the wall/electrical panel. The frame for the turn around can be seen on the floor. I put those round carpet protectors under the frame so the carpet won't be mashed down when I eventually have to dismantle this layout.

17Feb09.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top