Page 7 - NMRA Roundhouse May-June 2019
P. 7

   Planning second layout with
lessons learned
The first layout was 95% complete
when we decided to sell our home, so the layout was cut up in sections and taken by several friends developing
their own. That was a lesson learned
in seeing how I had never planned for disassembly. However, we decided to stay in our home and so the second layout was designed based upon some of those lessons. Knowing that the layout might likely be taken apart in the future, I decided to build it on what I call trays. These consisted of 1” x 3” pine frames varying in length and width which would sit on “L” girders and screwed together. Some that would be yards had 5/8” ex- terior plywood sheathing attached to it while the remainder had risers attached to girders holding the spline base. In that way, these could be unscrewed
and a neat cut made across between the trays. Wiring that passed through the tray ends were looped in order for reconnection.
Planning
I fell in love with Chama and its yards, so I dedicated 37ft to it, closely following the prototype. This now looked more authentic than the 8ft section of the
previous layout. This time it would be a loop going to Osier, Dallas and back to Chama and with a siding that climbed to a gold mine. Chama would have a siding to a saw mill. I didn’t need to add more stops since I wanted the feel of stretches of meandering single track like the prototype. Since my children were now adults and gone, I had more room and designed the layout in a space of approximately 17’ x 50’. Chama would be an island down the centre of the
room in order to view it from both sides while the remainder would follow the walls. The track plan was developed on CAD on one layer. A second overlapping layer had the “trays” and framing laid
out and the third layer had the lighting above. My aim was to be as authentic as possible from structures to rolling stock to scenes as photography was going to be part of the hobby. It would float in the room with nothing under it that would be a distraction. The fascia colour too would be neutral, what I would call boiler gray. The walls below the layout were also the same colour up to the backdrop and the floor was covered in a neutral colour carpet tile complementing the dark gray walls. The room had been completely finished before the first lay- out was started; walls finished in drywall, suspended ceiling tile and carpet. None of this would be easy to do afterwards.
The whole idea was that when you came into the room, all your attention would be on the layout and nothing else.
Lex Parker MMR
. . . to be continued
June 2019 - ROUNDHOUSE 7 June 2019 - ROUNDHOUSE 7
    


















































































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