A lay out update long overdue. Due to my enforced absence for long periods little get's done on my home layout, the big one. Even when I do get back I have so little time in which to get anything done. So where am I at, well time as well as money comes in here and buying timber, track and other sundries soon starts eating away at the budget. I bought some plywood and timber the other day and go $20 back out of a $1000, 10sheets of 12mm ply and 150linear meteres of 70x20. The price of track has me stumped, $1400 for 10boxes of code 83 and they could only get me 3 boxes so the rest is on back order. I was also going to use Peco code 83 turnouts but I changed my mind after building the Fast Track turnouts and installing them on another layout,
http://www.handlaidtrack.com/index-2.php They aren't everyone's cup of tea but after building them and seeing how well they work especially on DCC I decided to go this way .
Anyway some pictures of where I am now at.
Looking in the door. The benchwork in the fore ground will have two bridges on it. A high steel trestle nearest the front to carry the track from the high level and low stone bridge in the back ground to carry the track into the low level staging.
This is roughly the height of the upper deck which is about 64inches off the floor.
This how I will support the roadbed around the central peninsula. From this point the track will descend around the peninsula which is about 75ft of track not including passing loops. The support is double sided and will have a backscene on both sides so the operator can't see the other side as he follows his train around.
This is where the lower deck staging will be and will have run through track to reverse loop to allow for continuous running. The L girders above are for the upper deck which be the scenic part and will have a 130ft turntable to turn my big locos.
This area will be the mountain run. Locos will descend through a series of mountain passes, basically a 3 stack figure 8 spiral. Where the figure 8 crosses over I'll install a different style of bridge. There will also be the reverse loops and the turn back loop for the continuous run and if possible some more staging tracks. The bench work here is 16ft wide by 8 ft deep.
Well that about covers it for the moment. I'm waiting on some 1/8th MDF to be delivered so I can get the back scene boards up before I do any more to the top deck.
Ozzie21
