Exploring the World of Model Railroading
Spent the Saturday doing errands, among which was purchasing 5 sheets of plywood for the staging deck. In the late afternoon/early evening and I started feeling guilty for not accomplishing much today, so in a moment of inspiration, I hashed out the remaining metal benchwork on the staging deck. That area has been sitting empty without benchwork for almost a year, but no more…
I’m one of those people with a beautiful hardwood floor in a finished basement that’s totally uneven and a disaster to level on. To illustrate my point, on the left, top surface is measured at the back of the layout room where ceiling is the lowest (and this is my reference height), and on the right measured at the blob around the column.
Gods of weather smiled upon me this morning by granting me couple of hours before rain, just enough to finish the peninsula blob and fill the gaps that were remaining from yesterday. The benchwork now looks ready to receive the roadbed and track…
Another productive weekend and although I did not get to finish everything, most of the subroadbed has been cut and fitted on the lower level. I did not get to cut the peninsula blob as I ran out of time.
Today marks a milestone achievement for the layout! All backdrops and uprights have been painted and the benchwork is ready for the next step.
After coming home today, I installed the last few twin track uprights on the peninsula head, completing the major portion of the benchwork. For the kicks, I put couple of brackets on to see what it all looks like together. And it looks good! My crazy idea with a wooden stud cut on angles worked out pretty well.
Despite having to shovel some wet and heavy snow midday, it was a very productive day on the layout. I’m pleased to announce that peninsula benchwork is done.
I might need to add some cross braces here and there, but I’ll revisit that later, if needed. For now, what’s left to do on the peninsula is to sand and prime the new backdrop surfaces, then install the uprights.