I really have not had much to post as I have been transitioning not only to a new job but to a new location. I have finally been able to move from the Midwest back to the Pacific Northwest. With the open plains, lack of mountains and Tornadoes in the rear view mirror I get to start over on the Spokane Portland & Seattle 5th subdivision, The Oregon Trunk.

A few things I learned, or have discovered is that I like the idea of modular railroading. Even though this is the first time in a long time that I don not plan on moving, I am still going to build using the Free-mo standards for the main portion. Part of the reason is that, if something changes I again can take my layout with, unlike the layout I attempted to start in Kansas. The rest of the decision lies in the fact the I like the idea behind Free-mo and the community.

When we purchased the new house  here in Idaho there was a small shed in the yard that we did not have a specific purpose. So after some examining and negotiating it was determined that I could use the space as a workshop and had room for a layout. Although the shed is not overly large it has 8' tall ceilings which allow me some room to get creative.

The first order of business was to figure out what type of Free-mo setup I could squeeze into the space. The space itself is a little bit odd as it is 15'6" x 7'6" which does not give a lot of room to build much of anything. I realized that I could not fit in all the modules I had built or even planned out. I decided that my best option would be to make the layout itself adjustable and changeable. I have designed to have a 10' x 2' section of the layout open to allow Free-mo modules to be plugged in a played with.

With the 8' tall ceilings this has allowed me to set the layout at the Free-mo recommended height of 50" still allowing me room to have a work area underneath and also some storage above the layout. I could see what I wanted in my minds eye, but I wanted a way to test my madness in the "real world."  After seeing a few people post things from Sketchup I figured that this would be the perfect project to try it out. Here is a drawings of what I have planned.

With the plan in place I feel like I am ready to get started. Now comes the issue with the plan. The building has no power and is not finished on the interior. Before I can really start to use the space I have a lot of work to do. My plan will be to do what I can get the space usable as a storage space. Then I will work on getting permitting and wiring done in order to finish the walls. At that point I can start on the permanent layout.  I plan to document my progress on this endeavor as much as possible, I may try my had a taking some videos as I go also.

The "Shed"  in all its glory