Work has progressed nicely on the SW Branch...

Here are some additional photos of the progress in the basement for my new layout...PRR's Southwest Branch.

More drywall...

How to curve drywall...1/4 drywall.

First step...wet it and add weight to the area you want to curve.

Step two, add a little more weight...let it dry overnight and the next morning the curve is permanent.

Curved piece installed.

Metal track used for top and bottom plate.

Installed on the top and bottom plate. I used one ten foot piece cut in half.

Curve wall is taped, first of three coats of mud.

More progress shots on the way. The walls are finished and painted. Going to start on the ceiling grid next.

Curving

Your curving is as great as the whole layout room!

Hmmmm... Where have I seen that before?

Looks vaguely familiar for some reason. Enjoy the journey.

BTW I went the cut top and bottom plate route instead of track because it made the assembly less prone to being knocked out of kilter by an errant foot. Not in this in-progress photo but later the wall was secured to the floor and joists. Track would have required a lot more driveits. The cut center plates I added to help prevent the studs from moving around over time. Again, not in this photo but later, 2x4 noggins were added to the straight walls similar in fashion to fire stops. All done in hopes of keeping my backdrop from developing movement cracks at the seams. Working so far.

Supporting the Railroad...Benchwork, sort-of.....

I plan on using 2" foam for the top of the bench work and support it with these homemade brackets.

I milled the brackets from 2 X 2's with a dado milled on each side. One to accept the 3/4" stringer and the opposite side with a 5/16" for the shelf bracket.

Below is a test of two different size, 24" and 16", brackets mounted on the center back drop wall before the dry wall is installed.

I'm confident these brackets will support the rail road just fine because I'm using 2" foam, 250 PSI, for the top. The metal brackets are designed to carry a 500 lb. load. No i can't stand on it... but why would I?

@Alan

If you notice each end of the curve there is a wood plate, top and bottom. At the bottom I used construction adhesive to hold the metal bottom track in place and a plywood plate at the top between the floor joist. After the adhesive set it didn't move. I did have to re-adjust the bottom a few times until the adhesive dried. I used tap Cons on the wood bottom plate.

John

Brackets

I like the brackets. Not flimsy.

@Alan

Thanks, I think they will work just fine. Time will tell. I plan on holding each bracket square to the wall by attaching 1/8' plywood to the face of each bracket followed by a second lamination of 1/8 and then the hardboard fascia.

John

@John

This caught my eye, as the PRR Southwest Branch is very close to me. I've tried to do research on Internet for track diagrams and pictures of the branch but found very little.  I'd be interested in seeing your track plan. Are you going to model the prototype or freelance it?

Brackets and finish room

John

Looking good. A finished room is the right way to start a new layout. My first had no walls ceiling or heat. My second had heat and a ceiling. The one I have now has a finished ceiling, walls and floors, as well as heat, recessed lighting  and one switch to turn on and off all railroad related power. No AC, but in the northeast it so far is not a problem.The brackets are great. I got the idea from my son, Neil. I got them from Home Depot and they will support 500 lbs.. Tony Koester showed the finished room in MR's February "Trains of Thought". Here is a photo of it today. The two posts are temporary and will be eliminated. The other photo shows the brackets in an earlier photo.No curved walls, but do have lift out.   

                                                                                                                     Thanks for sharing. 

@nwwatson

I found the track charts for the SW Branch on line. I have the track chart for the connection to the mainline too. I am a member of the PRR historical society and they did a story on the SW Branch in their quarterly publication "The Keystone" some time back, Volume 28, Number 4...winter 1995

I'm going to model South Greenwood, Youngwood, Scottdale and Uniontown, and a second deck starting at Uniontown for the Coal Lick Run Branch. The track plan will follow the track chart as best I can but will modify it when needed. I'll see if I can find the link for the track chart and post it on this blog.

John

@Ray

Thanks. You should start a blog on the construction of your layout.

John

blog

Thanks John 

 I thought about it, but between building the layout, working on my club layout and running the operations at the club, I have enough on my plate. Mine  is a small layout compared to yours. I do like your brackets and the neatness of the bench work. I am not as neat as you, and don't want to advertise it. LOL

                                                                                                                       Ray

@ nwwatson

Following are the track charts I got off the internet...

Here is a link to the SW Branch track chart:  http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/PRR/PRR%20Track%20Charts/PRR%20Pittsburgh%20Div%20SW%20Brs%20TC%201951.pdf

Hope this helps.

John

Drywall Finished...

All the rock is hung, taped and painted.

Ceiling grid next!

Great job....

...and I just want to say to all you guys that if I ever get my "dream space"  I'll certainly be referencing back on the stuff you all have done.  The way it's looking, it may be anywhere from a couple to 5 years or even a little longer out for my space to come and stuff like lighting tech will have advanced I'm sure but the overall knowledge and workmanship is still an example to strive for.

Michael

@ Michael

Thank You. Can't wait to start on the bench work.

John

Source for metal brackets?

John:

Who makes the metal bracket?

Thanks!

Chuck

Sweet!!!

It looks great!

@ Chuck

The brackets for the bench work are from Menards. They are available in several lengths. I plan on using 16" and 24" to make the best use of the 4 X 8 sheets of 2" foam.

john

@ Rick

Thanks. Getting excited!

John

Southwest Junction

It would be interesting to see Southwest Junction modeled to scale!

Did some rough calculations and it is about 13000 feet from the first signal gantry (3232) near the "New Tunnel" to the second gantry (3208) from the right. This is 150 feet in HO scale! And this is basically one junction. Just shows how much we have to compress things!

@ OKGraeme

I'm going to model the Southwest Branch. The junction will be off layout. The first town modeled will be South Greenwood and County Home Junction.

John

nice!

Looks like a wonderful space John!
Have you posted a track plan yet?

@ Bill

No Bill I have not. The reason I haven't is because I don't have one to post. I have it in my head, at least a basic concept but I'm afraid it will be an as I go sort of thing. The beauty of a lager space... making changes on the fly so to speak. I do have the original track charts, I posted the link in an earlier post, so I'm going to follow it as best I can with the space available. I'm only going to model four towns, South Greenwood, Youngwood, Scottdale and Uniontown. A branch line, the Coal Lick Run Branch, will leave Uniontown via a helix to a second deck. The second deck will be on a narrow shelf about two thirds of the railroad. The end point of the second deck will be a large coal mine and a marshaling yard. You will work the area on a raised platform as the second deck will be 62" to 64" above the floor.

Well that's the plan anyway....

John