I wont post empty room photos

I wont post empty room photos in part because the room was never empty.......all the boxes of my train stuff are still occupying the room making construction more fun.  Here is a shot of roughly half of the room though, with the sewer discharge pipe that I have to deal with.

This also shows the start of the shelf brackets going up.  I debated for a long time using these or building an open grid frame with legs.  Since the room is so small I opted for this for a few reasons.  First the deepest part of the layout is only 19" so its going to rather light, second with no legs it leaves more space below for storage, and third (I think) this was cheaper than buying a bunch of lumber......or at the very least it was faster.  All of the standards and brackets were up in about an hour.

This shows the brackets going up and being checked for level.

After I got the brackets up I did a quick mockup of the final layout height/cork/track to check for clearance under the pipe.  Superliners are not going to be run often but I wanted to make sure my largest equipment would clear the pipe so I could run trains in a continuous loop on the lower level for my son.  Just barely made it.....

More to come.....

Here is a mockup of the lower

Here is a mockup of the lower level with the plywood in place.  My kids spent the rest of Sunday nite drawing pictures all over it for me.

I dont know why but i took a bunch of pictures of painting the benchwork.  It wasnt necessary on the lower level but once upper level starts I'll want it all white to reflect light back down to the lower level.  The benefit now I guess is that when Im doing wiring under the layout I'll have a nice bright background making everything easier to see.

The layout is sitting on 1x4's that have been screwed to the shelf brackets.  Everything below is painted primer white and makes it nice and clean (and bright) below the layout.  The plywood is glued to the 1x4's with liquid nails.  I wont bother doing this to the top side of the plywood.

I also got the last of my supplies in the mail today.  All I need is the foam top and we start laying out the cork and tracks......

Waste pipe section

Shelf brackets looks like a nice way to go.

Consider making the section that goes under the waste pipe removable.  If you ever need to make use of that cleanout plug to get your sewer line roto-rooted, you may end up removing that section one way or another, so planning for it would be a good idea.

That was a huge concern for

That was a huge concern for me.  I also have the hose bib pipe right above the layout in the soffit in the room.  Around the sewer pipe is going to be a removable masonite cover and all the structures will be removable.   If a part of the layout need a to be removed  its possible, but will require some rebuild.  A concession I was forced into.

Just a minor update

Just a minor update, the foam top is down everywhere, and the cork roadbed is going in.  The first locomotive also made its appearance in Humboldt Yard.....eventually this will be repainted into Milwaukee Road orange and black.

I've been working on the lower lift out section as well.  The plywood base rests on two 1x4's attached to the shelf brackets (same as the picture above).  So far its a pretty solid fit but I want to do something to keep it aligned each time its removed/re-installed.  There really wont be any scenery on it except for some ground cover and the yard tracks so lifting it out shouldn't be a big deal.  Not sure what I'm going to do for electrical connections to the lift out yet though.

Great progress!

Cold day

Today started off snowy here in Chicagoland and then it got really cold, not supposed to be any better tomorrow.  Great day to stay inside and work on the layout!  Though I had to make a trip to the hardware store first.....

Picked up some lumber and conduit and a few storage units and finally built myself a workbench after 10+ years of not having one.  Ended up spending most of the afternoon clearing out the spot in the storage room and building it.  Its way too clean right now but its also mostly empty!  LOL 

I did get the last of the cork down in Humboldt yard this afternoon too.  Tomorrow I should have time to work on prepping a few more switches and then starting to get the track laid around Humboldt.

I hit a milestone this past

I hit a milestone this past weekend when the last tracks were laid on the lower level of the layout.  It was mainly finishing up Humboldt yard area (was short one switch due to an added yard track) and a few sidings.  Up next is starting to drop feeders and getting all of the different wiring busses in place.   I'm also going to be ordering the DCC system soon so I can start running some trains.

Here's a few overall shots of the lower level.

I think I need to do some cleaning, its getting messy in the train room.  LOL

Well done mayor....

It's always nice to hit milestones.   Looking forward to more updates

I'll raise a Schlitz ...

... to another Beer Line recreation!   Looking like some good progress there Mike and excellent that you can share it with the next generation.

Big update coming

I need to post some more pictures when I have time but a big milestone was hit a few weeks ago.  Got the DCC system connected and we're running trains on the lower level now!  Now its time for trouble shooting.

Spent last nite working on getting wires on some DPDT switches for my turnout contorl...........only 10 more to go for the lower level then its time to start installing them.

I'll raise a Coors

since that's what the D&RGW mainly hauled.

Looking forward to more beer

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line.

Looking forward to updates.

Cheers!

I tip a Corona for you! (Building up my virus tolerance as well - lol). 
 

GAAAHHHHH!!!!!

GAAAHHHHH!!!!! Corona-virus!  

Thanks everyone, I'll try to get a more detailed update posted this weekend.

I'm going with

Pliny the Elder and Sante Adairius rustic ales these days...DaveB

I had a little time last

I had a little time last weekend to work on the layout, didnt get much done but I did get some brackets cut and installed to support the fascia.  One of the downfalls of such a thin benchwork system is the lack of anything substantial to support fascia.  In my case especially important since the turnout controls are all manual from the fascia.

Just waiting on the last few pieces to be delivered for the turnout controls now.  Then the fascia goes on!

Track crew showed up

This afternoon the ramp to the next level started.  The civil engineers came out to survey the route:

Then the grading crew came out to start constructing the ramp itself:

I have all the brackets already to support the ramp on the way up.  If I did the math correctly the ramp will be just under 5.1% which is insanely high but considering the typical train to the upper level will only be 8-9 cars it should be fine (fingers crossed).   Roadbed and track should start sometime this weekend.

-Mike

Update

I should have all kinds of free time with the stay at home orders but my days seem to be just as busy as always.  Still trying to work a 40 hour week from home and doing e-learning for the kids is a huge time commitment.  But I have found time every few days to head to the basement and work on the layout.

The ramp to the upper level is complete.  The grade ended up being right around 5% which is steep but my tests so far I've been able to run 8 cars plus a caboose up the ramp, sometimes 9.  I havent used my H10-44's yet, I'm hoping the old Walthers ones I have, being so heavy will have no trouble getting traction up the ramp. 

The ramp took quite a bit of adjusting and tweaking but I finally got it evened out nice.  A few supports are stamped metal brackets screwed into the shelving standards.  For the others I cut strips of plywood and embedded them into the foam.  once I'm satisfied with how everything runs I'll use some liquid nails to permenantly attach everything.

This is the slots I cut for the risers

And the riser inserted:

I've begun running the ramp track bus and attaching feeders, should be done with that by the weekend.

The other task has been installing the switch controls.  I'm using a DPDT switch mounted below the benchwork to control the throw of the switches.  (think home-made version of a blue-point turnout controller)  There will be a control rod connected to a handle on the fascia for manual control.  I'm using one set of electrical contacts to power route the frogs (black/red/gray wires) and the other set for fascia indicators (brown/white)

These take a bit of tweaking to get positioned correctly but once installed they're pretty solid and so far they're holding the switch points tight.  As of last nite I had 4 completed on the lower level...........only 12 more to go!

Another Beer line..... Can't

Another Beer line.....

Can't wait to see this progress. Have been enticed since the MR project layout to this line and is such a good candidate to model in a smaller space. Appeals to me greatly and is on the someday list for a exhibition layout possible.

Switch mechanism DPDT - i used these on an N scale time saver when i was tight for cash. Very economical and functional. Last project layout i used a Tam Valley servo drive with cheap servos. I wasn't that impressed mainly due to the servo quality and thinking going back to the old method. Im considering main line and hard to reach places to be tortise or some other slow motion control and then the dpdt on the rest of the layout.

Looks like yours go through thick foam? how dis that work. I was concearned about flex in the control arm and not enough throw on the point.

Another though was with access to cheap laser services online that i may make brackets for the DPDT or do something like the Fast Tracks system on a DIY method...

Cheers
Adrian

Adrian, The layout is built

Adrian,

The layout is built on shelf brackets so the "benchwork" is rather light weight.  Its a 1/4" sheet of plywood with 3/4" of foam on top, so overall thickness is only 1".  The piano wire is .04" so its pretty still by itself.  From the DPDT switch the wire is only around 1 1/4" long so it doesn't flex much.   Any thicker though and it may not work as well.

The throw rods to the fascia will be relatively short, so far I think only 3 or 4 will have any real length to them.

End of the month, I guess its

End of the month, I guess its time for an update again.  I really need to do these more often, especially with more time to work on the layout now.  A lot was accomplished in April, all track including the ramp is down and powered,all switch controllers are installed and wired to power the frogs and everything runs nice. 

The lift out bridge has been cut loose which means the electrical connections are done!  Yes!  I ended up wiring all of the track feeders to two brass sheets mounted to the plywood.  They press down on a pressure contact on the shelf bracket, which ended up being a spring loaded sensor probe I found on-line.  We'll see how well they hold up.  I need to take some pictures of that build still.

The fascia was installed and painted a gray color that ended up being close to Milwaukee Road gray actually.  I think it will work well with the darker urban scenery.  You can kind of see it in a later picture.

The fascia on the lower level is 8" tall which will allow for the manual turnout controls along the top and a track diagram below.  The intention is to have indicator lights for turnout position on the track diagram.  This is going to be harder on the upper level because the fascia can only be about 4" tall.

I also painted up all the knobs for the turnout controls.  I used orange in part to match the railroad, and in part to stand out from the fascia.  If I end up not liking the color combo I'll repaint them.

This week I painted all the track on the lower level.  I used Rust-Oleum camo brown because its dead flat brown.  Now i need to spend some time cleaning all the track............I miss running trains.

I also started the benchwork for the upper level......brackets are in, wood bases are screwed in.  The plywood is in my garage right now, fully painted, and waiting final cutting before bringing down to the basement.

Now I just need treasury approval to purchase the track and DCC equipment for the upper level and we start laying track.  Tomorrow is a trip to the hardware store for a few sheets of 3/4" pink foam and some more liquid nails.

Thanks for sharing the layout......

Nice write up Mike on the update.    Maybe the MR can apply for some stimulus money to jump start the upper level....

How about this for a fast

How about this for a fast update

I spent some time this afternoon cleaning the paint off of the rails.  Not a fun task but it was done in about an hour.....and one beer.  LOL  I'm reminded of a line from Shawshank Redemption...........all that was left was a rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub.  Guess I need a new bright-boy now.  LOL



I also got the plywood cut for almost all of the upper level.  Tomorrow it'll be glued/screwed down to the brackets.  Construction is moving fast......  and the treasury is considering how much funding to release for upper level track purchases
 

Long overdue update

An update seems looooong over due on this project.  Lets see, since the end of April what's happened..............

The bencwork on the upper deck has been completed, foam top is down and track planning started.  Well it started with a lot of tweaking the end of the ramp from the lower level to get everything aligned nicely.  Though we did have our first train make its way up to the upper level about 3 weeks ago.

The treasury approved funding for the remaining supplies for the upper level so all the track, switches, roadbed and electronics have been secured and are in process of being installed.  I ended up rewiring a little of my main power to break the layout up into a few power districts.  And since I cant see my NCE EB-1 breakers I'm running remote LED indicators to the fascia.

Last weekend with it so hot I spent most of it in the basement laying cord and installing track, so far we've gotten the ramp up to the top done, most of the siding to Trostells tannery in place, and the Walnut St yard in front of the Schlitz complex mostly done.   (The kids apple sauce multi-packs are great for holding cork down while the glue dries ! )

And the 'yard lead' is in place. The tracks that curve to the right go off to the rest of the Schlitz complex and towards Pabst.  The tracks in the back corner are to the Schlitz keg shipping building and the incoming shipping building.

The goal is to have all the track in place by mid August.  Then its on to more wiring on the upper deck, and getting the lighting finally installed for the lower level.