Raw Materials

13 ply 3/4" birch plywood sawn and ready to go. More details here.

Build it and they will come...

Been waiting for this day to happen, now go and get busy making sawdust (benchwork)!

Great to see you making a start on the bench work Alan, I'm sure it will be well engineered and constructed like the rest of then LK&O...

Jas...

Oh yea!!

Looking forward to seeing your work, Alan!!

About Time!

Nice to see benchwork finally getting underway.

Obvious question...

So, are you going to build all the benchwork (or an entire level) before you lay any track?  Or will you revert to standard practice and do a little of each as you go?  You showed some amazing self discipline by doing all the lighting so I'm just wondering.

Can't wait to see whatever you do.  It should be awesome.

Steady as she goes

Pretty much. Something like this:

1. Build entire upper deck except for sections above helices
2. Lay upper deck track, test, test, test
3. Build lower deck sections below helices
4. Build helices w/track, install, test
5. Install lower deck lighting
6. Build lower deck
7. Lay lower deck track, test, test, test

That's the plan anyway.

Intense

This project is the most intense model railroad project I

have ever seen. The planning, construction, basement prep,

backdrops, walls, lighting....whew....Imagine what the scenic

and operational components will look like.

WOW!

Birch Plywood is so nice to work with! Lightweight, takes screws & nails easily, is a pleasure to cut, makes GREAT  bench work! Used it by accident, when H. D. had damaged sheet available at cost reduction; was in need of some ply to finish built-in blanket box in ex-layout room [son returned safe from Iraq -THANK YOU LORD! - and he needed a room]. My 2 cents.....papasmurf in NH

Wall Brackets

I made a decision on brackets for wall mounting the benchwork. The 12" x 18" size should work well since the benchwork is 24" deep except for a few places where smaller brackets will be needed. Manufactured by A&M Hardware and available in bulk from the Wurth Baer store in Detroit. I am ordering the primed version so I can paint them sky blue to match the walls.

I would have like something like that here...

Similar to what I used

I used double-rail brackets instead of fixed ones, but in the end I figure the result is the same.

I've had a lot of success with these

These come in a variety of sizes and can hold a lot of weight (for those who over-engineer).  http://www.knapeandvogt.com/?page=details.653  My son helped me build a workbench and some shelving in our garage a few years back and we figure we could park a small car on an overhead shelf and not worry about walking under it...  One caveat however, while they can support a lot of weight you may have to do a bit of shimming to get things as level as possible; they could do a better job of providing an accurate right-angle brace.

Bracket Mockup

A&M Hardware 12"x18" bracket template 1:1 scale on 24" deep bench. I'm likin' it. Won't protrude into lower deck sky space much at all. Sweet.

UPDATE Scale benchwork design drawing revised with A&M brackets

Rock-n-Roll

Last year I passed the 20 year mark with the company which entitled me to 4 weeks vacation. It is now year end and I haven't taken any this year so today I convinced my boss to let me take off the entire month of December. We can roll over only a single week so if I don't use'em I lose'em.

Look out railroad, we are going to make some serious benchwork building progress in December!

Looking forward to seeing it built...

Nice to have some time to

Yes, Excited

Jason, you read that right. I am excited. The railroad has taken a backseat lately due to life's other priorities. Typically, it is frowned upon by the company to take all of your vacation time at once. Not totally disallowed, just not liked by management. So when they said yes I was a bit surprised. I recently finished a huge project on time and under budget. Perhaps that is the reason for their generosity. And yes Greg, it will be super sweet to have this huge block of time to play amateur carpenter! Let the sawdust creation begin.

Benchwork construction goes fast

I filled my entire basement with basic benchwork for the 1100-sq-ft Siskiyou Line in a couple Saturdays.

I have a hard time imagining it taking you all month just to build the basic benchwork ... what you gonna do with the rest of the month?

Not quite so simple

One of my design considerations is to keep the benchwork as thin as possible (3-1/2") because it is double deck. This means there can be no cross members in places where a Tortoise machine will be. Therefore I cannot simply space cross members at even intervals. Instead, the benchwork cross member arrangement will be dictated by the track layout above. Additionally, I want to be able to relocate cross members from underneath with the benchwork mounted to the wall (future track changes). That means I cannot do any end grain fastening. I experimented with my Kreg system and don't care much for it in the plywood. Tends to spread the plies on the head side and I was easily able to break the joint with only hand pressure. So, I am using Simpson StrongTie angles and #6 tapping screws. To further complicate things I am governed by a self-imposed rule that each section can be no more than 30" x 96". This way all sections will fit through standard doors and in the bed of my truck in the event we ever move. Recall the whole project is designed to be removable from the room leaving nothing more than screw holes behind. All of the above stated cause there to be a bit more engineering-as-we-go.

All reasons why it will be slow going compared to conventional assembly. It will make much more sense once I get underway and post some pics.

Don't use tortoises

One simple solution is to not use Tortoises.

Before you settle on turnout mechanisms, you should wait for the December MRH magazine. There's a new option available from TAM Valley that I would give serious consideration to. It's much thinner than a tortoise.

Tortoises

Already have a box of 92 of them in the train room.

Sell em

Alan:

If I were in your shoes I'd sell the tortoises on eBay and move to a more modern technology like TAM's new offering. They're a lot thinner and the throw's more adjustable. The servos are a lot more flexible and a lot more compact than a tortoise.

The tortoise has served it purpose well, but technology's starting to move past it - tortoises are 30 year old technology now and there's more options to pick from today that, depending on your requirements, are superior.

Don't see the difference

Joe, are you referring to the SG90 servos? Other than size aren't they the same basic thing - a little motor. I like the Tortoises because of the built-in switches to power frogs.

The UPS man cometh

The UPS man arrived with 83 lbs worth of shelf brackets. These units are sweet. Wow, these are some sturdy brackets. I now fully believe them when they say a single bracket will support 1000 pounds. The primed-only brackets were out of stock so I elected to substitute gray ones. I think the color will work just fine. It is neutral enough that I don't think it is worth all the trouble to sand and paint them especially since so little of the bracket will be visible. Especially considering they have a really nice powder coating on them. Would be a shame to put crappy enamel over it.

I found Simpson framing angles (# A34-WEST) online, including shipping, at almost half the cost at the local Home Depot so I ordered up a box of 200. They will be here Tuesday.

The old blueprint that has spent the past year wadded up in the corner is back in place ready to serve its next purpose - cross member locating. A little tattered and crinkled but will work just fine.