At this point the benchwork is almost done. It is getting pretty exciting because once the room prep and benchwork are done, I can start on the fun part – laying track, model building, and running trains. Not saying I am not enjoying the project already. I like doing design and woodwork. It’s just that I have been waiting a long time to have an operational layout and I am finally right on the cusp of seeing it happen.

This post covers the last bit of odds and ends that I need to finish up so I can say the benchwork and room prep are done.

In the previous post I described the first attempt to use LED based lighting. A problem discovered late in the game drove me to start over again, redoing the lighting using a different strategy. 

This post covers the final lighting solution for both decks of the layout. This includes everything except the harbor, an area that requires specialized benchwork and lighting. That will be presented later in its own posts.

At this point the lighting installation is 95% complete. The only remaining portion of the layout that needs lighting installed are the harbor modules where the car ferry will operate. That benchwork is fairly specialized and not built yet. It will be done later when I spend some time solely dedicated to finishing up the harbor area. The lighting for that section will be completed along with the benchwork.

This post covers all the lighting for the rest of the layout.

While my job has been keeping me quite busy, the covid lockdown has kept me around home. The good news is the railroad is progressing.

It’s been a while since my last construction update. I was trying to finish up installing the lighting and that turned into a bigger adventure than originally planned.

Here’s the story in two parts. The first part is the why, the second part is the how.

Been a while since my last post. I have been settling into my new job and dealing with the whole covid lockdown thing. While the lockdown has impacted a lot of things, the good news is that the layout is progressing.

Before I get to the layout, there is one change I want to talk about first. The MB&W is undergoing a name change and from now on will be called the Fidalgo Island Rail and Sea Transportation Company.

So, the last few months have been interesting. I got laid off in March, found a new job in April and started working again in May. All this during the Covid-19 lock down craziness. I am feeling very fortunate to have gotten through this stretch relatively unscathed. And, during all this, we have managed to keep the railroad project moving forward.

Now that the upper deck is fastened down, we can proceed with upper lighting valance and the fascia on the front of the upper deck.

Previous: The Mud Bay & Western #5 - Fastening Down the Upper Deck

The previous post saw us roughing in the skyboards and backdrop support. This had to be done before the benchwork was fastened down because in some areas the benchwork (door slabs) are what hold the lower edge of the skyboard to the wall. Now that the skyboards are in, we can begin fastening down the door slabs.

Previous: The Mud Bay & Western #4 - Skyboards and Backdrops

So now that the benchwork is roughed in, I need to address the skyboard situation. I figure it will be easier to work on these before the door slabs are fastened down so now’s the time.

Based on the overall plan presented in the previous post (The New Plan), it is time to rough in the benchwork.

Part of the benchwork is anchored directly to the walls while the peninsula is self-supporting in the middle of the room. This required two different approaches for support. Around the walls we used shelf brackets. For the peninsula we used an aluminum frame.

Details in the post below ...