Michael,

I love the progress and will give you a call today.

Rick

I have laid the first few feet of track at Barnesville. The old station building fits perfectly over the new track arrangement. I'm so glad that I could save it from the old layout.

Bet it feels good to see trains sitting on track! I wouldn't be able to resist running them back and forth, letting my imagination do the rest. Seeing the headlight I suspect you weren't either.

I wouldn't be able to resist running them back and forth, letting my imagination do the rest. Seeing the headlight I suspect you weren't either.

I think I wore out the buttons on the controller... so much fun!

 ALL OF THE GREAT WORK GOING ON , AND SO QUICKLY, THERE MUST BE DOZENS OF THEM. i CAN ALREADY SEE THE FOREST. NICE GOING.

Michael,

Just went through your post again. Also surfed through your web site. Nice all the way around.

I noticed on the old railroad you used pine lumber(?) and on the new it looks like you using expensive 3/4" plywood. Could you offer some words of wisdom if I am correct in the woods that you are using as to why the plywood?

Bernd

 Could you offer some words of wisdom if I am correct in the woods that you are using as to why the plywood?

I'm not sure whether there is any wisdom in this...

I switched from lumber to plywood for several reasons:

• pine lumber tends to warp over time
• plywood is dimensionally stable
• there is no monetary advantage in using lumber so why not use the better product?

I calculated that I would need about 250 pieces of 8' long 4x1" pine or plywood. I looked around and found a cabinet maker in my area that would order 20 sheets of 3/4" cabinet grade birch plywood for me and rip it to 3 1/2" wide strips on his precision table saw. Total cost including labor and taxes came to $880 which means that I paid $3.38 per strip. The last time I bought pine for my old layout in the Denver area I paid about $4.50 plus tax.

Also, if you go and buy 260 pieces of lumber I'm pretty sure that you end up with about 50 pieces that will warp too much to be used for any precision work.

So to me it's a no brainer to use plywood. And working with it is a lot more fun. No knots, no warping, all pieces the exact same width just gives you so much more precision and quality.

If you ever make it to Florida stop by and have a look.

I have built the basic platform structures for the Barnesville station. I will come back later and add more detailing parts and weathering when I finish the scene.

What an excellent project. Your website is now added to my favourites :)

Michael,

Sorry I didn't get back sooner to reply. Thanks for pointing out the cost. I would have thought that plywood would be cheaper.

Your are absolutely correct about the stability of plywood. I've worked with cabinet grade building our kitchen. May just go with plywood when I start the layout.

Bernd