Back in the "old days", there were many articles in the mrr press describing different roadbed construction methods which would produce superior sound deadening qualities.  Now, with sound locos, many layouts have become very noisy and create a much more dynamic experience for the model railroader.  

It seems to me that going back to having noisy roadbed would be the way to go to complement sound locos and ad a sense of additional reality to our layouts.

What are all your thoughts?

First experiment. Building a shelf.

Now that a track plan has been tentatively adopted the issue of benchwork construction is the current dilemma. The goal is to build a T shape 16 x 21 feet. The stem [16] of the T will be centered on an existing open stud wall and be cantilevered 30 inches to either side to allow maximum access and storage below as the train room is also the work shop. The asymmetrical crossbar of the T is 30 inches by 112 on the right side and 140 inches on the left including the top of a teardrop return loop which is 60-72 inches deep at the far end.

A month after my first post, I finally get to laying track, starting with the double-track passenger station. I was planning to use Fast Tracks Sweep Sticks + Space Gages to straighten the track and control the spacing, however I discovered that for some reason I only ordered two of the straight Sweep Sticks (ie. 40" total, not enough to lay two parallel 6' tracks. Not really even enough to lay two 3' sections at a time). And here it is, Saturday of a long weekend -- what to do?