Swing Bridge Across the Entrance to the BC&SJ - (3:30) Charlie Comstock shows off his swing bridge that carries the Bear Creek and South Jackson RR across the entrance into his train room. Includes an animation showing the construction sequence.

This video accompanied the Up the Creek - Tectonic Plates column in the April 2009 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine.

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Basic benchwork in the layout room is done, and I was eager to get started on subroadbed, including my first shot at spline construction (see http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/4683   ).  But I had to get the backdrop out of the way.  1/8" masonite curves well down to about 18 inch radius.  Below that, I was too chicken to find out with it dry.  But I did do a 10 inch radius corner after soaking the back at the curved portion with water (OK water and windex:  it was in the spray bottle already).  It was an easy one-man operation.  I supporte

About to buy a large quantity of roadbed. Anyone have opinions about Midwest cork versus Woodland Scenics foam? Is there a better alternative to both other than homasote?

Reading the other posts on the site it seems most prefer cork. I should mention I will be using production flex track and caulk. No spiking of hand laid.

Thanks in advance.

Why a multi-level layout?

I understand that sometimes there is a need to do something that allows a longer track run but it seems to me that such a layout could seem strange. How does build a layout without strange pillars or structures to support the 'upper' deck? And, how would you access this upper deck?

My HO layout design (still in pipe smoke stage) seems to cry out for a longer run but I don't quite know how I would achieve this without it looking odd.