June 26th, 2017

Now that the drywall is up and the room is cleaned out, the benchwork can begin! Just like my previous layouts, I'm building all my benchwork out of 3/4" MDF cut in to 2.5" wide strips. These strips are attached to the wall studs and supports are cantilevered out to form both levels of the railroad. The benchwork in the middle of the room will be built on traditional L girder with legs. The mushroom part of the layout will also have supports attached to the ceiling joists. At least that is the plan. Can't wait to start building the mushroom!

 

Standing in the rear corner looking back toward the stairwell and the entrance to the layout. Note the lights in the ceiling have been installed to be in the future isleways.

 

Added the double doors for access to the back yard in case I ever sell the house and move. They will eventually be covered up.

 

Old staging yard from the previous layout. Floor is staying concrete until the benchwork is in, then carpet will be added along the isleways.

 

First supports in! Decided to start at the stairwell because I was anxious on how the benchwork will look under the angled wall. I'm also leaving the walls bare since they will be almost completely covered up with benchwork/backdrops/skirting/facia/valance.

 

Few more supports. The top level is just support for the lights and for storage. The middle level is the main railroad level. The bottom level is going to be for my father's S scale American Flyer trains.

 

The blue level is sitting where the future Owens Valley Produce will be located. This area is 33" deep and should supply a large amount of traffic for the railroad.

 

Starting on the free standing benchwork. Height is 52" off the floor. The isle is 36" wide in this area.

 

L girder supports added. I made these out of 3/4" plywood, since ply has better structural support than MDF over long runs with minimal support. Verticals are 4" and horizonals are 2.25"

 

These are temporary legs holding this section up, haven't decided on what I'm going to use for permanent legs. Note the tubes sticking out of the wall, still waiting for the HVAC guys to come install the AC!

 

Looking back towards the room entrance. This section will eventually have the mushroom top on it.

 

All material on The Owens Valley Subdivision website is Copyright 2007-20xx by Michael Stoner. None of the material (including text and photographs) on this web site may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.