Ok, so it's been 897 days since my last blog post. I guess I should have waited 3 more days for an even 900, but, regardless, I am way overdue for an update. There hasn't been much time for model railroading in the past 2 years. Last year alone brought a new house, a new job, and a new baby, but we are finally settling into a new routine and I am optimistic that I will get some snippets of hobby time this year.
Moving meant dismantling the layout I started building in 2019. It took only a couple of hours to disassemble what took me the better part of a year to build, but I wasn't too sad about it because I can build something much better in the new space. I had a decent-sized space in the attic at the old house, but it was awkwardly arranged and the sloping ceiling was very limiting. The new house came with a finished basement with an 11' by 11' room that I claimed for model railroading.
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| Here's what the new layout room looked like when we moved in. |
The 1970s-era wood paneling looked dated, but I told myself it would be appropriate for the 1970s setting of my layout. It was hard to justify refinishing the room when we had many other higher-priority things on our plate already. Then came an unpleasant discovery about 2 weeks after moving in: there were mice in the drop ceiling. I took down the ceiling as part of the extermination process and was horrified to find thousands of mouse droppings on the tops of the ceiling tiles. We ended up gutting the finished rooms to find and seal the entry points (gaps around the original basement windows and holes in the rim joist where ducts and pipes were routed to the second floor) and hired a contractor to install new windows, drywall, and flooring.
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| The blank canvas for the new layout. |
The new space is much brighter and inviting than before. The weird cabinet in one corner turned out to be hiding the sump pump, which is now much more accessible for maintenance. I insisted on leaving the ceiling open so that we can never have mice in it again.
I am still working through the final details of the track plan, but my concept is a twice-around oval with the Farmdale Trestle at the crossing. Three sides of the layout will be on shelves anchored to the walls, and the fourth side will be a freestanding table that runs the length of the room parallel to the entryway. There will be a duckunder under the freestanding section, but it will be tall enough (56") for me to roll under on a stool.
Yesterday I attached the first piece of the new layout benchwork to the wall. I am starting out by installing a 1x4 rail along the walls, and once that is in place I will attach cross members to it to project the shelf out into the room. I have already learned that the walls are not flat and will require shims.
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| The first piece of the new layout, a section of 1x4 salvaged and reused from the old layout. |
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| I need the front of this rail to be flat, so bring on the shims. |
I am really excited to start construction and will post more frequently as I make progress. In addition to this blog, I am also documenting the construction in a journal that my thoughtful 9-year-old daughter made me for Christmas.
