More Progress on the NF & CR Railway

Yesterday, Jeff and I put in another session on building the benchwork that will support the North Fork & Crooked Run Railway, our new HO railroad line.  We had previously built the supporting benchwork from 1X4s, with 2X2s for legs.  Yesterday's session was spent first of all stabilizing the structure by attaching 1X2 furring strips between each parallel pair of legs to add rigidity to the overall structure and reduce the chances of vibration.

Jeff is using drywall screws to attach 1X2s as cross members to stabilize the legs

Here you can see some of the cross members in place along the rear of the layout, as Jeff attaches more

The cross members are now pretty much in place; they made the whole structure much more rigid and stable

After adding the cross bracing to the underside of the benchwork, we added uprights at the top to support the eventual backdrop.  Our plan is to use panorama photographs printed to a height of about 20 inches.  These will be supported by Masonite attached to the uprights.  The uprights were cut to 20 inches each.  When screwed to the 1X4s, they extended a little over 17 inches above the height of the layout bed, more than enough to support the Masonite and photographs.

Here you can see the benchwork with upright backdrop supports in place around the outer edges of the layout

Our plan is to use 1/2 inch plywood as a base for the track.  We purchased some good quality plywood at Lowe's.  Two 4X8 inch sheets was all we needed for the entire layout, though we had to piece together a few small areas using offcuts.  We cut the plywood to fit the shape of the layout and rested it in place.  We'll screw it to the supporting benchwork in the next work session and add stabilizing supports underneath all places where we joined plywood sections to assure trouble-free joints.

Here's a view of the main sections of the layout with plywood in position

This view, taken from the end of the eventual yard, shows most of the layout with plywood in position

At the moment, the whole layout has been pulled away from the wall.  This lets us get behind it, which we'll need to do to add layout lines for the track--a job for the next work session--and lay the cork roadbed and track.  After we've got the rear portions in place, we'll slide the layout against the wall and then screw it to the wall for added stability.  But that's for the future.

Anticipating the long reach needed to get to the back of the layout from the front and aisle, we ordered a mechanic's topside creeper from Amazon, the kind used to lean out to work on engine compartments.  It arrived yesterday.  We'll be needing it!

Norm