Dividing Walls - Install time

The walls are appearing!.

Earlier this week 37 sheets of 2400x1200x3mm MDF sheets arrived and I quickly went and picked them up to ensure I had them before the rain set in this week.

Once I got them into the shed, I set about painting 1 side of each sheet. As the material is MDF and it is susceptible to moisture, I figured I would paint the back of each sheet before the walls are installed. This way effectively both sides of each sheet are painted and hopefully will reduce the warping of the sheets once installed over time.

After painting 22 of the 37 sheets, I then set about installing the sheets on the peninsula walls.

Below are some progress pictures that were taken this week.

All but 4 sheets of the 15 needed for the dividing walls is now installed and it is looking rather snazzy!.

Once the walls are in, I will paint the walls with sky blue before starting the install of the valance.

Thanks for dropping by.

Valance support and painting

A little more work has been done on the D&H over the last few days.

I have now completed the install of the timber along the ceiling where the valance will be installed.
As the valance will be 3mm MDF, I needed to have timber installed on the ceiling so that the MDF can be attached and be suspended from the ceiling.
As part of this job I allowed for an additional 40mm space out from the layout fascia for the valance to be installed. This will enable the lights to be placed as far forward and as close to the valance as possible so that there are no shadows cast on the building, scenery and trains that are near the front of the layout.

Here are a few progress pictures.

Now that the timber is installed I plan on painting it the same colour as the ceiling so that it blends in and cant be seen. The plan is to also use the timber to mount the fluorescent lights.

During the course of the late afternoon, Sam came into the shed asking if there was anything he could do. As I never want to discourage eager enthusiasm, I quickly grabbed a bucket of paint and handed Sam a paint brush. With the help of Sam, we set about painting the wall studs along the peninsula where the staging will be installed. As there is a gap of approx 300mm between staging and the main deck, and plan to keep the staging area open, I wanted to make sure that the timber work in the staging area is nice and dark and out of the way. So, we set about painting 300 to 400mm  of each wall stud where the space for staging is so that it does not need to be done later when painting it will be more difficult due to installed road bed and track.
Once we completed the wall studs we set about painting the lower supports at the end of each peninsula as they will be seen and needed to blend into the background. So they also received a lick of paint.

Sam did a great job with the paint brush. Thanks Sam!.

As I may have mentioned in the past, the dark colour I'm using is a colour bond colour called monument. It is dark and almost black but not quite. It has come up really well.

One other task that was needed to be done was to plan where the DCS100 and the associated layout power supplies are to be installed. I have now run a power cable from a wall outlet to the end of the isle near Whitehall, installed a power board and also installed a shelf (and painted it) in readiness. Tick that's another job done.

Tomorrow or Thursday I will hand him the paint brush to do more on the staging area..

The 37 odd sheets of 3mm MDF for thew fascia and valance has now been ordered and will arrive next week. So stand by for some more painting (before the back boards and fascia is installed) and then the install of the boards..

Thanks for following along.

More building and testing

Had a need to do some more isle width testing

Today, I found some spare, all be it narrow 3mm MDF off cuts that I had on the shelf.
So I decided to use it to temporarily install it as fascia on the corners of the peninsula's.
The main aim is to get a feeling of space and make sure there is enough room for people to move around the layout.

Now it is installed, I'm really happy with the space that is left for isle widths and I'm even thinking of taking back a little bit of isle from the back of Plattsburgh / Ft Edward isle, all be it 50mm to 100mm just to allow for more scope in scenery along the back of Plattsburgh.

I will ponder that idea as it will be a little while before I come to lay the track bed in that location.

Here are some progress pictures.

I have also upgraded the support under the end of Ft Edward.

I also have added some lateral support for the 2 end posts on the peninsula's for those, just in case moments once the layout is built and someone falls against the layout. While the peninsula may sway slightly the aim of the brackets is to stop the end post from failing completely. The brackets are on both sides of each post, top and bottom.

Stay tuned for the next update.

Main layout superstructure now complete.

Today marks the day that the major milestone of the main superstructure for the layout is completed.
Obviously there is a lot more work to be done such as back boards, valance, some reinforcing in key places, however the main L girders and cross members are installed and completed.

Here are a few pictures of the layout (at staging heighy) with the main deck plan laid out on top.

The main deck will be 300mm higher than what is seen here.

Stay tuned for the next installment.

Let the construction begin!

Build time has finally arrived

After receiving the timber required to begin construction of the layout earlier in the week, it was time to begin the build of the new layout.

As the date for the timber arrival was all but guaranteed, I made contact with the local crew and asked for some assistance for the day on Sunday. Fortunately Rod Warren, John Colliver, Greg Johnstone and John Fahey all answered the call. So a time was set and things made ready.

Here is a picture of the trailer with 420 lineal meters of 70x19 pine and also 10 sheets to 2400 x 1200 x 12mm C/D ply for the road bed.


As the timber arrived on Wednesday and the plan build start was set for Sunday, I had 2 part and 1 full work day that I could not let slide.. So I made a start on the structure along the top and bottom walls with the help of my son Sam who was eager to help out.

By the end of Saturday Sam and I had completed the sub structure below the North Creek / Corinth Branch line and also the long narrow run from Whitehall to Willsboro.

Come Sunday morning, Rod, John C and Greg arrived at around 9am (unfortunately John F is unwell and was not able to attend).

Upon marvelling at the plan laid out on the floor and discussion re the construction methods needed to make stable and strong peninsula's, it was all hands to the tools and work started with great pace.

After a quick run down to Bunnings for some extra 70x35 timber for the centre of the walls, things were all happening. Rod and Greg got going on the centre walls for the peninsula's and John and I continued on with making L girders for the left and right walls.

Then once Rod and Greg had installed enough wall studs John and I followed them along with the cross braces and L girder's for the centre peninsula.

By the end of the day, we completed a heap of work and made great progress.

As you look at the pictures, you may notice that the wall studs are not all in a straight line.. Don't worry about that, it is all part of the plan..

Don't forget we have master craftsmen at work and probably around 20 to 30 layouts built between us.. In this case, you cant have too many chiefs..

Thanks for Greg, Rod, and John for coming to help. It is most appreciated.

After the guys had left for the day (and their 60 to 90 min trip back to the other side of Melbourne) I continued on some work to build supports for some sections of the cross members.

You may notice that I have used 42mm x 19mm cross members in this section. The main reason is to get down to the right level for staging and allow enough space for the gap between staging and the main deck of 300mm. The rest of the layout (where there is no staging) the cross members are 70mm x 19mm. Hence the extra support needed for the cross members in this location and the return loop that will sit on top of it.

Well, that's the end of build day 1 on the D&H.

Stay tuned for more updates.as I process through the build.. Hopefully in a few weeks time I can start laying track on the lower / staging level..

Thanks.