Layout relocation

 All good things come to an end or is it just a change of location!

As per my last post. As per my usual process. I got up to the doing the scenery and stopped / stalled.

Then Michelle got a new car and was getting sick of getting wet or getting into a hot car. 

So the RR needed to move as the Mustang needs to stay in the garage. So the only thing to do was to move the layout.

Here are the progress pictures of the layout being disassembled and then moved into the new shed. Then the dismantle of the room within the garage.

First to go was the skirting, fascia and ceiling valance.

Then the centre wall.

Then the top level was removed

Then the helix

Then the town of Fairhaven

Then lower staging

Then the wall cladding, both internal and external.

Then the centre island and the main yard of Whtehall.

Layout completely removed.

Then the false ceiling and walls.

The layout is now is pieces in the new shed.

I now need to build shelves in the garage and then start work on rebuilding the layout..

The layout build will take a while I expect. I still need to add lighting and power to the shed.

Well that's the end of the B&H Version 4.0.

The new location will host the D&H V 4.1. I will reuse the full lower section with some minor changes.

The main yard will be single ended due to the door location. The layout will be single level with a lower staging.

Stay tuned.

 

Fascia painting and shelves completed

Love it when I finish a big job!..

Per my last post, I painted the fascia but was yet to make and install the shelves behind the fascia for the car cards and assorted other bits and pieces.

Well, this week, I managed to complete the 6 shelves and install them. Then I painted them once installed. They have come up a treat. Some are smaller than others due to the timber work behind them, but I think the 2 smaller ones should work out OK.

Once I made the shelves I set about finding a place to mount the town phone system. As I want to keep the fascia clutter to a minimum, I decided to try them just below the layout. So I installed 6 mounting brackets / timber and the hooks that the hand sets sit on. Then I attached the brackets that the radio's clip onto behind them.

They seem to be in a good place but time will tell as I have another shake down ops session this coming Sunday. So will see what the guys think of the hand set mounting location.. I can always move them up onto the fascia, as the brackets below the layout just screw on and don't attach to the fascia for now so no old screw holes to cover up and paint.

Here are the pics of the finished fascia.

Whitehall

Willsboro

North Creek / Corinth

Phone system brackets with hand set

Saratoga Springs

Ft Edward

Plattsburgh

North Creek / Corinth

So thats another major milestone completed on the D&H Champlain Division. Now for some carpet!..

Next update will be post the ops session on Sunday.

Thanks for visiting.

Fascia Painting Completed

A bit of a lick of paint and the job is done.

Well, this morning I got stuck into the painting of the fascia.
I started with the edges around all the holes and the top edge of the fascia. Then with some great help from Michelle, we got stuck into applying two coats of paint.

As we all know, MDF drinks paint and it takes at least two coats to get a good finish.

Once the painting was done, I set about hand painting some of the frame of the layout that can be seen through some of the portholes.

After a few house chores were done, I then set about installing the turnout panels and UP5 / UR92 etc into the slots allocated.

Unfortunately I miscalculated on the clearance at the rear of one of the UP5's and found that a tortoise machine was in the way. I will make up a small RJ12 adaptor so I can use the UP5 front face and run some loconet cables to the UP5 as I don't want to move the tortoise machine.

There are places where the light goes through to the hidden track, but these sections will be covered once the main deck scenery is put in place.

Here are a few shots from around the room.

The next task is to make and install the 6 shelves, 1 at each town. This should be done in time for the next session on the 22nd.

Then to clean some loco wheels and track and let the trains roll.

Until next time...

Fascia work complete

Time for some paint!

This week I managed to finish the fascia work on the layout. The joins are all now fixed and the holes for the panels are neat and ready the panels.

I have planned Ops session for Sunday the 22nd so I'm keen to get the painting done before that session. The mounting of the panels will not take long as all it will just be 2 screws to panel.

Here are a collection of shots taken before the painting. Note the 2 panels at Plattsburgh are already painted as I pre painted some panels. But due to marking out the holes and man handling the fascia panels they tend to get a bit scuffed up so I abandoned that idea and opted to mount first and paint later.

The larger holes in the panel are for internal shelves at each town to enable car cards to be placed and sorted rather than being on the layout. I am yet to install the shelves in there. This will be done if time permits before the session on the 22nd.

Come back next time and see the changes.