Below you'll find the final hand drawn update on my benchwork plan.
Any future updates are going to done in 3rd Planit.
I made changes to rovide greater aisle widths at the lower right hand side where I replaed a corner module with a straight module and along the top of the peninsula where I removed at standard straight module (18" wide) with a custom module only 12" wide.
This iteration is still based on the Woodland Scenics Mod-U-Rail System modules and stands. However you will note that I have added a few custom made modules which I will build myself using construction methods similar to those used by Woodland Scenics. Yiu can see where these are inserted into the standard Woodland Scenics that all have at least one standard dimension of 36". The inserts are less than that so lets go thru the plan to see where they are located.
Let's start on the right hand wall at the lower right. You will note that there are two straight modules measuring 18" wide by 36" wide. Just above these you'll find a smaller module measuring 7" x 18" just before the 18" x 36" x 36" x 18"x 25 1/2" corner modules. Along the top wall you'll find a straight module adjoining a corner module on eacxh side of a 3" x 18" custom made module. On the right wall you'll find you'll a 12" x 18" custom module between the upper corner module a straight module. There is another 12" x 18" custom module between the straight module and the bottom right corner module. The last custom made module is just above the corner module on the peninisula is a 12" x 36 custom module and the 36" x 36" square module that mkes up the upper peninsula.
These custom modules are not part of the Mod-U-Rail system probably because ther are to many variations for them to make. They are easily made by anyone with a jigsaw for the wood and a drill with a countersink bit to make holes for the screws and the screw heads. Wood should be at least 3/4 of an inch thick and at least 3 1/2 inches wide. I am going to use bass wood for most of the custom modules but I couldn't find any pieces longer than 24 inches at Micromark. I am sure they do come in longer lengths but I haven't found any so far. I am only making the two 12" x 18" custom modules at this point so I only ordered enough bass wood to do those.
I haven't put my track plan down on aper yet but there are a few things I'd like to incorporate. One of them is to have a 19" radius (remember this in N-Scale) curve on the peninsula which would either send a train back to the yard along a higher route in a clockwise direction to my yard along the right wall. I will also look at possibly sending these trains along a bridge from the right hand side to the peninsula. The bridge would have to be removable so people can get into the aisles. One further thing I am considering is having some sort of car float service as a possible interchange with other railroads.
At this point I have no provision for staging as I might want to add a second level to the layout at some future time. I would love to have now but without some sort of hidden helix, it just isn't going to work. But that is a future project to be considered only when the first level is done.
Any further development of the benchwork will be dependent on the track plan which will be done completely in 3rd Planit which I am in the process of learning. I will see what I can do with my ideas and desires with that. In the meantime, the benchwork will be completed as time and money allow.
Feel free to make any comments or suggestions or criticisms. I'll listen to what you say.
Irv
Irv: I don't recall from your prev postings, but is the room 12'3" wide, or is that the layout size? If there is a foot or so of "lost" space behind the track base, you can easily put in a ramp to staging below-deck along the bottom, left, & top walls. Remembering that at 2.5% grade, you only get 2.5" of drop per 100" run; that doesn't get you much room between levels! A helix looks like the best bet, but try to design it in now, as a 40" drum is hard to hide if you try to fit it in later. You don't have to build it yet. Best location looks like the lower-centre.
A couple of crosspieces will be troublesome to get by on the way up/down. The 2 located to the left of the 3'3" dimension (in the aisle): 1 vertical and 1 horizontal will impact the helix clearance. I've not used 3rd-Planit, but heard nice things about it. Let us all know how you're doing.
Have fun, George
BigG wrote: Irv: I don't recall from your prev postings, but is the room 12'3" wide, or is that the layout size? If there is a foot or so of "lost" space behind the track base, you can easily put in a ramp to staging below-deck along the bottom, left, & top walls. Remembering that at 2.5% grade, you only get 2.5" of drop per 100" run; that doesn't get you much room between levels! A helix looks like the best bet, but try to design it in now, as a 40" drum is hard to hide if you try to fit it in later. You don't have to build it yet. Best location looks like the lower-centre. A couple of crosspieces will be troublesome to get by on the way up/down. The 2 located to the left of the 3'3" dimension (in the aisle): 1 vertical and 1 horizontal will impact the helix clearance. I've not used 3rd-Planit, but heard nice things about it. Let us all know how you're doing. Have fun, George
The room is 12' 3" wide and the right, top and left are built against walls.
The top has another impediment and that is a 62" wide storage unit that can't be moved so I cant put a helix there. I might be able to put it in one of the upper corners but I'll have to see how put curves greater than 11" radius there or I won't be able to run passenger trains thru the staging. It's worth a look though. Thanks for the idea.
Oops! This is N, not HO.... My reference to the drum size would be closer to 24", not 40. That opens up a lot more spaces to put it. A bigger diameter is good to reduce drag from the curve, and who says it has to be round? Flat sides increase the loop length per turn. That immoveable object (cabinet) pretty well kills an around-the-walls lower staging, but the joist interference consideration will still apply wherever your helix goes. You mentioned an upper deck in the future; the same helix could service both stg and the next deck if designed right. So many choices..
I put my stg inside a 'mountain' plateau. It's on the same level as my end-of-the-world yards, and trains leaving the yards in that direction disappear into tunnels to points unknown. There's a run thru track for continuous running, along with the 4 stg tracks in there. I can reach all but a wee bit from outside the layout (of course derails and sw maint never happen to me!!). I'll wind up with a couple of pop-ups in the far corners for access to the logging area whenever..
Any ways, have fun and keep us all posted, George
BigG wrote: Oops! This is N, not HO.... My reference to the drum size would be closer to 24", not 40. That opens up a lot more spaces to put it. A bigger diameter is good to reduce drag from the curve, and who says it has to be round? Flat sides increase the loop length per turn. That immoveable object (cabinet) pretty well kills an around-the-walls lower staging, but the joist interference consideration will still apply wherever your helix goes. You mentioned an upper deck in the future; the same helix could service both stg and the next deck if designed right. So many choices.. I put my stg inside a 'mountain' plateau. It's on the same level as my end-of-the-world yards, and trains leaving the yards in that direction disappear into tunnels to points unknown. There's a run thru track for continuous running, along with the 4 stg tracks in there. I can reach all but a wee bit from outside the layout (of course derails and sw maint never happen to me!!). I'll wind up with a couple of pop-ups in the far corners for access to the logging area whenever.. Any ways, have fun and keep us all posted, George
I've been thinking an awful lot about what I am going to put on my layout and a it seems that another level about 18" above this one may be in the cards but that is a project for 3rd Planit.
If you reference the 3rd revision I posted here and look at the left wall you'll notice that there is a corner unit at the top then a 12" x 18" custom module just below that. You'll a;so note that there is another just before the bottom corner unit. I made the the extruded styrofoam tops yesterday and today. Now I'm waiting for the wood that I ordered to arrive to make the benchwork for those two units so I can attach them to other three units. Once that's done, I can at least get the benchwork completed.