Using the LED strip lights I got from Amazon and some foam core board, I installed the first set of lights above sections L5 and L6. The double-sided tape on the light strips works well for securing the lights to the foam core. I'm not currently securing the foam core to the shelves, as there's no need.
You can see the photos of the layout with the lights turned off and then turned on.
I'm considering putting a strip of lights above the upper deck based on how well the strip lights work down below. It'll be nice to have these lights while I start laying the track on those sections of the layout. Each strip pulls 60 watts, so the power supply can support 6 strips. Based on my estimates, I'll need 7-8 strips, so I will end up with two of these power supplies.
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I also got the mainline track laid to the end of section L8 running behind the main yard. The mainline blocks are going to have detection, as will the two arrival/departure tracks. The crossovers leading into either end of the yard and the turnouts to the arrival/departure tracks will be powered and remote controlled to allow the dispatcher to route trains into those tracks.
There is a manual turnout leading from the westbound main into what will be an industrial area in section L5, but I don't have a design for it.
Finally, I've started laying out the yard ladder and cutting the tracks to fit the runaround and the connection to the yard lead. The Peco turnouts don't have holes predrilled all the way through, so I need to do that before securing those turnouts to the Homasote. I don't want to glue them down for now, just in case I run into an issue. Eventually, they'll get ballasted which will act as glue, to a point.
There is a manual turnout leading from the westbound main into what will be an industrial area in section L5, but I don't have a design for it.
Finally, I've started laying out the yard ladder and cutting the tracks to fit the runaround and the connection to the yard lead. The Peco turnouts don't have holes predrilled all the way through, so I need to do that before securing those turnouts to the Homasote. I don't want to glue them down for now, just in case I run into an issue. Eventually, they'll get ballasted which will act as glue, to a point.
Week of December 9, 2018
This week has been focused on getting the main yard completed. I got the bulk of the main yard track laid over the past few nights. I added the backdrop to the final benchwork section and got it placed. After that, I started roughing out the track plan based on my original design. The final step will be to finish the mains down the section and around the corner, as well as to finish the "west" yard ladder. I also have plans for an engine facility in the space between the west yard ladder and the curves.
The mainline turnouts and the turnouts into the arrival/departure tracks are Atlas #8 that will be local and remote controlled. All the rest of the turnouts are Peco #6 Insulfrog turnouts. I'm really liking the "locking" feature of these turnouts and plan to use them on the rest of the layout.
The picture above shows the yard looking westbound. You can see the beginnings of the west end ladder that I need to finish.
This is the west end of the yard looking east. It will be almost an identical mirror to the east end, with the exception that the yard lead will curve around following the main lines. The engine facility will go in the open space towards the front of this module.
This is another picture of the last section with the backdrops in place. You can see how the mainline track curves around towards the next section, which will connect to the right hand edge of this benchwork section.
I finished the tracklaying in the main yard and started installing feeders. With the exception of the east end yard lead being a bit shorter than I would have liked, I think this yard design is going to work really well.
I need to design the engine facility as the next tracklaying step. Having the kill switches per track is going to be helpful to keep the sound engines quiet until they're needed. I think I'm going to have a two track "fueling" area near the edge of the layout, with the tracks separated enough to fit in fueling equipment. The tracks will be long enough to accommodate engine pairs (or trios), which I've measured at less than 2' long. I may make the sections 30" long, based on the length of the space available.
Week of December 16, 2018
This week has been a bit slow, but I finished the feeders at the "east" end of the yard. I have all the feeder holes drilled and cleaned up the drill debris so that I can use the yard now. I also started laying out the first two tracks of the engine facility, which make up the fueling/sanding facility. In reality, the two tracks are broken into two sections about 30" long that can be powered down.
The other part of the engine facility space will be accessed from a separate turnout and have 3-4 tracks, depending on how things get laid out. I've got lots of pictures of people's scratchbuilt engine facilities, which are really boring buildings in reality.
Week of December 23, 2018
I've been focusing on getting things done prior to family coming for Christmas day. The back room has been emptied of the LEGO collection and all the spare lumber has been moved in there. This was more a safety thing because I didn't want my nieces and nephews getting splinters or walking over the somewhat fragile Masonite pieces.
I got the first two tracks of the engine facility wired up with kill switches and built a small switch panel. I'm not happy with the Masonite as a control panel material, I may need to get some plexiglass or something else that is thinner but more rigid. However, it works fine for temporary use. The switches connect into a Molex terminal strip, which then connects to the track feeder wire that is connected to the other side of the strip. I'll add three more switches for the other engine facility tracks when I get that part of the area built.
I have room to park plenty of engines on these tracks and they stay quiet until I'm ready to use them. I need to get into the DCC programmer and tell them not to autostart when the power comes on, but I haven't had time to do that yet.
I also got the guard rails added to the track going through the sump pump room to prevent any engines or cars making their final journey to the concrete floor below. This is 1/8" Masonite cut into 2.5" strips and screwed into the benchwork, it gets the job done quickly and safely.
