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Benchwork and track
The layout has two decks connected
by a helix and also features staging
tracks. The layout rises from 50" to 58"
with a 2 percent maximum grade.
Almost all the benchwork is cantile-
vered off the walls. I used 2 x 4 vertical
wall plates connected by 1 x 4 stringers
attached to the plates with triangular
plywood gussets. The only support leg
that I needed to install was under the
helix. In a couple locations I also used
L-girder benchwork.
The roadbed is ½" plywood topped
with^1 ⁄ 2 " homasote. I also taped and
spackled the homasote joints. During the
layout’s lifetime I never had any issue
with the material swelling or shrinking.
When I first started the railroad,
I opted for the then readily available and
economical Atlas code 100 flextrack.
I also used the many Atlas turnouts left
over from previous layouts in the yards.
I used Peco turnouts on the main line.
Initially I installed commercially
available track ballast. In later years,
I began making my own ballast from
sifted play sand that I tinted with a wash
of isopropyl alcohol and black shoe dye.Scenery
The layout scenery base is plaster
hardshell over cardboard strips. At first
I covered the scenery base with dirt-
colored latex house paint followed byvarious colors of ground foam. More
recently, I’ve switched to using Wood-
land Scenics and Scenery Express
ground cover adhered with a 50/50 mix
of white glue and isopropyl alcohol.
I carved many of the exposed rock-
faces from Hydrocal plaster or
Sculptamold. Many of the retaining
walls are also carved in plaster or cast
using a silicone rubber master.
My early scenery efforts included
trees made from dried yarrow and
sedum plants. I’ve since switched to
using SuperTrees from Scenic Express.
Small shrubs are made of broken pieces
of SuperTrees armatures or Woodland
Scenics products.
I used Woodland Scenics Realistic
Water at Lakeside.
I added depth to the scenery by
installing a^1 ⁄ 8 " tempered hardboard
backdrop painted sky blue. After a few
years I thought the backdrops looked too
drab, so I started adding photos to them.
I took many photos of prototype
trackside buildings and eventually
learned how to manipulate the images
using Adobe Photoshop software.
I could stretch out images or even add
doors and windows to make a building
look completely different. The backdrop
clouds and trees are also photos that
have been overlayed or reversed so the
casual observer won’t notice when an
image repeats.
I had my photo backdrops printed on
matte paper at a local office supply/printing store. I mounted the backdrops
with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive.
I also used some commercially avail-
able photo backdrops, including prod-
ucts sold by Realistic Backdrops.
The layout room is illuminated with
4-foot-long fluorescent shop lights. Part
of the Duluth Yard is lit with smaller
under-cabinet style single-tube fluores-
cent lights. During recent years, as some
of these smaller fixtures began failing,
I replaced them with light-emitting
diode (LED) string lights.Structures
Many of my town structures are
made of Design Preservation Models
(DPM) modular components. [Design
Preservation Models is now owned by
Woodland Scenics. – Ed.] It’s easy to use
the DPM wall sections to make a struc-
ture that fits a specific location.
I’ve also scratchbuilt some industries
from .040" styrene. All the structures are
well-braced, as I’ve learned that styrene
will eventually warp with age.
At Barron, my scratchbuilt Purina
Mill began as a project for a previous
layout. Using a catalog photo of a
Walthers mill as a guide, I scratchbuilt
the structure from Bristol board with
silos made from Pringles chip cans. For
this layout I rebuilt the mill from styrene
with silos made from PVC pipes.
There are also many kitbashed struc-
tures around the layout.❸ With the buildings of downtown Minneapolis looming in the background, the roundhouse at Shoreham Yard shows off its
motive power. The layout is set in transition era so the yard hosts both steam and diesel locomotives.