The Nomad Valley under construction

[nomad]

I am far enough along that I thought I would start posting progress pictures.
This is in my garage that I have to share with my wife's car and yard equipment. The layout is 24x2 ft along the back and 20x2 ft down the wall on the left and the island, and the end of the island is 4x4 ft. I didn't realize how big it would be until now. Also, I had a choice of finishing the walls this year or building the layout, bet you can't tell what won
I don't know why the first pic is so blurry :oops:
As you can tell, construction is ongoing, so don't mind the mess.

Loren

[Steamtrains]

Loren.....STOP...!!! while you still can. However anxious you may be to get stuff up & running....you'll be kicking yourself in the hinder for not finishing those walls first....If not now...it's gonna be a pain to do when you've got trains to worry about under that paint.

Just my thoughts....

[Trucklover]

Loren, looking good!!! I would agree with Gus though, i would finish off those walls before you get any further, it will keep your garage so much cleaner and really help alot and be better for the layout....

[Will_Annand]

Loren, I would agree with everyone else.
I would work from the back out. In my case I started with a finished room, did the bench work and track work. Then went back and did the backdrop before doing the foreground scenery.

In 20x2 and 24x2 you could make one amazing N scale empire.
My layout is in a 10x10 room but the layout is 2' wide and 34' of backdrop.
I have 7 station stops around the layout and enough sidings to make it interesting.

[nomad]

Gus, Josh, thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. But there are extenuating circumstances. Lets just say if I don't ignore the walls and build the layout, it will never get built. And, if time and finances allow, I will figure out a way to finish them later.
Will, I love your railroad and have been following your thread. I wish I could go to N scale. I can just imagine the layout I could build. But, lousy eye sight and big clumsy fingers won't let me. I am stuck with ho scale. Just lucky I don't have to go bigger then that.
Sorry to be so negative on all this.

Loren

[Will_Annand]

Thanks Loren, not to worry, you can do a decent HO layout in the space you have.

Have you any ideas on a track plan yet?

I played around in Atlas Right Track software for my layout, then transfered the plan into CorelDraw to get the above photo.

[nomad]

Hi Will.
I have a track plan here. Got a lot of help from the wonderful members here.
Myself, I like Xtrk.
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Loren

[Herc Driver]

That's a large amount of room to work with. Is it firmly attached to the wall yet? I was just wondering if doing modules might be a possible way to prevent you working over the top of the layout at some future date to finish the walls. If it was modular, you could remove whatever section you needed, finish the wall, then replace it. Hey...it the whole thing was modular and on wheels, you could roll it out of the way and move it wherever you needed. But, I'm just dreaming big...it makes much more sense to attach it firmly to the walls as needed. I'm just cringing thinking of some great looking mountain one day having to be removed to get to a back wall.

[nomad]

Hi Herc.
Got it all figured out
If you look at the first picture, there is a " shelf " ( actually it is a wall stiffener, there are no vertical joists ) and the backdrop will go below the shelf. So what is above the shelf is all that needs to be covered. I figure that shelf will be a great place for rolling stock storage and display, once I get rid of those cans of paint. Then with that 6x6 post in the center, the back of the layout is 6 inches away from the wall its self so that is not a problem.

Loren

[Steamtrains]

Off topic...

Loren...your avatar....Is that something you cooked up..or is it a real pic..??

[nomad]

Hi Gus.
I found the picture online. I Don't know if it was real or not. There are lots of websites that have these funny pictures, bumber stickers and the like. Here's one.

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Loren

[ocalicreek]

Sheetrock makes a big heap o' dust, and unless you really NEVER plan on putting something over those walls, then I'd second the advice to at least 'finish' the two behind the layout. PLUS, it will radically affect the lighting over the layout, amplifying the existing light considerably, I'd bet. Still, you can always cover the layout when such work is done, but it will be easier now when there aren't delicate obstacles beneath on the layout to consider.

Personally I get so much more accomplished when at least some of the room feels cleaner than the rest. Even better if the whole thing is neat & tidy...yeah, like THAT'S ever happened for me!!!

Looks like the grade is in place, too. Nice work! Also, if you can, run buss wires now before too much of the framing is covered. One less thing to do lying on your back.

Galen

[nomad]

Yea, sheet rock makes a lot of dust . But, there are no joists to fasten the sheet rock to. So, I plan on putting up cheap paneling or something and paint it.
Good idea on the buss wires. Thanks

Loren

[nomad]

Finally have some progress to report. Some you can't see. Buss wires are run, the tunnel track is in and wired to the buss, and the top is on above that. Holes are filed in the table tops,( this is the third layout for some of the plywood so there were a lot of holes), next time out I can sand and paint the top. Then start laying out the yard.

Loren

[steinjr]

Looks good - and it doesn't look like it will be too cramped neither around around the car nor between the left wing and the peninsula. Looking forward to seeing lots of progress shots from your layout!

Smile,
Stein