Hello guys I decided to start a blog of the new layout I will be building. I got half the bench work done today still have the other half the room to go here is a pic of what has been done so far thanks hope to here you guys coments.

What size is your room?,and do you have a track plan yet?

I will post some pic tommrow. No I dont have a track plane just swinging it as I go along I will have to tell you the size of the room tommrow I forgot I masered it when we first moved in to this house but forgot to write it down.

The space and the woodwork look promising. Do you plan to have a layer of blue foam on top for easy trenches etc.?

faraway Wrote:The space and the woodwork look promising. Do you plan to have a layer of blue foam on top for easy trenches etc.?

Is the blue foam easier to contour,then say the pink foam?I'm glad you mentioned that,cause when i start building,i'd like to know which is more suitable.I'm a fan of Pelle K Soeborg's scenery techniques,and he uses alot of foam on his layout.His techniques are second to none.

train_guy Wrote:...Is the blue foam easier to contour,then say the pink foam?...

Sorry, I don't know. Both kind of foam are not very much used here in Germany (but I wish had used them). I used "blue foam" as a generic expression for that kind of foam used in the US for layouts.

I use blue and pink both depending on what they have in stock and can't tell any difference between them, they are both excellent. I would stay away from the white however as it is beaded and not dense enough.

Believe the "pink foam" and the "blue foam" are exactly the same thing, but made by two different companies, one by Corning and the other by Dow <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cincy-div7.org/foam-scenery-construction.pdf">http://www.cincy-div7.org/foam-scenery-construction.pdf</a><!-- m --> - the one not to use is the white "Polystyrene Bead foam" that crumbles and gets little staticy bits everywhere, and that melts on contact with any petroleum-based glue

The color of the foam indicates who manufactures it. Dow = Blue; Owens-Corning = Pink and around here Lowe's has started coming out with it's own brand that is a light green color. But it's all the same. One thing, I've only purchased the Dow brand locally and it all has a clear plastic film applied to both sides which I peel off before using it. Don't know if Owens-Corning or the Lowes brand has this film on it.

As Mike mentioned - stay away from the beaded white foam.

lears2005 Wrote:I will post some pic tommrow. No I dont have a track plane just swinging it as I go along I will have to tell you the size of the room tommrow I forgot I masered it when we first moved in to this house but forgot to write it down.

What type of layout are you going for?Switching layout?,Industrial,what are your ideas?
The reason i ask is because i remember my previous train layouts were some-what dissapointing for me,cause i didn't have any track plans either.I ended up losing interest in what i had built and soon became dissatisfied and eventually disasembled the layout and threw it all away and sold off what i had left:oops: I became bitter toward myself and the Hobby and walked away from it.I still think about all the money i spent,and the time i put into building the layout,it still haunts me,but i look at it this way,ya live and learn from expierences like that.

I hope i'm not coming accross to strong,I just want to convey the importance of having some kind of track plan.

Thanks for the tip on the foam,I was online last night on the Lowe's website and was looking at the "white" foam insulation,of coarse i always go for the least expensive stuff first,but now that i have your input,now i know to stay away from the white foam.I never would have known that and end up buying 8 sheets of 4x8 that would have been useless to me...Thanks guys!

No I am not going to be using foam I will just cut out what I need to. As far as a track plane goes I am not one for putting things on paper I have what I want in my head. If that makes any sence.

It is going to be a swiching layout with lots of industres and I think I migt even do some street running.

Check out this plan.

Thats a very nice track plan almost what I am looking for. But my only problem I I do not know how to fallow one Ido not know how wide and how long to make the layout. But I will look at it more and see what I can come up with thanks for your help.