Happiness is a new layout !

[Steamtrains]

Terry, I used 2X4s on 16 in centers. They are not that expensive, and another option may be 2X3's. They had some nice ones at Home Depot last week and I picked up 4. I can't remember exactly how much they were but I'm sure they were less than 2 bucks each. some of the 1X3 and 1X4 is pretty ugly unless you pay for premium and 2x3, or 2x4 is sometimes cheaper than the good 1 by stuff.

Charlie

I was in HD last week looking precisely for 1x4's and was shocked to see the poor quality of their stock. A few years back when I purchased the lumber for the first stage of my layout, it was really great quality lumber, with barely a knot here and there. Now you literally get lumber with bark patches on it....