# My 7'x18' HO scale layout



## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

so ya had to do a drastic redesign of my original 6'x18' layout and decided hey lookie there i can go wider! and so i did. now she is 7'x18' and fully framed aside from putting her feet on her and joining the sections to be one. so here are a couple pics. this was all done today starting at around 11am and just got finished about an hour ago.



























she will soon have a double track main and an inside loop as well as a good size yard for the length i have


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Where is the command center going to be mounted, in the middle?


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

probably. haven't decided on it's exact location. need to buy the system then go from there. then it's on to getting cork and more flex and switches


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## wilson44512 (Mar 4, 2012)

Looking good so far. looking forward to more pics:thumbsup:


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

do you have a track plan? did you post it before? looks good so far


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## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

Was there a track plan somewhere or are you just winging it? 

Is there a lift section on that table or is it completely duck under?


****

:laugh: Way to post Joe. These fat fingers of mine can't go that fast anymore.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

there is a partial track plan until i get the key for anyrail. i'm going o try and post what i have so far. working on installing the feet and making all the panels one piece til she has to move. 

she is completely duck under as of now. i have no clue how to make a swing out or draw bridge section. it's not too bad i'm about 6'4" and she will be around 36" tall once i put the feet on her


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

here is the partial plan so far. the outside radius is 30" and the very inner track has 22" on it


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

36 inches isnt very tall at all. Are you sure thats high enough to duck under every day or when you want to run trains?


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## NSHO (Dec 28, 2011)

Could you convert to .jpg so those of us w/o anyrail can see?

Forgot to say...nice looking benchwork!


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

NSHO said:


> Could you convert to .jpg so those of us w/o anyrail can see?


will try to convert it for y'all


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

and the .jpeg version


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## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

sawgunner said:


> ...she is completely duck under as of now...it's not too bad i'm about 6'4" and she will be around 36" tall once i put the feet on her


Spoken like a young skinny guy. 

This is a nice bridge to copy.









What it looks like up.









I copied it from here.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

:thumbsup: nice looking bridge!! will try and play around with it when more funds come around.

ya i'm a twig in comparison i am only 187lbs so i need more meat on the bones

so between my drill dying on me constantly i have so far gotten the feet on, and most of the joints screwed together. got 1 and a half to do and the stupid drill dies for the 3rd time today!

here are some more pics of the frame work and what i used for my feet


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Nutserts are the way to go for the feet. I stopped using a cordless and went back to the old reliable plug in the wall drill for the exact reason you stated. They never keep a charge long enough. Looking great.


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

My complaint about cordless drills,or any cordless tool for that matter, is unless you use them all the time when you need them the battery is dead. I'm back to my corded drill too.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

New Guy -- nice looking bridge. Is that a full-length piano hinge on the pivot?

Sawgunner -- benchwork looking nice. Gonna put some cross-bracing or gussets to reinforce the tops of those long legs, though?

Cheers,

TJ


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

tjcruiser said:


> New Guy -- nice looking bridge. Is that a full-length piano hinge on the pivot?
> 
> Sawgunner -- benchwork looking nice. Gonna put some cross-bracing or gussets to reinforce the tops of those long legs, though?
> 
> ...



nah these things are deck screwed 5 different ways they don't move a mm even when hit with the foot or such. i was dragging, pulling, pushing them around in all directions and no movement on legs. just got done screwing all the platforms together and man is this whole set up rigid! it doesn't even flinch when ya hit it with your hip!

thanks for all the comments guys will post more as she gets more done. next is laying out the radius for the curves then on to the yard and mains


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I never used or held a cordless drill.

That only thing I have is an electric screw driver and charging cord.

I don't use that much either.

All cord power tools for me. :thumbsup:


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## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

tjcruiser said:


> New Guy -- nice looking bridge. Is that a full-length piano hinge on the pivot?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> TJ


Yes, it is. It's not my work though, just stol er, I mean, casually observed and bookmarked for later perusal. yeah. 

Nice looking benches Steve.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

got the outer main and most of the inner main laid yesterday. this is just tacked into place at the moment so i can play around and change things if needed. better to play with it for a while and keep everything removable to make sure you like it and that it works. so far i'm liking the mains for the size i have ( wish i had an entire basement to play in ) here is a couple videos of my Centennials pulling 41 cars. sorry about the quality these were done from the cell phone


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

ok who's ready for more crappy cell phone pics?!?!



































































had to stop for now. ran out of cork. every hobby shop around here has been out since February except for the one i got this box from. have 2 more boxes coming in should be here by Tuesday as well as some more switches


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

looks good man, good size layout you have. I wouldnt worry to much about cellphone pics, pictures are better then no pictures All i use is my droid to get pictures on here, it works wonders, smartphones are cool..

I cant wait to see more updates

What industries do you have planned for your layout to switch at?? You have nice long runs for pretty much anything you want...


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## brik-el (Feb 24, 2012)

Beautiful!
Its coming together nicely!
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

Those two tracks look like they are to close in the curves. Is there enough room for the over hang of the cars as two trains pass in the curves?


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

i though so too! i ran one of my DD's around the out side while i pushed one of my 86' auto parts boxes along the inner and visa versa with no issues. there is 2.25" on center spacing on the curves for the entire 180* turn


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Imagine what you could have added to the middle section, if you put some access panels, with a drop down town or some kind of industry on the drop down panel. 
A lake? Something?
I see a lot of wasted RR space in the middle?









Put the control panel on the outside so you would not have to keep turning around in circles to see the trains running.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

yes i would get dizzy going in circles.. Like ed said, you could add a little more to your layout if you wanted to, you could even add a section near the middle with a spur coming off the main headed to the middle and put a industry here. to split up your layout alittle bit. just a suggestion

Your going with a double main all the way around your whole layout??? why not leave some single mains, and have a passing siding or two, adds a little fun to it


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

joed2323 said:


> yes i would get dizzy going in circles.. Like ed said, you could add a little more to your layout if you wanted to, you could even add a section near the middle with a spur coming off the main headed to the middle and put a industry here. to split up your layout alittle bit. just a suggestion
> 
> Your going with a double main all the way around your whole layout??? why not leave some single mains, and have a passing siding or two, adds a little fun to it


if i did that with my attention span i'd have a corn field meet really quick LOL

there is a whole other thing going on around the inside perimeter of the layout. after i receive a few more boxes my plan will start to show it's head. so far i have a 2 stall engine house, train station, and a few other structures coming. just not sure til they get here where to put them along the boards.

and yes i have a lot of remorse every time i look at this thing going i should have gone 3' sections all the way around! as far as putting my control panel on the outside that is in progress. it's going on the short end where my coffee cup is next to my desk.

for right now i am trying to figure out how to get the track up onto the knee wall you see under the windows. it's a strange height from the top of the layout so going to have to do some fudging there to get it to look right. from top of the foam to top of knee wall is 4 3/8" so i should be able to get away with the 3% grade from woodland scenics. just worried about it taking 12' to come down cause that drops it in the middle of where i was going to put the town


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## Ranger (Mar 4, 2012)

Looking good


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## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

sawgunner said:


> ok who's ready for more crappy cell phone pics?!?!


Every few weeks you should take a picture from this same perspective - a photo journal if you please. It's always fun for me to see the montage. In one of my other worlds, reef keeping, it's not unusual to see many years of evolution in the build threads.

Anyway, you are off to a fine start.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

hehehe you're in luck there will be more pictures up tomorrow! i'll have 50 more lengths of roadbed to lay everything out on


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

I wouldnt worry about the cellphone pics, they are good enough, like i said better then no pictures.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I think the pics are fine. I'd be willing to bet if you added a couple cheap flourescent light fixtures above the table you'd seriously improve the lighting/pics.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

got some more progress done on here over the last couple days. been slow going waiting for stuff to be shipped in. so i spent that time reworking some sections and trying to use up real estate on one side of the layout. the side that the incline starts on is not set in stone yet as i am waiting for some structures to show up so i don't know what size they are footprint wise. so on to the pics. had to take a short break and make more coffee!! if you've been paying close attention you notice my coffee cup always makes an appearance until these shots LOL


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## wilson44512 (Mar 4, 2012)

sawgunner said:


> ok who's ready for more crappy cell phone pics?!?!



You do know you can get a good camera now a days for around a 100 bucks. lol:laugh:


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

wilson44512 said:


> You do know you can get a good camera now a days for around a 100 bucks. lol:laugh:


been that route dang thing didn't last a month! the droid 3 is easier since i can upload right from there and post at the same time.

hehehe the "other camera" $700 of joy!


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## fotoflojoe (Dec 31, 2011)

sawgunner said:


> had to stop for now. ran out of cork. every hobby shop around here has been out since February except for the one i got this box from. have 2 more boxes coming in should be here by Tuesday as well as some more switches


If it comes right down to it, head down to Charles Ro in Malden, Ma. I bought cork roadbed a couple weeks ago, $32 per box.

BTW, Very nice work!


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

fotoflojoe said:


> If it comes right down to it, head down to Charles Ro in Malden, Ma. I bought cork roadbed a couple weeks ago, $32 per box.
> 
> BTW, Very nice work!


Thanks! I'll keep that in mind! I still have a full box and maybe half of another that came in yesterday of cork. got 10 pieces of flex today and got 15 coming in tomorrow. going to hit the hobby shop in Hampton tomorrow for some odds and ends. then back to playing again LOL


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## wilson44512 (Mar 4, 2012)

sawgunner said:


> been that route dang thing didn't last a month! the droid 3 is easier since i can upload right from there and post at the same time.
> 
> hehehe the "other camera" $700 of joy!


It must have been a cheap brand lol


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