Choo Choo!!

Back in early December we went as a family to the New England Model Train Expo held every year in Marlborough. This is the second year we've gone; the boys get in free if they wear their Scout uniform, and they really enjoy the displays.

Here you can see the type of displays at the expo:

Unfortunately for me, this set a very high expectation for Jacob. He wants one of those! I had to explain there was a reason why all of the guys who run/own the displays are old - they are rich and retired, with time and money to devote to the hobby. Plus, they probably have an entire basement of space.

Jacob has shown an interest in model railroading, and dug out my 20-year-old HO scale model train set (which I never got around to setting up anywhere permanent). It wasn't in the best of shape, but he was playing with it a lot before Christmas. Guess what he got for Christmas?

We told him we'd set up an 4' x 8' layout up in his room, complete with a table stand and everything. This is where woodworking-challenged Dad comes in. I designed a layout which was relatively light, and had foldable legs (so we can get it up the stairs). Here are pictures of the construction:

Here I attached a thin layer of luan (essentially thin plywood):

The banquet table legs were attached to cross braces for extra support:

Here it is set up in his room. I was surprised at how much space i takes up in his room - barely room for his bed (which is to the right behind the picture-taker):

I used a program called Right Track (freeware) to design a layout with Jacob:

(the piece of track which curves across the top and then down the left side will be elevated, as there will be a mountain in the upper left corner of the track).

We put down  the beginnings of the layout temporarily so that 1) we can see if it will work, and 2) to give Jacob something to play with right away:

I've never assembled a layout before, but I've been reading a lot about it (checked out about 8 books from the library of different layout techniques). I certainly can't do as much as those old timers do, but I don't want to do the snap-together half-baked job either. So it will be a work in progress. Of course there's going to be a good amount of electronics involved (you can see the switches already). I've still got to design the control panel. Luckily there are a few model railroad hobby stores in the area for supplies, and I've been getting some good deals on eBay. There's also another train show coming up the end of January in Springfield!

I'll update the blog with new pictures as they come along.