Category Archives: Cabinets

End of January Update…

It is the and of January and I have some actual progress to report on the railroad. First of all, for those wondering about the roundhouse, progress on it is as far as it can go until it is set in place. And when that will happen is a whole post on it’s own.

So what have I gotten done. Well, as I mentioned at the beginning of the month, I had cut a whole bunch of wood so that things could get done. First the “power box” that I touched on in that post.

I have been reading in multiple blogs and forums that one should be able to kill the power to the whole railroad should something happen. Add to that all the extension cords and power strips I had everything hooked up to, I figured I should do something. My answer was a box that would control power to the deck lights, aisle lights, blue rope lights for night lighting and all the power to the DCC system and related equipment.

It is simply a box tucked into the one of the electronic cabinets that has power to it, with switches on the front for the different functions and outlets on the back for the related items. Here is a photo of the finished box in place.

Main power panel – light control as well as all power to the layout.

It wasn’t hard to do, just a little time consuming, but I already feel it has been worth it as I used to have to plug in two cords to get the deck lights on in order to work on things on the lower deck. Now, I just flip a switch.

Next was the missing backdrop sections. Those installed were: The short section near the power station between the staging yard and the power station, behind the roundhouse and behind the berm scene.

Scenic block between layout and staging yard.
View from the staging yard.
Backdrop behind the roundhouse scene.
Backdrop in place behind New Brighton berm scene.

I have one section left on the lower level which is on the backside of the berm scene. I have the piece cut but have not installed it yet. The gaping hole between the piece behind the roundhouse and the berm scene is where the helix will be. Its backdrop won’t be installed until it’s installed.

The next thing I have been working on has been the fascia around the lower level. I had started with the piece under the staging yard and have been working my way around. I have it in place all the way up to the town of Jackson. However, I stopped just outside of town as I’m trying to figure out some of the scenery contours and need to figure out how wide to cut the next piece to accommodate a hill that acts as a scenic block.

Fascia in place in the back aisle. Holes cut for UP5 panels.
Fascia installation working it’s way around layout.

I also have mounting the UP5 panels for the DCC system to the fascia. I made a mounting template out of styrene to mark screw hole location and the hole for the circuit board. Fun to make and it makes it easier to mark the holes and keeps things consistent.

UP5 template I made to speed up the hole process.
Hole cut for the UP5 panel.
UP5 panel mounted.

Lastly, the first set of doors are done and installed. These are on the side that faces the stairway up to the family room. Since there is no door that would block the view of the unfinished layout, it has been my wife’s biggest bug-a-boo and why she wanted them in.

First set of cabinet doors finished and installed.
View of the layout from the family room. This is why my wife wanted the doors on.

As I said this is the first set, only 25 more doors to make. But the heat is off to get them done.

So looking back at January what have I learned. Probably the same thing you had noticed, that after several months of not being able to work on anything major downstairs, I was all over the board trying to get everything done. Time to sit back and take stock of where I’m at and organize where I’m heading.

Till next, Happy Railroading…

 

Benchwork progress…

I have benchwork progress to report on. Unfortunately the keen of eye will catch that I used the word progress and not completion. I ran out of plywood 1×4’s and with a business trip to New York didn’t have time to cut more. And instead of waiting till I got them cut and installed them, I decided to post an update of my progress so far.

The peninsula end has turned out to be something of a monster to build. There has been a lot of tedious work involved, cutting the semicircle plywood pieces, the kerfed wood trim pieces, plus the filling of the kerfed pieces for painting and then there  was working out how to support the upper deck around the peninsula perimeter.

All of the former was not a major problem, but rather just time consuming. The latter was the part that a lot of thought and engineering went into. The decks are 3 feet deep at this point and trying to support the upper deck was of major concern. The “aha” moment was when I realized that I did not need them to be 3 feet deep and it was actually better to keep them 2 feet deep like most of the rest of the layout. This meant that  I could attach the joist to a central point and put a vertical support a foot out from that point to support them. The end result was very acceptable as the upper deck seems to very stable.

This is all rather good, as I had dreamed up some really elaborate engineering solutions to solve the problem. This actually is a rather simple solution. The hardest part was cutting the angled vertical pieces to support what I call the spokes ( the joists radiating out from the end of the peninsula support wall ). They are 3 sided, a 22 1/2 degree, a 45 degree and another 22 1/2 degree cut. Once I got them cut everything else fell into place and went together quickly. The added benefit to all of this is that once the backdrop panels are in place, they will cut down how much of the layout you can view from the end of the peninsula, making the layout seem bigger as you won’t be able to see the towns on either side of the layout at the same time.

Additionally as you look at the pictures below you will also notice that I started to install the top most joists to support the valance that will run around the layout. Though a valance was always in the plan, when I had first started the first wall I had no idea on how I was going to install it. When I started the second wall I figured that I could support it the same way that I did the upper deck. I just would not need a joist every foot but could go every to 2 feet ( I could probably go three feet but you have to remember that the light bulbs are on two foot spacing ). So if you look back at the early posts you will notice that I dropped the upper most 1/2 horizontal down 3 1/2 inches to support the valance joists on the second wall and going forward. Because of the way the peninsula end construction is I had to install these at the time I was building it, the rest will have to installed before any work is done on the upper deck.

Anyways, below is a progression of the peninsula end construction to date.

The curved base cabinet finished and awaiting the benchwork.
The curved base cabinet finished and awaiting the benchwork.
The basic crossbars in place as well as the lower deck perpendicular.
The basic crossbars in place as well as the lower deck perpendicular.
The upper deck and valance perpendiculars in place.
The upper deck and valance perpendiculars in place.
The angled support for the spokes now in place.
The angled support for the spokes now in place.
The first set of support braces in place.
The first set of support braces in place.
The lower deck spokes in place as well as support braces.
The lower deck spokes in place as well as support braces.
Addition of the lower deck benchwork over the angled cabinets.
Addition of the lower deck benchwork over the angled cabinets.
The lower deck rim joist former in place.
The lower deck rim joist former in place.
Upper deck and valance rim joist formers installed.
Upper deck and valance rim joist formers installed.
Close up of the angled support for the spokes.
Close up of the angled support for the spokes.
Alternate view of the peninsula end.
Alternate view of the peninsula end.

I will be cutting and installing additional 1×4’s in the next week or two as there is always work that piles up while I am gone and needs to be caught up first.

Until then, happy railroading.

 

 

 

Work progresses, new projects …

Work progresses, yes that’s right, I finally got some time and made a little progress on the benchwork. After my last post we headed out to Los Angeles on a business trip for a week. While it was a week lost, again that pesky need to pay the bills, the upside was when we left, it was 14 degrees BELOW zero here and was 80 degrees above in LA.

Anyways, once we got back the weather ( meaning temperature ) improved and I heated the garage and got some plywood cut. I got the basic cabinet bases done for the peninsula end.

Peninsula end under construction.
Peninsula end under construction.
View from other side.
View from other side.

Since I took the picture I was able to cut and install the other upper quarter round brace on the end cabinet. The last thing I need to cut is the finish frame pieces for the half round end. These will be finished with pieces that are kerfed so they bend around the curve. Unfortunately while I can kerf short pieces on my table saw, I cannot not do long pieces. It just isn’t practical as they become rather unwieldy. I will have to head over to my brothers and use his radial arm saw, hopefully this week still.

While all of the other cabinets will have doors on them, the half round is designed as a open display shelf. After the frames are on I will then add the framework for upper and lower decks.

On a different note, Santa ( my wife ) was very good to me this year. I had refrained from putting anything model railroady on my Christmas wish lists for the last several years. In the past while I was between layouts I would continue to add to my stash, figuring that whatever I got, I was sure I could use it on any future layout. I now have more then I could ever hope to use. This year with a very clear picture of where I was going, I finally put a few things on the list.

First, a couple of structures.

Merchants row 5 - this  ones for the street scene talked about earlier.
Merchants row 5 – this ones for the street scene talked about earlier.
Power station kits - will hide hole in backdrop to staging yard.
Power station kits – will hide hole in backdrop to staging yard.

The Merchants Row building is for the berm/bridge scene that I had talked about before. It will fill in nicely on the other side of the corner as I have another  building for the opposite corner. The Power Station and accessories will hide where the track comes through the backdrop from the staging yard. I will “review” these as I build them and give my impressions and techniques that I use to build them.

Lastly is something that I’m pretty excited about. My wife thought it was a little weird until I explained what I wanted it for.

New Camera crane for layout photography.
New Camera crane for layout photography.
Alternate photo shooting on the lower level.
Alternate photo shooting on the lower level.

It’s a camera crane from ProAm USA ( www.proamusa.com ). It will help when I start photographing the layout as scenes are finished. I have ordered an underslung camera mount for it so I will be able to move the camera into a scene to get realistic ground level shots. It may seem a bit much, but I won’t have to try and hold the camera while lining up a shot and not knock everything over as I do it. At least that’s the theory. Also I may add a video camera to it and with the casters be able to follow a train along the layout.  Again, theory.

Till next time, Happy Railroading.

 

A quick up date as promised…

A quick update as promised although a couple of days late. I finished the last section of the peninsula wall. It wasn’t as straight forward as the rest of the center wall as I had to angle it to gain clearance for the turn back bulge. Though not that it was difficult, I did want to get the angle correct and make sure that it was securely fastened to the rest of the structure.

Angled bracing for the last section of wall.
Angled bracing for the last section of wall.
Close up of angled bracing.
Close up of angled bracing.

After I had the wall in I marked out on the floor the rest of the base cabinetry ( I know again with the cabinets ). The reason for this is because they are an odd shape because of the way the benchwork flares out for the turn back at the end of the peninsula. I wanted to get the angles right for when I cut them on the table saw.

Last section of peninsula wall, with cabinets marked on floor.
Last section of peninsula wall, with cabinets marked on floor.
Alternate view of wall.
Alternate view of wall.

With the sudden arrival of winter here in Minnesota, almost a month early, I’m a bit reluctant to head out to the garage to cut the plywood for the cabinets. Although because I’m so close to finishing up the benchwork and can move on to actually laying track, I’ll bite the bullet, fire up the garage heater and press ahead with the cabinets.

Once I do finish the end of the peninsula the plan is to build the base benchwork for the helix. After that is in place, I will then build the actual helix. I have noticed in other modelers blogs that they tend to leave the helix construction for last. I understand this, as the construction of a helix is a bit involved. However I can’t see putting it off as it sets the track height entering into and out of the helix. If you do the rest first and the helix last, then unless you planned it perfectly, your going to end up redoing something.

But not to get ahead of myself, first I’ll finish the peninsula.

Late October Update…

I apologize for the lack of posts this month. October Tends to be a busy month work wise, with a heavy travel schedule. Add to that trying to get everything done around the house that needs to be taken care of before the snow flies and the thought of getting anything done downstairs seems like wishful thinking.

But the good news is that I have been able to make progress on the layout. I managed to squeeze in a little here and there, and before you know it the benchwork is nearing completion. It seems like when you don’t have big blocks of time to finish something, you kind of write off the little bits of found time as not enough to get anything done.

I know this will be different as I get into later stages of layout construction, such as track work or scenery construction, where you can accomplish a lot in small blocks of time. But I put aside the natural inclination to say “oh well, maybe tomorrow” and do what I could with what time I had. And it’s truly amazing what you can get done when you do that.

First off, finished the last set of major cabinets on the other side of the peninsula. There will be a couple of small cabinets that go on the turn back portion of the peninsula. Now I know there are some out there who are throwing the arms up and saying “what is it with you and cabinets”. Let me explain. There are a lot of modelers out there who build their layouts and use the underside for storage. I don’t want to offend anyone, but I’ve done this and I have found that the stuff under the layout tends to pile up and slowly creeps out from underneath.

And even though my loving wife totally supports my hobby and consented to the whole basement as a layout room, still thinks of it as the basement and thus a place where things go that she doesn’t want upstairs. So storage was important.

Anyway, cabinets are done.

Last set of main cabinets installed.
Last set of main cabinets installed.

Second, finished the lower level benchwork over the new cabinets.

Lower deck benchwork in place on cabinets.
Lower deck benchwork in place on cabinets.

And last but not least, I was able to temporarily install the upper level of benchwork  along the entire peninsula. The reason I did it this way was so that I could get all the pieces cut to size and all wire run holes drilled. For the most part the pieces are a solid stringer that extends all the way across. But there was some fitting of pieces around the support posts and the pieces that make up the outside corner. Now that I have them all cut and drilled I will take them out, paint them and reinstall them. I can then install the rim joist.

Upper lever benchwork installed on peninsula.
Upper lever benchwork installed on peninsula.
Upper level benchwork in back aisle. The "hole" is still open for the helix.
Upper level benchwork in back aisle. The “hole” is still open for the helix.
Alternate view of upper level benchwork on peninsula.
Alternate view of upper level benchwork on peninsula.
Upper level benchwork on other aisle.
Upper level benchwork on other aisle.

Side note: I was sure once the other cabinets were installed on the other side of the peninsula that the stability of the center support “wall” would be fairly solid. I was surprised, happily so, that it is rock solid. I felt so confident in its strength that I played around with the idea of having my wife take a picture of me laying across the upper benchwork stringers. Common sense got the better of me and I decided not to press my luck.

Lastly, I’m posting a couple of pictures of display cabinets. The first two are ones that my father had made for me after I got back into the hobby after I was married. He tried to match the original. The doors were made of 1/4″ plywood and warped badly. I replaced them with clear plexiglass .

The other two cases built by my father for me.
The other two cases built by my father for me.

All but about 6 of the engines are old Athearn Blue Box or Bachmann DC engines.

The other case was the original one that my father made for me about 45 years ago. At one time it held all of my engines and train cars, but that was along time ago. I’m repairing some damage on the doors and will paint them to match the cabinets.

Original train case built into base cabinets.
Original train case built into base cabinets.

Next up: either the end of the peninsula or the base for the helix.

As they say, stay tuned…

 

 

New cabinets finished.

This will be quick. I finally finished the “electronics” cabinets, the ones that will house the DCC, switch controllers, block detectors, signal controllers, power supplies, etc. What should have been a simple weekend project ended up taking me over a week to finish, install and paint. But it’s done and most of the wood for the benchwork above is ready to put in. Once the benchwork is installed I will be able to start running the bus wiring to those sections that are finished.

New DCC and electronics cabinet.
New DCC and electronics cabinet.
Alternate view of cabinet.
Alternate view of cabinet.

 

Benchwork continues…#2

As promised and long overdue, I have an update on the further adventures of benchwork construction.

First up, I finished the second set of base cabinets. I love these as they hold a ton of stuff that had been sitting around in boxes. This set holds a bunch of old dvd movies, a ton of cd’s ( that someday will be loaded on my computer, someday ) and a good portion of my model railroad magazines, plus. As you can see the aisle width is rather generous and thanks to doing a lighting plan ahead of time the fluorescent lights are centered over the aisle.

New cabinets in on the other side. New home for music, movies and model railroad magazines.
New cabinets in on the other side. New home for music, movies and model railroad magazines.
Another view of the base cabinets.
Another view of the base cabinets.

Next up, I finished the lower deck on the south and west walls. The upper deck is done up to the window.

Back wall almost complete.
Back wall almost complete.

The lower deck is the New Brighton yard, the upper deck will be the Duluth yard. I had planned on running the Duluth yard across the window, but the nagging thought that I may have to access the window from the inside ( due to a broken window pane or… ) made me rethink this. I decided that I would have to make the upper deck semi permanent in front of the window. Still working out the logistics, I think I have the benchwork figured out, still working out the wiring portion. So as not have to tear out a portion of the yard, I decided to move the bridge scene in front of the window. This is going to truncate  the yard, but I believe that I can still make the yard work.

The problem window area.
The problem window area.

Once I get the upper deck in front of the window figured out, I will proceed around the upper deck and be able to finish the area over the west wall. I have all the joists for the upper west wall done and ready to install. Two things in this aisle – the west wall is the deepest scene at 3′ and this aisle is the narrowest, again 3′. The DCC tower marks the aisle width plus 6″ overhang for the benchwork. 3′ was what I had set as my minimum aisle width and is still plenty wide. Even though there will people working the yards there is nothing on the opposite side that will have someone in the way. The DCC tower is a leftover from the last layout and needs to be cut down to match the cabinet height. To its left will be an “electronics” cabinet. This will have the detector circuits for signalling, the Digitrax DS-64 stationary decoders for the switch machines, power supplies for lighting, etc.

View of the aisle from the other angle.
View of the aisle from the other angle.

The last photo shows the area is where the base for the helix will go. For the keen eyed out there, I know that it is narrower then it is long. I will be “daylighting” the wall to the utility room. It had to happen or I would have to compromise a curve radiuses on either the track coming out of the yards, the helix or both. Did this last time and I was sorry I did.

View of the back wall with the hole where the helix will go.
View of the back wall with the hole where the helix will go.

 

 

Cabinets in, bench work started.

I finished the first set of cabinets, installed and painted them. I won’t bore you with the details of construction as they follow standard base cabinetry construction. I painted them white as all the woodwork in the house is painted white. Also I had painted the cabinets in the work area white and wanted continuity between the two areas.

Base cabinets in place, painted and ready to go.
Base cabinets in place, painted and ready to go.

The space above them is the main staging yard, so I will be using these for storage of the engines and train cars. Shelves will be added soon, but the doors will be made after the rest of the cabinets are done as it is easier to do them all at the same time.

As the paint was drying I went back out to the garage ( also known as the woodworking shop ) and cut the “joists” for the upper and lower decks. I then made three drilling jigs for the three different size holes that I’m using for wire runs. Each joist has two 1″ holes, four – six 5/8′ holes and four 1/8′” holes. It may seem like a lot, but I figured it would be easier to keep like wires grouped together but separate. I also notched the upper deck joists for lower deck lighting.

View of lower deck joists set in place, note holes drilled for wire runs.
View of lower deck joists set in place, note holes drilled for wire runs.

The picture above shows the joists set in place. The first step was too screw the end of joist to the stud and the outer edge to the cabinet. Again I started with the end joist to the left in the picture, mounted it, then using a spacing jig ( like the one used for the stud spacing ) moved down the line. I can’t stress, at least for me, how much of a time saver the spacing jig is. You’re not trying to measure the spacing for every joist. I then added a ” rim joist ” to the outer edge of the joists. I will then add a fascia to this after I start the scenery.

Lower deck joists mounted and installing rim joist.
Lower deck joists mounted and installing rim joist.
Lower deck frame work done.
Lower deck frame work done.

Once I finished the lower deck I painted the upper deck joists white for better light reflection, when dry I then installed them same as the lowers except instead of screwing them to the cabinet, I screwed them to the 3/4″ lip on the horizontal.

Upper deck Joists painted for light reflections.
Upper deck Joists painted for light reflections.
Upper and lower deck framing done.
Upper and lower deck framing done.

The plan was to keep moving around the room with bench work, but everything was working out as I had hoped so I wanted to add the sub roadbed to this area to see if there would be any sag or deflection. I cut the plywood for both decks and mounted it. The lower deck was solid, although with it sitting on the cabinets that was really no surprise. What brought about a sigh of relief was that the upper deck was also rock solid. No sagging and no deflection, even when I pounded on it.