Bench Work
Bench work was begun in July of 1975 by Harold Shelton, after a planning phase of about seven years. Construction is open grid with the railroad built in seven sections, which will allow for the separation of the pieces when it comes time to move. Railroad base is made using 1/2" Homasote laminated to 1/4" plywood. Railbed was made from 1/8" Upsom® board cut approximately 1/4" wider than the ties would be, then glued to the railroad base.Ties
Ties were cut to size on Harold's table saw, then to the proper length. The tops of the ties were sanded flat, then stained.Turnouts
All turnouts were scratch built with a jig that Harold constructed for the task. Ties were ballasted before the rail was spiked down. The code 70 nickel silver turnouts and rails were weathered before laying and spiked with a Kadee® spiker on every tie. Originally, the turnouts were controlled by facia mounted switches and twin-coil machines. As of April of 2008, nearly all of the turnouts are controlled through the throttles and facia switches and Tortoise™ slow-motion switch machines by Greenway Products®.Lighting
Lighting in the layout room consists of ten fluorescent fixtures in the dropped ceiling, along with track lighting featuring spotlights on the town of Jeremiah. All of the structures have internal lighting installed, but not all structures are hooked up to power these internal lights.Wiring
Wiring to the switch machines and to the five control panels was a large task that was completed using prepared schematics. The prepared schematic was later used to help route the DCC wiring.Control System
The entire layout is controlled by a Digitrax® Super Chief DCC system. All blocks are protected for good operation by Digitrax® PM-4s. Turnouts are controlled by facia switches and fixed decoders that allow turnout positions to be changed from the throttle.Signaling System
The electronics for the signalling system has been supplied by Logic Rail™. All of the signals are target type currently setup for two light operation and were manufactured by Sunrise Enterprises.Scenery and Structures
The basic scenery is hard shell. All rock formations were made using rock casting from molds that Harold made with liquid latex rubber. The finish was applied using latex paint coloring in a spray bottle mixed with a water. High lighting was done with acrylic paints. Ground cover was applied using Woodland Scenics® colored foam and trees were made from bush trimmings with foliage added from Woodland Scenics®. Ballast was applied at this time. Other miscellaneous twigs appeared as bushes. Exposed ground faces were hand carved with an old dental pick and then color was applied. Most structures were made from Craftsman type kits, others are scratch built from plans that Harold liked or from his own ideas, with more detail added at the time the structures were put on the layout.First view as you enter the layout area:
Looking up the ridge on the Obadiah peninsula:
View of the "front" of the layout, opposite end of the aisle from the entry:
