Due to the wonderfully snowy weather, I was able to spend some quality time in the basement with my trains. I have made some real progress on the benchwork. For the uninitiated that is the structure upon which my train layout will be built. The picture is down the long axis of the approximately 5 X 16 foot peninsula. The area in the foreground will contain a canyon and a spindly trestle bridge. The area to the left will contain a small town and sawmill area. The right side of the layout will contain a mountain logging camp.

The vertical pieces of wood in the center will support the backdrop. It is difficult to maintain the illusion of climbing hundreds of feet up in the mountains from town when you can see the town just a foot away. The backdrop will be painted with either just sky blue or if I can find a starving artist, a nice mountain landscape. I am hoping for a starving artist.

The grey stuff is a pressed paper product called Homasote that I use for sound deadening. The track is laid on top of the Homasote. Supposedly it has multiple applications but the guy at the lumber yard says that the only people that buy it are Model Railroaders.

Further progress on the benchwork can be tracked in the following posts:

Benchwork Construction Part 1

Benchwork Construction Part 2 - Adding Legs

Benchwork Construction Part 3 - Wonder what happened here?

Benchwork Construction Part 4 - Backdrop

Benchwork Construction Part 5 - Plywood and Homasote Roadbed