I built this layout several years ago. My wife encouraged me to build a new garage/workshop. we had a small pond in our yard for quite some time, and when we moved our garden, I decided to move and enlarge the pond. The shop and pond were designed around the suspended layout. The support wall for the shop overhand which serves as a covered patio, is the back wall for the pond, and extends about four feet below grade, and about three feet above the water surface.
I decided on the name Wrong Way RR after having several de-railments and other mishaps by having switches set in the wrong direction. It took quite some time to get used to the switching procedure down, even with a written protocol. Now, I just use a step stool and switch manually.
Inside the shop on one wall is a two track yard, closed in by removable glass panels that extends about eighteen feet, which is the inside length of the shop. The outside layout is approximately ten feet wide, by fifteen long. The shelving is made of three quarter inch oak bordered with walnut. The shelving along the shop wall rests on crown molding, and gingerbread brackets reduced from the original bracket I used as a pattern.
The side walls are incorporated into the soffit, with turned posts made with a tracing attachment for a wood lathe. I copied one of the porch posts I salvaged from an old house. These posts have dual wood thread inserts at the bottom, and machine thread and wood thread inserts at the top. The machined rods go through the ceiling, and are nutted on the floor in the storage space above the layout.
The open end is spanned by three wood trestles, The two large trestles are between three and four feet long, and the open deck trestle is about two feet long. The open trestle rests on to outrigger boards attached to the center post, which also serve as supports for the two larger trestles. This span is protected form the elements by glass panels.
On the opposite wall, spanning the entry to the shop, is a soldered steel open deck girder bridge that is forty one inches long, and rests on notches in the wood shelving. This bridge took about a month to build, as the rivets are hand punched, and the angle iron reinforcements are all individually bent, rivet detailed, and soldered to the wall panels. The cross bracing underneath is also separately applied.
The layout is two loops, interconnected with Atlas track and switches. Power is supplied by two Lionel post war RW transformers. Switches are powered by an HO DC power pack, All track connections are soldered, and power drops are about every three to four feet.
For a few years, I have been considering a ground level garden layout, and I may commit this summer. I have a preliminary plan in my head, and probably more then enough track from the suspended layout to complete the initial phase. My ultimate goal would be to span the pond at its narrowest point, approximately ten feet, and use the entire yard for the layout.
I have included photos of the layout from start to finish.
Don
) did you weather this up to make it look like that or is that from the real outside weather?
