2018 - A NEW YEAR - A NEW LAYOUT?

Greetings followers of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad!

2017 was a great year for me and my model railroad hobby. New friends were made, trains were run often, and thanks to the internet, same trains were seen on multiple train layouts, or as we like to say, virtual train ops!

With retirement on the horizon, and a snowbird residence down in Florida, I knew that I wanted to be able to enjoy my model railroad adventures in Florida as I do in New Jersey. One thing I told my wife was that I would not let happen to me what happened to my father when he retired, and that was not keeping busy, have a hobby, golf or otherwise (Yes, I've played golf, will want to learn to play better-a conversation for another time and blog). When we found a house in Florida in 2013, the CFO said I could have the third bedroom (which is more like an office, no closets) as a room for my trains. How great is that!!

Planning for the train room was not as easy as it seems, despite working with an open space. The room is 11'10" x 13'3". No one said a room had to be to the foot! Planning started in 2016 as I spent more than a few days at a time down there, since I'm still working, and flew to check on the place. Since I have one layout up and running, I knew this one would be a little easier to build-not really!!

One thing I did learn was to know what I could have versus what I wanted, or as they say - Givens and Druthers. Obviously space is set. The door opening is similar to NJ, a double door. That left me with the issue of having trains running continuously or having a point to point. This was the first option I took into consideration:

Next option was to try and figure a way to have trains run continuously, if possible. This was the next option I considered.

Next up was to have a 2 level layout with a helix with a peninsula:

This was going to be the one! I've done the helix, and I could get one made from the same company. Only thing different would be the spacing between the levels and the upper level would be narrower. Helix was ordered in September and shipped to Florida in October. Wood for framing was picked up as well and sat in the room. Due to work constraints, nothing happened until late December, when I knew I was going to be down here for a few weeks. And so we began to build the frames for the helix.

After a few days, the frames were built and we started to put them together....

Next came some side frames. In order to have them supported properly, and without legs coming straight down, I installed heavy duty 18"x 16" metal brackets. In Florida, it's metal studs and concrete. Not an issue once you know what you're up against. The beauty of the metal brackets gave me the ability to have supports extend from the front of the frames to the base of the molding by the floor. 

The supports for the frames took some doing, and you learn from your mistakes. After numerous cuts on one piece of 2" x 2" wood, I got the desired results...

And now reality hit me! While it looked good on paper, space is an issue. The peninsula for now, has been taken off the drawing board. Once I get the framing finished, and the helix in place, I may consider adding them to both levels. 

So, what does all of this give me? It gives me the opportunity to have a point to point railroad with lots of switching and also have a couple commuter trains running to various stations on each level, starting and ending in the right hand corner of the room. We're well on our way, and I should have the frame installed where the window is located as well as the smaller section on the right hand side by the time I leave, which is Friday January 5th. Next trip back here is on the 14th, and I'm sure the CFO will have things for me to do....

I do want to give thanks to some of my train friends that follow my blog, as they were instrumental in the thought process. My NJ friends John and Norman, and John of GA were a big help when it came to construction and operations.

Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for reading!