Having recently built the basic framing for the final phase of my S scale Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto Railway layout, I am keen to get started on track. To that end, I added a stop at the lumber yard to yesterday’s errands and came home with a 4×8 sheet of 3/4-inch plywood. I laid sections on the benchwork, rolled out a length of kraft paper, and started flinging ideas about.
It helped that I’ve been studying this line for decades and am familiar with the areas I’m trying to depict. It also helped that Fast Tracks offers the hobby community a huge catalogue of ready-to-print turnout templates.
By the end of the day, I had a full-sized plan.
Today, I used that plan to cut my plywood into subroadbed. I screwed the various sections together with splice plates, then slid the subroadbed about on the benchwork until I was happy with its alignment.
Still to come: Risers and a couple of simple spurs. But I can now proceed to trim back the peninsula framing to form the front edge, then add more bracing – making sure to leave adequate clearance for turnout controls and other below-decks gubbins.
I can already envision how this new section will enhance operation on my tribute to the NS&T.
The Model Railway Show 