Construction

The "old layout" occupied a 12 x 12 foot room in the south end of the basement and was constructed in the early 'seventies. The new layout extends the whole length of the basement and includes the space previously taken up by the old layout as well as considerably more of the basement along the east and north walls. Construction of the new layout began with the design phase starting in mid 2000. Subsequently, preliminary work began on the North Division while the old layout was still in place at the far south end of the room. With work well under way on the North Division, preliminary work then began on part of the South Division but it soon became obvious that the old layout would have to go. Dismantling that was a labour-intensive task and took several weeks of concentrated effort starting in January 2002. Once this was removed and some minor construction repairs were done to the room, serious work started on the South Division. What follows is a summary of some of the construction of the new layout. At the north-west corner of the new layout, the cable car (the only structure to be moved from the old layout) has been installed and tested even before trackwork is finished. November 3, 2001 The old layout room (12 x 12 feet) has been totally cleaned out and brackets are installed for the new benchwork. February 28, 2002 Benchwork installation has begun. March 8, 2002 The new layout has double track main lines with plenty of cross-overs and a large storage yard on a lower level.  There is a large double-ended switching yard and a historical park complete with amusement rides and vintage railroad equipment. Digitrax Digital control (DCC) is used throughout.  An off-line DC (analog) test track is available for testing locomotives not equipped for DCC and there is an off-layout programming track for DCC-equiped locomotives. Very much under construction. East subdivision on October 6, 2002. Progress Report: (Feb. 9, 2003)  The two main lines are now operational.  The length of the inner main line is 152 feet.  This represents 2.5 scale miles (once around).  The outer main line is just a bit longer so there is over 5 scale miles of track just for the main lines.  Lots of room to run trains. All of the track is laid except for the main yard.  Most turnouts are installed and operational.  All turnouts on the layout will be powered.  There will be no hand thrown turnouts. Future location of city - north layout. February 9, 2003. Future location of rural area - south layout (Secondary power distribution centre is below.) February 9, 2003. Station track at city. February 9, 2003. Future location of historical park February 9, 2003 Switches for yard tracks - north end - February 9, 2003 South end of yard under construction. February 9, 2003