Section 3 Benchwork Progress

This week has seen the rough completion of Section 3 which is the largest of the five sections of the Beatton River layout. It is one of three free standing sections. Section 3 is 3 feet by 3.5 feet and is supported on three sets of legs.

As with the previous sections, large slabs of green insulation foam were used to form the base terrain and sheets of craft Styrofoam were added to create subtle areas of elevation. The messy process of rasping, sanding and carving the foam was repeated with just as much mess as before. Track bed was built up with N gauge roadbed on top of HO gauge roadbed.

The joins use DCC Concepts precision alignment dowels and carriage bolts. The roadbed transitions from foam roadbed to hard Tasmanian Oak stripwood at the interface points as these will be used to secure PCB ties to which the rail ends will be soldered.

As with the previous sections, several coats of surplus off white paint were used to seal the foam. This has the effect of making it look like I am planning to model winter (something I have in fact considered), but a more suitable earth tone will be used prior to the scenic treatment stage as I am quite set on the idea of early fall 1978 as the season.

With three of five modules at the rough completion stage, they were laid out on the floor, and I am happy to report that they do indeed fit the room!

Two more sections to go. I have noticed that living in a perpetually warm and sunny climate means I spend a lot less time on indoor hobbies as I did when I lived in Canada, which explains the somewhat “relaxed” pace of construction.