Moving Forward with Green Rock -- November Update

 While it is true that I haven't been posting about moving forward with the East Staging module transitioning into Green Rock, I have been working on it fairly steadily. 

The first step I took after drawing up a plan and cut list for the benchwork for the addition was to move to the basement where some of my power tools are set up for working on our kitchen. I used my miter-saw to cut pieces of 1" X 3" pine to length. Since I purchased an air compressor and nail-guns for installing bead board in the house, I have found it to also be very handy for gluing and nailing model railroad benchwork. It is noisier, but much easier than hammering finish nails by myself. It even goes faster than gluing and screwing. 

After assembling the framework, I  laid out the 1/2"plywood for the top. After marking it, I went ahead and cut the two pieces out with my jigsaw. I didn't want to attach it yet, as I felt the need to test the framework grid in place with the original staging yard. So, with Renee's help, I moved the addition up to the attic and set it up on a workbench with the staging module. It seemed like it was working, so I went ahead and screwed the new benchwork frame onto the original module. I still resisted attaching the plywood to the frame until I had the final track plan marked and the hole cut for the turntable. 

After selecting the center of the turntable opening, I made a simple beam compass with a paint stick and a brad as the center point trammel and a pencil held against the end of the paint stick to draw the circle for the opening. The instructions for the turntable kit gave me the diameter and I divided that in half for the trammel point brad. Before cutting the circle out, I drew the center lines of the tracks (and cork roadbed) on the plywood. I made sure to keep the center line straight for a few inches past the opening for the turntable and the curve to not exceed my minimum of 24" radius. 

With the plywood circle cut out I finally glued and nailed the plywood to the grid frame. After the glue had a chance to dry, my next step was to glue cork roadbed down following the center lines I had established for the three tracks leading to the turntable opening. Saving some money now and probably adding headaches later, I went ahead and configured the other two tracks using the two turnouts I had on hand, an older Atlas right hand and a Peco Insulfrog. As the rails later overlap the lip of the turntable pit, I also fit cork around the pit opening. The photo to the right shows the extension with the cork glued down and the turntable pit temporarily in place. 

Since then I have clamped the module in place, started work on the turntable, laid the track, started some scenery, and started thinking about how this will impact my operations plans. Hopefully I will update this blog more frequently and catch up with the modeling!