The Atlantic and Southern Build, Part 1

[gnatshop]

Exciting developments!!
Looks great...one question, no homasote or cork?
Hope to inspect soon...John   

He just wants to hear the rumble to be sure it didn't fall off the oval-hicks!

His pitures reveal some interestin' facts though -the Judge is the smart one
of the bunch!  He commandeered the big comfy chair!!     

When you do your inspection, you have my proxy to make the in-appropriate
comments on my behalf that I would! 

[GPdemayo]

I'm glad Bill is happy, he has been a bit surly since he hasn't been able to run trains around & around & around & around & around.
 
Is it me or is there some pattern here?
 
Nice looking "ovalix" Tom.

[ReadingBob]

That is really impressive.  You're off to a great start!  I can't wait to see what this is going to lead to.   

[maandg]

Tom, everything is looking great!  I love the Ovalix design...very innovative.  I'll be following your impressive progress closely! 

[Twist67]

Hi,
Tom,you made very ggod progress and I´m happy to see some benchwork done.Your Ovalix looks great...It´s fine to see the construction step by step....I think it´s relative easy to get a steady grade of 1.2% up the Ovalix with those 3"...

Keep up the great progress...

Regars,Chris

[ACL1504]

Exciting developments!!


Looks great...one question, no homasote or cork?


Hope to inspect soon...John

John,

Thanks for checking in. On this level I'll have only plywood. The homasote and cork will come later. Although, I'm seriously considering not using homasote as it is very heavy and may be to heavy for my other two levels.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Exciting developments!!
Looks great...one question, no homasote or cork?
Hope to inspect soon...John   

He just wants to hear the rumble to be sure it didn't fall off the oval-hicks!

His pitures reveal some interestin' facts though -the Judge is the smart one
of the bunch!  He commandeered the big comfy chair!!     

When you do your inspection, you have my proxy to make the in-appropriate
comments on my behalf that I would! 

Gman,

Good to see you are still around. Thanks for stopping by and just to let you know I got the chair for the Judge. The chair was $149.00 from Staples and I got two on sale for $29.95 each! So there.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I'm glad Bill is happy, he has been a bit surly since he hasn't been able to run trains around & around & around & around & around.
 
Is it me or is there some pattern here?
 
Nice looking "ovalix" Tom.

Greg,

Yep, the Judge is one happy camper. He is running trains again. The pattern, it's you! Ovalix is working fine.

Tom

[ACL1504]

That is really impressive.  You're off to a great start!  I can't wait to see what this is going to lead to.   

Bob,

Thanks for stopping by and posting a comment! It's going to lead to a great layout.
After all, I'm plagiarizing Cliff Powers layout design. What can go wrong? 

Great little clinic this morning on lighting with LEDs, thank you!

Tom

[ACL1504]

Tom, everything is looking great!  I love the Ovalix design...very innovative.  I'll be following your impressive progress closely!

Cliff,

Thank you for stopping by, very much appreciated. I didn't want to dedicate a corner for a helix build. I was looking at the bump out and figured if I could fit it in that space and using the entire area, the length would double and drop the incline by almost 1/2! I called it an ovalix as it actually is one and the rest of the room could be used for scenery and structures.

Pam and I had a wonderful time last Sunday. Thank you very much Cliff.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Hi,
Tom,you made very ggod progress and I´m happy to see some benchwork done.Your Ovalix looks great...It´s fine to see the construction step by step....I think it´s relative easy to get a steady grade of 1.2% up the Ovalix with those 3"...

Keep up the great progress...

Regars,Chris

Chris,

Thanks very much, I appreciate you stoppoing by! The ovalix is really moving now and it certainly is a lot of fun building, time consuming but fun! This part of the build is critical as everything comes off the ovalix on the three levels.


An update will follow in a few minutes.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I got so busy last week uploading Cliff's layout pictures and recovering from the quickie trip that updating my thread took a back seat.

I finished the ovalix decking for the first loop and started the second loop.



To get the rise I desired, I cut the 1X2's in 3" pieces. I'm not sure what the material is but the label at Lowes listed the stuff as PVC trim. It comes in 12' lengths so you can get 46 three inch pieces. The saw blade eats up a little bit as you cut the 46! Anyway, the PVC trim pieces are solid and work better than expected.

Here is what I did. I cut the PVC trim on my compound miter saw and tossed them in a bag. I cut five 12' lengths of the PVC so I guess I had close to 240 of the 3" pieces. Once I made and adjusted the first loop, the second and third loops were easy. I first marked where each piece would go and then glued the cut PVC pieces over the lower level bracing supports under the first loop. I used Loctite glue to secure the pieces.





I let the glued pieces dry over night.

Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

The next day I placed the next level decking on the white 3" PVC pieces and secured them with 1 1/2" drywall screws. You can see that as I go up on the ovalix, the screws won't show as each row of 3" pieces will cover the screws. If you ever use this method, make sure the screw heads are a little below the plywood so the 3" pieces fit flush on the decking over the screws.



I then move on around the ovalix using the 3" pieces. As I move forward with each section I back track and add the track in the middle of the decking. I use the small thin Micro Engineering pins to secure the track.





Continued in a few.

[BandOGuy]

If 'Gnat reads Tom's post in Comment 176 closely, I can't wait to see his responses. 

[ACL1504]

If 'Gnat reads Tom's post in Comment 176 closely, I can't wait to see his responses. 

Can I get a prayerful Amen?

Tom