The Atlantic and Southern Build, Part 1

[ACL1504]

The brackets are made by Closetmaid and sold in the big box stores. I bought mine from Lowes. You can get them on line from other suppliers at about half the cost which I'll do when I get more of them.

I used tapcon screws to secure the brackets to the wall. The support brace is 20" long.



As you can see the brackets are adjustable on the wall bracket bar. You can see I've made several pencil marks on the wall in my determination of where I need the 20" support brace.



Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

I adjusted the brackets until I had an 18" height above the second level portion of the layout.



At my height of 5'10" and standing back from the benchwork, this is what I can see from my eye level.



Depending on the height of the SBG members and/or visitors, the ability to see more or less of the wall will be different. The taller one is the less he or she will see and if shorter, the more of the back wall will be visible.

[ACL1504]

Here is how the third level looks with a few brackets and 1X3's in place.



The benchwork will go on top of the 1X3's and secured with screws.

[jbvb]

It's fun to watch your vision of the late days of the ACL unfold.

[ACL1504]

It's fun to watch your vision of the late days of the ACL unfold.

James,

Thanks, much appreciated. I've really been enjoying the work on the second level and the start on the third. I'm happy you are following along.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I've started the work to finish the track on the ovalix. Will post a photo update later in the week.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Now that the second level is finished as far as the track and bench work, I needed to finish the Ovalix so it meets the third level. I added the remaining Ovalix roadbed supports.

This last section will give me the 10 tenth loop from the storage level to the top of the Ovalix and the third level. Each rotation on the Ovalix is 26 ft. in length giving me a 260 ft. run on the Ovalix alone.






Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

I forgot to add the roadbed splice to the last roadbed section. I glued and clamped the splice and had to wait for 24 hours to add the last extention of the roadbed.





While waiting for the splice to dry I finished laying the track up to the Quick Grips.



Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

Once the splice was dry, I secured the last section of the Ovalix roadbed to the white supports.



I then moved back to the third level wall supports.

Here's a photo from a few posts back showing the wall brackets.



Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

I mentioned in a few posts back I had a major issue with how I hung the wall brackets. The height between the second and third level was 18 inches. This gave me a very comfortable look for the second level.




The major issue with the wall brackets was the fact I couldn't make the correct adjustment at the 18 inch level to match the top level coming off the Ovalix.

I had to remove all the wall brackets from the wall and re-drill the holes to fit the height I needed. The top level of the Ovalix was only 19 3/4" above the second level. If I took the Ovalix up another loop, to 11 loops, the third level would then be to high. One revolution of the Ovalix raises the track 3 inches.

I know some are now as confused as me so I'll just say I made an adjustment to the wall brackets. The distance between the second and third level is now 16 3/4 inches. Actually, the loss of the 1 1/2 inch isn't that drastic when viewing the second level and I'm used to it now.The next photo shows the old wall mounted brackets.




In the next photo you can see that the wall brackets have been moved up 3" and the bracket on the wall post/bracket has been set in the lowest portion possible.

Continued tomorrow.

[ACL1504]

Last Saturday I had the Judge hold the 1X3 while I leveled it. He then clamped the 1X3 in place. The 1X3 represents the top of the wall bracket in the lower position. Here is another reference photo. The 1X3 sits on top of this bracket.



Here the Judge is checking to make sure I got the level, well,  level!



Now add the other 1X3 and the 3/8" plywood and it is now level with the Ovalix.

[ACL1504]

Now it's just a matter of mounting the 1X4's to the wall around the Ovalix and I can then start the bracing for the loop and reverse loop around the outside of the Ovalix. Once that task is accomplished, I'll be able to finish the third level around the entire room. I'm getting anxious.

[GPdemayo]

I can't believe you let Bill operate the level.....

[ReadingBob]

I can't believe you let Bill operate the level.....

Why?  Bill's on the level.   

[ACL1504]

I can't believe you let Bill operate the level.....

Level yes, heavy equipment, maybe not so! After all, he only had to look and hold. Nothing to turn on and run!


Tom