Lee University

Starting Over

            No more getting crushed in the center of the layout for me!  This new layout is intended to be an island, where I can walk entirely around it.  Like the former layout, I still plan to have three separate loops: one will be circa 10 inches above the table, the second will be table height with graded slopes to a 4” higher level, and the third will be built at table height.  My tables are 36” high.  Higher would be better but I’m working with leftover parts and anyway, I’m a short guy and bending over a higher table would be not a pleasant thing to watch!  I would hurt myself!

	It’s October of 2003 and several months after tearing down the old layout, I am faced with the aftermath of destruction. Separated tables, scattered junk, the old center light frame, and a diet coke can.  Obviously It’s time to start over. . . or at least, clean up . . .
	My first priority was to make the turn-arounds that would be the focal point of the raised center loop. My plan was a layout that resembles a capital “J”, with a few “fat bumps” around the edges.  Here I begin laying track for HIGHPORT, a industry area on one of the extremities of the “J” . . .
	HIGHPORT track is tacked and the peninsula is cut out. . .
	I have always been a proponent of cardboard strips serving as foundation for plastering. However, I thought I might try the chicken wire approach this time. I thought it might give me a better material and opportunity to “mold” contours. It was a bit tedious, not to mention, painful. Note to Self: Cardboard doesn’t scratch and poke . . . but I have committed by buying rolls of chicken wire at Lowe’s, so I guess I’m stuck . . . no pun intended . . .
	So far, so good? But will it plaster well? . . .
	The mountain is plastered and legs have been attached to the bottom of the turnaround. And I start experimenting with building placement . . . Now, let’s see . . Heeding the principles of “feng shui”, I believe that nature is telling me to place the building with the orange smokestack to the left of the outdoor potty building. . .Or maybe that’s the “wind direction indicator” telling me that . . ?!?
	The curve of the lower half of the J begins to take shape on the other side of the room. . . .
	Just for fun (and because I’m really impatient at this point in the construction time table) I have erected a mock-up of the small mine scene on this side of the soon-to-exist mountain. At the top of the picture you can see that I have begun to add the long straight-away that will eventually join to the top of the “J” design. Later, on subsequent pages, I’ll draw a somewhat exact track  plan for you. The original is drawn with crayon on the back of a roof shingle . . . Keep in mind, the term, “high tech drafting skills” has not been mentioned in this site so far . . .there’s a reason for that . . .
	By December, I’ve managed to plaster, paint, and complete the initial scenic covering of the MINE peninsula.
	Still setting on sawhorses, the HIGHPORT mountain has received its first go-around with grass, foliage, and trees. With the help of my WONDERFUL WIFE WHOM I’VE MENTIONED BEFORE, we eventually move this, now somewhat weighty peninsula, from the sawhorses and set it on a table area near the top of the “J”. (Wife gets REALLY NICE Christmas gift this year!)

Trains:  Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Page 1 - Box Canyon Layout
Page 2 - Any Time, Any Spring Disclaimer
Page 3 - Starting Over, December 2003
Page 4 - March, 2004
Page 5 - June, 2004
Page 8 - Layout Design
Page 9 - August, 2004
Page 11 - January, 2005
Page 16 – January, 2005 Redux
Page 17 – First Day of Summer, 2005
Page 20 – August, 2005
Page 21 - In the Farmland, February 2006
Page 23 - Layout Potpourri, February 2006
Page 25 - In the Cornfields, 2006
Page 27 - July, 2006
Page 30 – November, 2006
Page 33 - MARCH, 2007 – A Break In The Action