Carletta Trains
Building the Extension
As I acquired more trains I decided that I wanted more space to run them along with more space to store them. I decided that I would try to model a similar station to the one found in Hoboken, NJ. In addition, I decided to build some extra sidings as a staging area.
I already had another table nearby where I had some HO trains setup. All I had to do was take them down and build something to bridge the gap.
Unfortunately, for the trains that is, I got married and moved out of my parent's house before I had time to do any kind of scenery. It's all hooked up so the trains can run, but I think it will remain a pink board. The layout is too big to get through any doorways and any attempt to cut it up would not result in a clean refitting. I guess the only solution is to build a brand new layout once I get a good sized basement! :)
Here are some pictures of the extension area as I gathered and prepared pieces for installation.
You can click on them to enlarge them
This is one of the pieces I used to bridge the gap between the tables. Here I have a couple of legs attached so I could check the height of the board. Another similar board will then be installed against the wall to allow trains to flow smoothly from the main section into the extension.
These next two photos show the wood work all done and the foam board hot glued into place with low temperature hot glue. If you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you can see the pencil markings to show where the track will go.
Switch tracks can be tricky to lay properly when using them in a row. Since I was using mainly Atlas switch tracks, I purchased the templates they have available. It only comes with a certain amount so I suggest you make copies and use those and keep the originals intact. Here's the layout for the switches for my station.
Now that the pencil lines were in place, I double checked all of the switch tracks to make sure that they still lined up with the pencil lines.
Click on the pictures to enlarge them.
I took my time and slowly laid the cork roadbed down using caulk. Once that was dry I used caulk to hold the track down. I used foam pins to hold everything in position until the caulk had sufficient time to dry. . Click on the pictures below to enlarge them.
I soldered connections in the areas I was able to reach. As a general rule, your layout shouldn't have areas that are more than 2 feet from the outside. This section puts the wall at 4 feet away.
