OASIS Construction Part 1

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Construction of the new layout has begun!  I assembled some L-girder bench work for the wall section of the OASIS layout.  This particular lumber has been used on two other layouts.  I never like to throw out old lumber, and hopefully three will be a charm with this one!!! 

The L-girder bench still needs some sway bracing, but it is already pretty sturdy at this stage of construction.  The  2’ x 4’ Rural Grain Dealers layout is on the left, and the 1’ x 4’ Car Shop Micro layout is on the right.  This is a temporary arrangement.  I do not have a lot of storage space in this home, so I put these layouts on the bench work to get them off the floor.  These will have to be moved when I am ready to install the base boards for the layout.

Speaking of base boards, I am not 100% sure what I am going to use for them.  I am vacillating between 3/4” birch plywood and extruded foam board (pink/blue stuff).  Birch plywood is wonderful to work with, but is heavy and expensive.  Extruded foam board is rigid and lightweight, but does tend to “off-gas” fumes which have made some model railroaders sick and damaged water scenes due to bubbles developing in the modeled water material.  I know Scott Mason from the Scotty Mason Show does not like to use it, and on several episodes of his podcast has voiced his concerns about using extruded foam board on a model railroad.  I am leaning toward the birch plywood.  I do not plan to display this layout at any train shows or move it much, so maximum portability is not necessary.  This layout only needs to be portable enough to disassemble if I ever have to move in the future.

I am going to let things sit for awhile before moving on to the next step.  I will be monitoring the bench work for any development of sags or warping before moving on to track laying.

Happy Modeling!

Tom  

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