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PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR Building easy sub-roadbed Laminating strips of hardboard for solid construction/Richard Todd O


ne of the great things about this hobby is the willingness of its participants to share knowl-


edge. Inspiration can come from any- where. Five years after moving into a house with a 30-foot square basement room earmarked for a railroad, we still hadn’t gotten started. However, a se- ries of event got us headed in the right direction. The first was an invitation to operate on Dick Sine’s Union Pacific-in- spired railroad. That got us moving. Then Robert Holl had us over to oper- ate and dispatch on his Pennsy layout.


Let’s not forget the folks at Train Control Systems, Precision Scale Company, NorthWest Short Line, and all the other manufacturers who were happy to answer our questions. Even a magazine article from 10


years ago may provide the inspiration that allows us to work better and more easily at our hobby. All we have to do is be open to new ideas and be willing to modify them so they become our own. The sub-roadbed for our railroad came from one paragraph I found on one of the NMRA websites.


After seeing and operating these modeler’s layouts, we wanted to get started with our own after years of armchair railroading. I had years of de- sign/builder experience, but my son Ryan had none. I suggested that he read a few books on the basics and ac- cess the NMRA Layout Design Special Interest Group (LDSIG) on the inter- net. I wanted him to learn about layout design so we could get started and then argue about and fight over the design for our Northwestern Pacific. He learned a lot, and it made our still-


The center spline (left) was slid into a slot in the poly-iso foam to provide a strong connection for the roadbed. At right,the center


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spline has had three strips added to its width to create a straight section. This will eventually be cut out to accept a bridge.


DECEMBER 2011


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