Layout at Lake City Hobby

A few months ago, Jim Greco, the owner of Lake City Hobby, moved into a new larger location down the street. He has much better visibility, and plenty of space. He had a layout constructed in O-guage in th eback of the store, and there was a table constructed for an N-guage layout to be placed in the front window of the store. After 3 months and no progress on the N-guage, he approached us about turning it into an HO scale switching layout. His idea was to have an operating layout that would be proof you didn't need to run the trians in circles, or have a large space. It also needed to be a high-quality setup, and showcase products available for sale at the shop. We were certainly up for the challenge.

We started by adding on a small wing to the existing 27" x 96" table top. Lake City Hobby has a great corner building with a window on the corner as well, so we decided to take full advantage of it. While only adding about 30" of track, it would provide greater flexibility in operating the layout. We wanted this to feature some industries of Geneva, both past & present, and have a team track for the most variety.

Dave Lederhouse spearheaded the track plan, and within a few days, we had hashed it out enough to lay the track on a Saturday afternoon. Using Atlas Code 83 track,we adhered it to the foam insulation base with Woodland Scenics glue.

We were skeptical that it would hold track in place, but were pleasantly surprised when it set quickly and dried clear. Scott soldered in the feed wires and we test-ran an engine. It worked! A couple of weeks later, Jered painted the track with a mix of acrylics from the local big-box store and 70% isopropyl alcohol. This thinned the paint out as well as helping it to dry quickly.



The following Saturday, we arrived to set the ground throws and ballast the tracks. Under each switch, we installed a small strip of 1/4" luan plywood to act as a base for the ground throws.

Andy, Dave, Jered, and Scott worked through the morning and early afternoon putting down the ballast, using the tired & true "Wet & Wet" method. We carefully applied the ballast with a spoon to small areas, then used our fingers and a 2" paintbrush to work the ballast in between the ties and build an appropriate shape to the sides. Since we're modeling railroading in Geneva, there's no need for big cork roadbeds - the tracks here in town are very close to ground level. Once the ballast was in place, we sprayed it with "wet water", which is water with a small amount of detergent added. This breaks up the surface tension of the ballast and lets the glue penetrate between each granule for the best hold. For the glue, we used Woodland Scenics Cement, and applied it with eyedroppers and medicine syringes. The syringe works great as you have better control. You can usually get one or 2 by asking your local pharmasist nicely.



Once the ballast was down, we set to work fine-tuning the landscaping of the layout. The base is 1" thick rigid foam insulation, which is easily carved using a Sureform Planer which is a small hand-held plane with a micr0grate blade. Further smoothing was done with coarse-grit sandpaper. This is really Scott's favorite part of model railroading, creating contours and lessening "The Kansas Effect" of having flat layouts. He jumped right in to the window and went to work. As you can see, its a busy intersection outside, and people stopped to check out the progress throughout the day.






At the end of the day, we had gotten quite a bit of work done. The tracks were ballasted, initial contours cut in, and the foam is cut and ready for the landscaping work. Looking across the layout, you can see where there will be an elevated line, as well as a highway bridge, in place soon.



Structures are underway at individual members' homes, and our goal is to have a functioning layout in place by Christmas. Will it be "done" by then"? By no means. This layout, like many others, will be a work in progress for some time. But the hope is that it will inspire newcomers to the hobby to advanee to the next level, and maybe show others some new techniques to use on their own.

Check back often, as well be updating this more frequently as "train season" begins again!


The Crew