Trains in the Trainhouse!

Okay, no trains yet, but at least the first piece of the layout.

Yes, it's little high, but this is the west end of the west staging yard. There are twelve tracks. Tracks 2 through 11 are stub ended, and Track 1 connects to Track 12 with a loop that goes over a bridge over the other ten. Here's a picture of the top of the staging yard.

I'm using steel shelf brackets to hold up the layout. The brackets are not level (they are slanted toward the wall, to keep things from sliding or rolling off), and they aren't necessarily at the same height either. I got around these problems by attaching 1/16 x 1-1/2 inch aluminum angles to both sides of the brackets.

The angle is attached with #6 x 1/2 self drilling sheet metal screws. I clamp the angles to the shelf bracket, making sure they are level both along the bracket and from one bracket to another. I then take it down and drive the screws. These are hex head screws, so I don't have worry about the driver slipping.

You can also see some of the 100:1 current transformers in the last picture, which is part of the track detector circuit. More about that later. This part has no turnouts on it, I'm working that section now, and building switches using the Fast Tracks fixtures. I will fasten this section to the brackets after the other piece is attached. Then it will be time to start on the first helix.

Thank you, Allen, for getting me to do this. :)