Canton Divison
Construction Day 3

22 October 2006

Construction of the bench work resumed on 21 October 2006 and carried through to 22 October 2006.  There has been great progress on the bench work and I must say that this has been a HUGE learning experience for myself.  My advice to others who are new at construction....come up with a simple plan and just dive in.  After a year of planning....the plan has changed in many ways.  However, I will say that this bench work outcome is very close to my final bench work plan.  

Another Experience Point: Measure and cut the lumber as you build.  I pre cut most of my lumber only to find that I made some measuring errors and did not take the width of the wood into account.  This effect compounds as you go and by the end....I was off by almost 10"!!  I have adjusted and am working on the final phases of the bench work framing.  It is now going much smoother than when I started.

Yet Another Experience Point:  Cheap Lumber is Cheap!! :).  I bought the least expensive lumber possible, and wow does this stuff warp and twist!!  I have to play muscle man while building much of the framework.  If you want a clean and professional look, do not use cheap lumber.  For my needs, I am not too concerned with odd shapes and what not.  It will work to achieve my goals.  

I am hoping to have all the frame work complete by the end of this week (27 Oct 2006).  I hope to have most of bench work complete by 1 November 2006 to include backdrop supports, foam supports and foam installed.  Backdrop baseboards, and fascia will probably not be installed until sometime in November or December.  Roughing in some track work and structures will start in November or December on the main level (top level).  Track work and backdrop installs (photo realistic) will not start until early 2007 due to financial constraints. (There are an awful lot of turnouts to be purchased)  I will continue to post updates here as often as possible.

Construction Photos - 22 October 2006

The bench work isn't pretty but it will get the job done :)

Take notice of that pesky support column, the benchwork now surrounds it.  There is enough room on the other side for at lease doubletracked line there.  As for the column itself, on the main level (top) I will make it into a huge building in Downtown Canton :).

That board cutting across is just sitting there for now, it is a side piece of the bottom level (staging & storage)