The LK&O Railroad

[LKOrailroad]

No plans for such at this time. The lower deck is not a traditional lower deck. Staging and a continuous run connection is all that it is. Won't be any serious photography going on down there. Upper deck is the real layout.

[Lemosteam]

Gotcha!  Sorry, you know some of these engineering threads are so long you forget what the original design is- I remember reading that now that you jogged my memory.  Smart to put the defletor up there those CFL bases get fairly warm and radiate heat to things like foam...

[LKOrailroad]

those CFL bases get fairly warm and radiate heat to things like foam...

I was surprised when I measured them. I have a point-n-shoot thermometer a friend gave to me (the case was broke, I fixed it). It shows the base (ballast) of a 9W CFL to be 170-185 F degrees after being on for an hour. They don't feel that hot when you touch them but the thermometer seems to be accurate with other things I measure. I'm not sure of foam insulation's melting point but still, doesn't seem like a good idea to put something almost 200 degrees hot against foam.

[LKOrailroad]

If you are bored silly and need something to read I put up a detailed post about my layout lighting progress: http://www.lkorailroad.com/lower-deck-lighting-progress/

[JSL]

Where did you get the party strings?? Thanks in advance!

[LKOrailroad]

Where did you get the party strings?? Thanks in advance!

http://www.partylights.com

[Dave Schneider]

Alan,

I really have been enjoying following your progress and all the great details and photos on your blog.  Could you point me to a link with your track plan? I saw one version but am not sure if that is what you are building.  Thanks.

Best wishes, Dave

[LKOrailroad]

Track plan: http://www.lkorailroad.com/track-plan/

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks! That is way different from what I thought you were doing. This is a very nice design, and looks like it will be very interesting to operate.

Best wishes, Dave

[LKOrailroad]

This is a very nice design, and looks like it will be very interesting to operate.

Thanks. I designed the original then Byron Henderson of LayoutVision refined it. The track plan on the web site is actually slightly out of date. There is a small change to the yard that Byron made that hasn't been updated on the web site. http://www.layoutvision.com/

[LKOrailroad]

All of the reflectors are installed for the lower deck. Now I am mounting LED strings. The adhesive that come on the strips is unreliable even on a good surface. I am sticking them to the edge of sawn plywood so no way the adhesive would stay stuck. So I ran a thin bead of wood glue down the middle of the PSA, clamped overnight. Let me tell you brother, that sticks like crazy. Bunch more pics at http://www.lkorailroad.com/lower-deck-led-install/

[LKOrailroad]

I put up a new post describing in detail my stepped benchwork design.

http://www.lkorailroad.com/benchwork-elevations/

[Chris333]

Just wanted to say that I bought a string of "party lights" after seeing your success and they are great. I didn't think CFLs would be bright enough, but I have to squint my eyes if I look right at them.

[LKOrailroad]

It has been a while since I posted any progress but since I hit another milestone I thought perhaps it is time. My layout lighting is totally finished. I am ready to move on to sub-roadbed. For those that have a light bulb fetish there are a ton of pics at http://www.lkorailroad.com/lighting-completely-finished/.

[LKOrailroad]

I am ready to build sub-roadbed, lay and wire track. Finally, it will start looking like a railroad. There is a very detailed post here: http://www.lkorailroad.com/track-laying-begins/. I would appreciate it greatly if you would inspect my plan of action and give your feedback - good or bad. Open to all comments. Thanks in advance.