I have been working on a new design for my expanded layout. I started the design in January of 2026. I incorporated my existing John Armstrong Granite Gorge and Northern into the new design. I have built up the framework with 1x3 pine and 2x2 legs with threaded inserts for leveling. The layout was designed with AnyRail 7 software- really nice after a short learning curve. It is about 13 feet by 19 feet overall. There will be 3 control areas. I may go to JMRI for overall control, not sure yet. Power comes from NCE SB5 and DB5 supplies with a PowerCab for control. Four 5V/20Amp supplies and some custom power supplies, and a bunch of boost circuits provide 5V, 9V, 10V and 18V for various circuits. All of the switches (74) are controlled by my own design servo holder, driven by Arduinos. I have two MEGAs, 5 Arduino UNOs on the old layout; figure about 2-3 additional Arduino MEGAs and 5 or 6 more Arduino UNOs and a few NANOs and some PCA9865 servo controllers will be added. I write the code for controlling switches, lights, signals, animation, etc.
Original, modified GGN layout from Atlas "6 HO Railroads You Can Build", 1958.
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The new layout (AnyRail 7)
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Construction at present:
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More to come as construction progresses
