Home Stretch

After a long slog through a big pile of dirty track, it was fun to make a lot of progress quickly by reassembling everything on the table top.

We started by laying out the “village” area on the right table.

Starting at the top of the photo and working toward the camera,
there’s a 394 Rotating Beacon, a Marx bubbling water tower, a 145 Gateman, and a modern Lionel Diner.
The O27 track in the middle of the table will allow the #60 Trolley to service Plasticville.
At the other end of our village, a 128 Newsstand waits to inform the citizens about the state of the world.
A box of Colber street lamps is ready to be opened and set up along the streets after they’re laid out.

When it came to adding accessories, we tried to adhere to two simple rules on our layout:

Districts — Where things fit, we put similar accessories next to one another on the layout to give the sense of dedicated “districts”. The photo below shows the “lumber district”.
“Difficult” Accessories Stay Within Reach — Accessories that need to be reloaded manually or which can perform with, ahem, surprising results are kept within easy reach of the operator.

In the photo below, it is no coincidence that the 175 Rocket Launcher is positioned right next to where the control panel will be built. Having this accessory within easy reach allows the rocket to be caught after its “mission”. The Icing Station’s location along the edge of the table allows the operators to reload the ice cubes without having to lean over trains and other accessories.

Starting from the left, a 352 Icing Station sits in front of the “Lumber District”.
A 364 Log Loader is visible in the prior photo, just behind the Flying Yankee.
Other accessories in the “Lumber District” include a 264 Forklift Loader, a modern 464 Sawmill, and,
in a tribute to Murphy’s Law, a modern “Burning” Switch Tower.
In the background, the 175 Rocket Launcher sits ready to deliver its payload and
a 462 Single Signal tower guards the bridge.
The O27 tracks being laid out between the O31 and O72 curves are the beginning of a
point-to-point spur on which a 52 Fire Car will race back and forth

The background scene placed along the left wall was purchased from a small toy store in Geneva, Switzerland. I was traveling on business and came across the store while walking around the old part of the city. My wife, who was traveling with me, noticed the store because the proprietor had built a nice display of 1:43 scale vehicles in the window.

While I was looking at (and buying) various cars and trucks, my wife discovered the backdrop. I didn’t want to buy it at first because all I could think of was how difficult it would be to carry home on the plane. Thankfully, my wife talked me into it. After I set it up — sixteen years later — I was sorry I hadn’t bought several!

Another 394 Rotating Beacon guards the other corner of the layout. A 445 Switch Tower working in
conjunction with a 153 Block Signal protects the table-to-table spur line.
A modern Floodlight Tower illuminates the coaling activity of the 397 Coal Loader and
the 456 Coal Ramp.

The backdrop isn’t really a backdrop at all. It is a model of Mont Blanc and was intended to be a child’s playtoy. The cardboard folds into an “X” and four tunnels are cut into it to allow a circle of HO-scale track to pass through the tunnel portals. (You can see one of these just behind the 394 Beacon in the photo above.)

True to the location of the real Mont Blanc, the printing on one side of the display is in French (Mont Blanc, Gare, etc.) and in Italian on the other (Monte Bianco, Stazione, etc.). The piece is beautifully painted. The colors provided a perfect transition between the bright green table top and the blue of the wall.

The small scraps of 2x4 along the backdrop below were placed there for spacing purposes. With O72 curves, I found that the overhang on various engines and cars would clear the wall perfectly when these spacers were placed between the track and the wall. They will be removed after the track is screwed down.

As the accessories attest, the left table is our “industrial” table.

This angle affords a view of the “dairy district”. From front to back, we can see a 3656 Cattle Car,
a Plasticville cattle pen, and a 3482 Milk Platform. Behind these items, there is a 342 Culvert Loader,
a 356 Freight Station, a 362 Barrel Loader, and a 282 Gantry Crane.

One of the bigger challenges we faced was finding room for all the accessories we’ve accumulated over the years. A 313 Bascule Bridge, 256 Station, and several others will all have to remain out of sight — for now.