Civil War Road Show Update

The design for the ACWRR Road Show is solidifying as this weekend approaches when Gerry and Brian plan to come over to help me build the benchwork for the layout.

This evening I did a few modifications to the plan to accommodate the latest developments. Here is the updated track plan.

First, I drew the ship that we plan to build, the QMD Clinch,  in full scale. It will be about 38 inches long and 7 inches wide. Since it was a little bigger than originally planned, it required some modifications to the waterfront. I could not decide if we should keep the ship on one section so that it would be protected by the benchwork and valance during shipment, or use its hull to disguise the sectional joint.  It will fit either way.  As I mentioned earlier, Andy Small will be building this ship.

I also drew in a floating warehouse up stream from the steam boat. These are neat structures and should be relatively easy to build.

I notched the bench work on the far left to allow slightly easier access to the turntable.

At lunch today, Marty asked me about how the layout could be expanded. I had thought that an Army shipyard with marine ways  would be a neat addition.  Since Marty builds naval warships for a living (not literally but he does work on a naval radar system) I thought one of the temporary shipyards built by the US Army Quartermaster Department might be an appropriate scene.  So I added a shipyard section. This shipyard borrows elements from the various locations but especially the shipyard at Chattanooga where the USQM built an elaborate boiler shop complete with decorative cupola on the roof.  The shipyard at Chattanooga was serviced by the railroad on a switchback tracks, so this plan includes a siding.

Alternatively, a large steam powered saw mill would be a good addition for a section too.

I also extended the fiddle yard a foot to allow staging of slightly longer trains. The sidings on the layout  can handle longer trains.

Now to make a Bill of Materials and get to the lumberyard before the weekend. The first thing I ordered was a set of LED Lighting strips and a power supply from this ebay store based on Ted Dilorio's recommendation. I hope these work well. We can also use the power supply to recharge the locomotive batteries.