Designing the Layout

Designing the layout was a difficult task, since the room has such an odd shape. A couple of friends (thanks Dave and Dave!) helped out during the process.

First we took some 4' x 8' sheets of 1/4" corrugated cardboard and propped it up at the proper level with cardboard legs. Then we cut and taped extra pieces of cardboard into place to get the shape right.
Then we got out the track and started to lay it out. We made blocks of cardboard in increasing sizes to simulate the grades. This allowed us to figure out where we had to modify the hills to maintain a maximum 3% grade.

We added some crumpled up newspaper to simulate the mountains so we could get a sense of where the bridges would go, and how the finished layout would look.

We then drew marks where the cuts were needed to allow the layout to flex with the grades.
Next we took the cardboard down to the garage, laid it down on top of 3/8" plywood sheets, and cut along the lines.

We built the framework using L-Girder construction, which is light and strong. Then we brought the plywood up and put it place.

Then we used pieces of 1x2 and lots of clamps to form the plywood to the correct height around the layout. Finally we screwed the 1x2 risers into place to bolt everything together.

Gluing down cork and putting the track back completed the basic layout phase.