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The benchwork for the Lake Superior Northern Railroad consists of twelve open grid sections constructed from 1x4 pine lumber. Each section has two coats of polyurethane to help guard against expansion and contraction with the seasonal changes in weather and humidity. The sections that are against the walls of the railroad room are screwed to the walls with 3" deck screws and 1/4" washers. All adjoining sections are attached together using 1/4" bolts. The benchwork is supported by 2x4 legs which are bolted to the sections.
The twelve sections of the benchwork are stacked up and ready to be assembled into a layout (January 2019).
The first six sections of benchwork are attached to the walls of the railroad room and to their adjoining sections. The benchwork on the left side of the photograph is the future location of Hillside Yard at Forest Lake (January 2019).
Once the benchwork was assembled, the risers were attached with a biscuit joiner and white glue. (January 2019).
This is the same area as the previous photograph but now the 5/8" sanded plywood sub roadbed has been glued and screwed to the risers (February 2019).
Another view of the sub roadbed shows the cuts between the sections to make it possible to disassemble the layout in the future if needed (February 2019).
The supporting benchwork for Hillside Yard has been cantilevered to avoid having legs in the area and to create the feeling of more room in the main isle of the layout (February 2019).
All of the sub roadbed has been installed on the lower level and the homasote roadbed is in the process of being glued in place. The large plywood area is where the town of Northland will be located (March 2019).
Track laying has begun on the mainline including the continuous run and my first few Fast Tracks turnouts (October 2019).
This is my first Fast Tracks turnout that I built. It is controlled manually by a Caboose Industries ground throw. This area on the layout is the town of Spruce and the siding serves a pulpwood loading site (October 2019).
This is my first Fast Tracks crossover. Both turnouts are controlled by Tortoise slow motion switch machines. One toggle switch throws both turnouts at the same time (March 2020).
In this photo, the caboose is on the mainline, the other string of cars is on the passing siding and closet track is the lead to the industries at Northland (December 2020).
This in process photograph shows the roadbed for the team track siding at Northland being laid (December 2020).
In this photograph you can see the Northland team track has been completed. The white material is caulk that I used to secure the track to the roadbed. Also, the sub roadbed grade elevation has begun (January 2021).
This photograph was taken the same time as the previous photo but from a different location. The C&NW switcher on the left is approaching the pulpwood siding at Spruce. The MRC power pack is temporarily powering the layout (January 2021).
The risers are being put in place for the second level, the area under the town of Little Lake. The trackage on the lower level in this photograph will be hidden (March 2021).
The risers here are built partially from left over L-girders from my previous O scale layout. They're definitely more than needed but it was cost effective and solid (March 2021).
The plywood sub roadbed is installed and finished on the second level. This completes the layout for this step. Next is track laying on the upper level (April 2021).
After taking a break from the layout, I was back at it again in December. All of the plywood sub roadbed is in place, the mainline is complete and the track in the town of Northland is finished and wired (Feb 2022).
Two tracks are in for a temporary staging yard. This will eventually be the location for the full Hillside yard in the town of Forest Lake. This small, temporary yard allows me to switch a few cars to make up a train and begin testing track and the track plan from here to Northland. The single track in the background is the "Highline" as seen in the track plan (Feb 2022).
Here I am working on the north end of the siding at Little Lake. The cork roadbed is in and now I'm fitting the Fast Tracks turnouts. The cork roadbed that the light is sitting on is for the Team Track at Little Lake and the lower track with the gray roadbed is the mainline leading out of the yard north bound at Forest Lake (Feb 2022).
A lot of changes can be seen in this photo. The passing siding and two industry tracks are in and operating at Little Lake. The hoppers in the upper left are on the team track while the gondolas are on the pulpwood siding. On the lower level the ore train is heading south into Hillside yard while two cabooses are occupying the switching lead (November 2022).
This is the end of the isle near the future site of Peninsula Paper Company. I have cut the benchwork to widen the isle at the end to allow more room for standing operators and to help operators more easily reach in to uncouple cars. Unfortunately, I did not take a before photograph (December 25, 2022).
Here the benchwork has been put back together at the end of the isle. From the lower left side, you can see the cut out and imagine how the framing used to be straight across before the modification. This enlarged the end of the isle from 42" to 48" wide. (December 25, 2022).
The temporary yard tracks have been removed and the first 3 of 6 permanent yard tracks have been laid. All of the turnouts pictured here are controlled by Tortoise switch machines. From left to right are the main line, passing siding and the arrival/departure track. (January 2023).
The yard is now full of cars waiting to be sent out in trains over the layout. The ore train is on the High Line and waiting it's turn to run across the railroad. A few pieces of Styrofoam have been glued down to begin roughing in some scenery land forms (January 2023).
The backdrop is now installed. It is made of 1/8" hardboard or Masonite. It will still need to be patched, sanded, primed and painted. At this point I haven't decided if I'll use a preprinted backdrop or not. You can see a short, southbound train on the upper level. This train just left Little Lake and is heading to Hillside Yard at Forest Lake (January 2023).
This is the backdrop from the other side of the layout. The southbound train has passed Gladstone Junction and is still on it's way to Hillside Yard at Forest Lake. The black hoppers in the center left of the photo are set out at the future site of JS Sand and Gravel Comapny in the town of Little Lake (January 2023).
I'm just about finished with track laying in Hillside Yard. I may add a dedicated caboose track in the near future. Most of the turnouts are powered by Tortoise switch machines but a few along the isle are controlled with Caboose Industries ground throws (December 2023). The next step will be to work on a control panel for the main yard.
The backdrop has been painted a light blue to match the rest of the layout background. Also visible in this picture is the beginning of the facia in the town of Northland. It is also made of 1/8" hardboard or Masonite (December 2023). This area of the layout is just about ready for scenery.
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