Completing the North Peninsula - Part I: Concept and Upper Level Construction

It has been too long since my last entry - more from lack of progress on my writing than on the layout.  The main peninsula was by far the most complex structure on the layout to build, due to the fact that the grade track connecting the two levels had to be set precisely to maintain the aggressive 2% grade's best chance of smooth operation and the benchwork carefully built around it to cradle the hidden grade track most effectively.  Earlier entries documented this process.

The North Peninsula or Downtown Peninsula, as it has come to be called, was much easier to construct by comparison.  There were several factors contributing to its simpler construction:

1. There was no grade to set on the peninsula - all track is level to maintain smooth operation for the fleet of brass and other passenger cars I like to run.
2. The peninsula is entirely free-standing, allowing it to be constructed as a basic platform with cantilevered extensions all the way around.
3. Its shape is a simple rectangle, obviating the need for any special design or engineering.

As this plan shows, the Downtown Peninsula is a simple structure:

As this early sketch from July 2016 (before the layout was started) illustrates, The North Peninsula is a freestanding platform for the layout's downtown - the co-starring cast for the main attraction, which is the Terminal operation.  Although a freehand sketch to plot out ideas, the drawing maintains striking fidelity to the peninsula as built (including dimensions and track placement).  Since the scenery planned for this peninsula is mostly flat with minor hillsides to add interest to the planned urban landscape, the main consideration in framing this peninsula was strength and access to the track for its 7.5'x15' platform - expansive to make the urban landscape more dramatic in its depth.

Construction of the North Peninsula:

The Downtown Peninsula was built on a rectangular frame of 2x2 legs (on T-bolts) with horizontal joists of 1x4s.  

Here is the basic support structure for the Downtown Peninsula taking shape.  The basic skeleton of 1x2 legs with L-girders capping the frame is attached to the Terminal Zone at the left-hand side of the photo.  1x4 joists are then attached to the platform, as shown here.

This view from the opposite side provides a close-up (where is Mr. DeMille?) of the L-girder central support platform and the joists starting to go up.  The size of this ambitious peninsula is already becoming evident.  

Because I wanted the Downtown to be a focal point for the layout, it requires sufficient visual depth to support layering of scenes saturated with detail and activity, and, most importantly, depth of space to provide believable forced perspective with proper vanishing points to give the trains scenes in which they are in scale with the scene and look natural (more on this point later).  This peninsula is 7 1/2' wide for its entire length of 15' - enough to provide plenty of real estate for the city scenes (both for the banking, shopping and residential district clustered around its main thoroughfares and the dense industrial district on the 'other side of the tracks.' 

I have to admit that I had considerable trepidation over the solid expanse of this peninsula as it was going up (actually, it scared the hell out of me!) because it was so large as to create many hard-to-reach areas for scenes and because I could not find many examples from the layouts I studied of where this had been done before.   With few - if any - examples to guide me, I had to trust my vision and make it work.  This is much harder than it sounds! My mind tends to think that if it has not been done before, then there must be something wrong with my idea.  Then this experience reminded me that doing something different opens up so many other possibilities.  This is truly the art of model railroading.  As the peninsula took shape, I really began to see why my original vision was the best one for this layout.

Back to construction:  Once this central platform was in place, the remaining benchwork went together like a Swiss Movement clock:

Here the upper level of the peninsula is framed in and complete.  A few things in this picture are worth noting.  First, note the cross-member construction cantilevered at the end in the foreground.  Brad confesses to being concerned about how to build it because of the real problem of sagging that can occur at the end.  My architecture training came in handy here with the simple solution of spanning the four end-joists over the L-girder supports for balance strength.  By anchoring this end structure to the central support, the cantilevering provides deceptively simple support that is 4x stronger than any of the alternatives.

The second thing to note is the uneven bracing at the center of the structure, where 1x4s give way to 1x2s.  This change was not for structural reasons per se, but rather to allow for a drop in level to support a river that I originally proposed.  Because of the central platform support, these changes in frame size can be accommodated without compromising the strength of the structure itself.  Here the peninsula's entire 7 1/2'x15' size can be seen.

This view from deep inside the layout's main aisle shows both the size of the peninsula and its anchoring to the Terminal Zone to the left.  As the frame filled in, the apparent flimsiness of the central support structure vanished quickly with a solid structure.  Here the girders to support the lower level frame are going into place.  

One final view of the upper level shows the breadth of the space for Downtown Overland City and the pocket screw construction technique used throughout the layout.  In the lower center of the image is a square opening that will become one of two liftouts for this peninsula.  The only place on the entire layout that requires liftouts, this peninsula uses them strictly for access to the scenery because all track is reachable from the aisles.  These scenery liftouts make the expansive urban scenery planned for this peninsula practical, creating easy access for building and maintaining the scenes.

Conceptually, the North Peninsula is as ambitious as it is simple.  Its aim is to provide the largest possible platform my layout room allows for Downtown Overland City.  Most of the upper level of the layout will be devoted to the City, with Downtown adjoining the Terminal along the back (West) wall, wrapping around into the residential district climbing up the hillside toward my interpretation of the West End of Weber Canyon visible on the far peninsula.  The peninsula is ambitious because its massive structure is devoted primarily to scenery instead of track.  The track placement is purely functional - to provide a loop track for the mainline in/out of the Terminal.  Rather than clutter the scene with track for the sake of track, as too often is the case, the concept is to build deep scenes to give the track and trains the proper perspective for viewing them - a perspective that keeps the trains in scale with their surroundings by using scenic elements, instead of more track and trains, to contextualize the movement of the trains.  The peninsula is ambitious for its use of scenery, rather than track.  Once I got ok with what I wanted to do, the construction came together as it was meant to be.