Having completed two sections of track work, it is time to build the foundation for the tracks now. The first question I have to answer is, how to fit in the irregular quadrilateral into a somehow rectangular shape. In other words, how much of the surroundings of the CNJ Bronx Terminal I would want to add on each side: Harlem River on the west side, Third Avenue Bridge on the north side, and Bruckner (formerly Southern) Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue on the East and South. The overall size should not exceed 4″ x 3″. I decided to rotate the block slightly so that Third Avenue Bridge traverses from the left near to the left far corner and constitutes the left boundary of the layout while Lincoln Avenue provides the right boundary. This also leaves enough room for navigating the car floats on the Harlem River.
For the benchwork I used 1.5″ x 3/4″ studs for the frame and a 3/16″ birch plywood board. Screwed and glued, this would give me a very stable frame. The 1.5″ room under the board is just about enough to protect the bracket-mounted servos I plan to use for switching the turnouts. The water level of the Harlem River would be 3/4″ lower than the freight yard. The water will add approximately 1/8″, thus reducing the difference between water and pier. Since the ground cover, ballast and pavement would also add at least 1/16″, I decided that this would be enough. Given the difference of about 6 ft between low and high tide in the Harlem River, the resulting height of the pier of more than 9 ft would be more than adequate.
To seal the wooden surfaces, I used white acrylic primer. To facilitate detailed planning and testing, I marked the outline of the freight house with basswood. Finally, instead of adding legs to the layout, I built two wooden trestles strong enough to support everything. That way I’m flexible moving the layout around or stowing it away when space is scarce.
Having successfully set a stake in the ground, I was able to add my first two pieces of track work. It was about time – I found several issues – one more serious and a few minor ones – with the track plan. Specifically I found that my plan did not provide enough space for 4 tracks between the freight house and the bulkhead. I corrected this by re-designing the two turnouts leading to tracks 16 and 17. Going forward I’ll be able to validate every design step on the layout and avoid further mishaps.