I just realized you should put a whistle stop in there called “Ackenbach”
Thanks Vic, excellent idea. 
It will be a whistle stop between Samedan and Preda. Perfect fit, once the trains exit Samedan they cross the fold down trackage and the stop will be the other side of that. 
As mentioned the recent warm spell was the perfect opportunity to add height clearance to the Staging exit
(http://www.rhb-grischun.ca/F-PIX/LSC/SamedanStaging11FB.jpg)
And the picture is a good way to test what the new “max picture width” is. 1000pxl, no problem … I like that.
Finer point in the previous picture: the light in the cab is on.
(http://www.rhb-grischun.ca/F-PIX/LSC/SamedanStaging12FB.jpg)
That indicates the engine is at a stop.
(http://www.rhb-grischun.ca/F-PIX/LSC/SamedanStaging13FB.jpg)
As soon as the engines starts moving the cab light goes off. Just one of the nifty features of the Däppen-Sound projects. .
We are all getting older and the hands and kness thing to work on our track is for the birds. I will be turned 60 next month and just starting to build my garden layout which will be raised. As I have not yet started to build the plaforms, what is a good height to have it. I was thinking about 32" above grand level for the main Yard which is 40" wide and 32 feet long. The other Towns and way stations would be about that depending on where it is located as the yard does vary in elevations.
Any input is welcome before I start cutting the support legs.
Dan S.
I have one station at 36" above ground — I like that height. However 40" reach is not in the cards, being accessible from both sides solves that problem.
Just a thought. Before you pick a height for the elevation consider how you plan to work on the elevated units. 30-32" is a good height if you are sitting at a desk or table. If you plan to work on the elevated modules, consider raising them to a higher level that is more comfortable to work on while standing. Another consideration is what will be the highest elevation of the other parts of the railroad if you set one module at the selected level. I started using 30" as my target level but some parts of my railroad are now about 12" high while other parts are 75’ highs. I have s severe slop and tried to maintain a 1.5-2% grade.
Thanks guys for your input. My Yard which will be the largest part of the layout is already set in stone per say. The deck is is being made from Plastic Pallets used for Overseas shipping. These are 40" wide by 48" long and I am using 8 of them to form the base of the yard to give me a width of 40" by 32 feet long. I figured that a 32" height would allow me to be able to reach across it to do any work I need to do. Being able to access both sides is not an option as it runs along the side of my house and is in a wedge shaped area that is 17 feet wide at the front yard and 7 feet at the back yard. I chose the 32" as a starting point which will be closest to the front yard as the yard slopes to the frot towards the street. As I work back towrds the back yard the height will be less and will be about 28" above ground level. From there it will be pretty much level at 28" the rest of the layout around the back yard. Future expansion will include either a switch back or a couple of loops to drop the track down to 12" level so it will be in the raised Flower beds. To start off I will have about 350 feet of mainline and about 200 feet of yard trackage and another 100 feet of sidings. All of this will be hand laied using code 332 Aluminum and Steel rail on Hand cut Ceder ties with the ties glued down to 1/4" sintra base which will then be screwed down to the top of the Plastic pallets after the rail is spiked down. The track bases will be roughly 5 to 6 feet long and completed defore mounting to the platform. Turnouts are also built the same way.
Dan S.
Dan, any thought of controling the expansion and contraction forces of the plastic pallets? Even a .5% growth in expansion is almost 2", more then enough to cause problems.
Just my $.02.
dave: Yes I have, The pallets will be mounted on a framework of pressure treated 2x4’s and 2x6’s that form an “L” gider and then they will be covered with landscape fabric to cover the holes in the pallets and then the track modules will be placed on top of the pallets and when I have everything how I like it, the landscape fabric will be covered with crushed Granite and other types of soils. This should take care of the expansion problem.
Dan S.