I decided that I’ve been avoiding working on the Town module for long enough. On one of my Facebook groups a new modeler asked the group for tips about the hobby. One of the tips that really struck a chord with me was: don’t get distracted by other smaller projects. I realized that I’ve been distracted for most of the year by the diorama project and had not given The Town module the attention it needed to keep it moving at a reasonable pace. I’ve seen other modelers complete at least two layouts in the time that I’ve been working on The Town. So with no more excuses or distractions I put the weathering project away and got back to building the control panel for The Town.
![](http://thedepotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-09-30-11.56.jpg)
Here’s where I am at.
I decided that I would use a combination of hinges and a block to create a folding shelf. The hardware that I wanted to use just wasn’t going to work so I just simplified the set-up. Here’s a SketchUp drawing of it:
And here’s the actual real version of it.
![](http://thedepotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-11-12-16.07.jpg)
![](http://thedepotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-11-16-21.31.jpg)
I’ll attach the platform to the layout while doing the wiring but it will have to be removed while I build the rest of the layout.
The control box
I originally wanted to try something fancy such as have Shapeways print out a 3D version of the plan onto which I was going to place the switches but I decided that I would keep it simple and just do what I did on the The Depot: a printed out plan on top of a wooden control box. I used SketchUp to create the plan and then exported it to Photoshop for fine tuning and easier printing.
![](http://thedepotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-10-05-19.45.jpg)
![](http://thedepotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-10-08-18.33.jpg)
![](http://thedepotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-11-16-20.50.jpg)
This coming weekend I’m going to build the control box. I’ve ordered Tortoise turnout motors and a bunch of DPDT toggle switches. Hopefully they will come in time for me to start wiring up the first stretch of track.