Hide Your Children!

I added a photo of a new module I started today. I named it after the mythical Mexican beast, la Chubacabra. The name fits because this thing is a monster! 17" wide and eight feet long, it is 45 pounds of fury!

Seriously, I decided to build it sturdy so that it could serve as a home base at shows and runs. There will be no scenery, just staging yard, programming track, engine/caboose storage tracks, a power strip, DCC booster, transformer, and refrigerated cup holders (just kidding about the refrigerated part).

The photo was taken before I added the endplates so that you could see the channels for storing tools, car boxes, etc. It is a couple inches under eight feet so it can be stood on end without hitting the ceiling.

The far end in the photo is ten degrees from square so that the ladder real estate is optimized. The mainline is the ladder track on the far end, and maybe the middle track on the close end.

To keep things bulletproof, I used Code 80 Peco turnouts and Atlas flex track with a transition to Code 55 at the ends. I'm going to ask Sherry to sew a large canvas sock to cover the beast when I transport it outside my truck. I'll be adding casters on one end so I can wheelbarrow the thing into shows and setups.

Everything you see in the photo was completed in about four and a half hours last night. With track, transformer, legs and wheels, this beast should end up being 50 pounds.