It's not too often you get to mix your work
skills with your hobby's, but I'm in just that position now.
Over the few years so, I will be constructing, with some significant
help from Sylvia, a six foot by fifteen foot O-gauge toy train
layout in my basement. The name of our layout is the
Lighthouse Point Railroad which is set in an environment much
like Cape Cod. Why "Lighthouse Point"? Easy--we got
engaged in the surf on Nauset Light Beach on Cape Cod in September
2004!
So how does that fit in with my work
as a project manager? Simple -- building a train layout is
nothing more than a project -- a temporary effort to
produce some product or service. In our case, the Build a
Toy Train Layout Project will result in a product, the
layout, with the following elements:
- Supporting legwork (also called
"benchwork")
- Tabletop of plywood overlaid with
Homasote
- Installation of track and
roadbed
- Installation of electrical wiring
and switches including "bus wiring" for command control of the
trains and accessories
- Integration testing of track and
wiring (also known as "do you have power at the track?")
- Installation of storage under the
layout
- Installation of layout skirting (to
hide the benchwork)
- Scenery
- Installation of Digital Command
System (DCS) transformer, accessory power unit and hand-held
remote unit
In the layout's on-going
operations and maintenance mode, various accessories and structures
will be installed controls and lights and scenery completed.
A downloadable copy of the 3-D view above is available
here.
A downloadable copy of the layout plan in a grid
format is available here.
(Expand both downloaded items
to full screan for maximum
resolution)
On to the Assembly of the Toy
Train Layout Benchwork -- click
here!
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