Wow! nice!
One question for the gang: The three layouts I've built prior have all been - I believe - overbuilt in a big way. All could certainly hold me (275 lbs) standing on them, and none really needed to be able to do so... All used 1x6 lumber around the perimeter and had 1' grids of 1x4's. Sections were either open-grid with risers and cookie-cutter roadbed, or 1/2" plywood over the grid (if it was a fully flat area).
I'm really debating backing off that. It was very heavy, used a lot of wood, and just didn't need to be as strong as it was. With the fourth layout, experiences leads me to be more worried about stability (i.e. not warping, shifting, bending or rippling) than I am about sheer strength. In some ways, I get the feeling that MORE wood is just more to warp or twist, and less wood (especially if it's manufactured plywood or OSB) will reduce potential problems.
I'm thinking of either making the grid squares bigger (18"?) if using 1x4's, or backing down to something like 1x2 for the grid... Most of my layout will be 12-24" width only, with some wider areas (peninsulas) ranging from 3-4' widths. The only part of the layout 5' wide is a flat yard area that will have plywood over the grid... I'm sticking with hardshell scenery rather than foam, mostly because I know it and am comfortable with it - the point being there's not gonna be any 'heavy' stuff sitting on here. I'm not using real rocks or even massive rock castings. I'd guesstimate that what was on top of the benchwork in my last layouts weighed maybe 5% of what the benchwork itself weighed, if even that. This just seems like immense overbuilding to me.
Any thoughts?