Original Layout

These shots are of the original layout in late 2001 after my first modifications. The unpainted white styrofoam in the center is where I pulled up some of the original track. I added a 4th mainline to the interior base level and re-worked all turns, hill tracks, and overpasses. Hills and overpass grades were still too steep (only 8 cars max could be pulled successfully up the grades) and some turns were too sharp for Kato engines. As a result I gave up on just modifying the existing layout design.

Early construction	Overview 1	Overview 2
	Overview 3

All hills and track (except the section with the rolling stock in the photo above) were gutted / cut and redesigned. New track and additional switches were added. I kept the new layout basically flat with a few gullies for variety. All hills on the left side were removed. I kept portions of the hills on the right and created a couple of ponds surrounded by hills in the middle.