I realize it’s been nearly two months now since I’ve added an update, but I’ve been rather busy.  For most of May I was actually out of the country, bumming around Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands for fun and profit (or at least work…)

After getting back, I’ve been working on benchwork and more planning.  The upper valance deck is now all the way around the layout, the middle deck is complete right up to the Chitina Town Lake (where the helix will connect it to the lower level / Abercrombie Canyon area), and the lower deck is complete through the Miles Glacier Bridge.

None of what’s left concerns me all that much, except for the helix.  Helices and I have some uncomfortable history.  My last attempt – while functional – took about four times longer to build than I wanted, wound up being rather expensive, and lacked a certain something in dimensional stability.  This time I think I’m going to go with the threaded rod approach to spacing the decks, rather than trying to screw them all into a semi-rigid wood frame.  Stay tuned…