Upheaval

Coincidentally, it became obvious that we had to move.  We were completely out of room.  So we began house-hunting.

So we started packing.  Those 2'x3' cut sections (still bare, no track, no support framework) wound up in our storage facility, waiting. For a couple of months, we slowly started packing our books and knick-knacks.

We applied for a mortgage pre-approval, and with pleasantly little difficulty we were approved.  At about the same time, we found a nice colonial about two miles away.  With a full semi-finished basement.  We put in a bid, and got accepted.

Now the packing frenzy began.  But very early on, Mary asks me "Where are you going to put your layout?"  I replied "How about the east wall of the basement?"  And she agreed.  I measured it later - it's 30 feet.   Bonus.

So whenever I could steal a half hour from packing, I started to adapt the TOMA sections to the new dimensions.  It wouldn't actually be removable, but  I'd build it sectionally.  I also added in the loops on the end, to allow continuous running for when we had company over.  The left (west) end will also have staging inside the loop.

In the diagram you can see where the sections go - with one exception.  I decided to turn the mine into a branch line, running up the entire back of the layout with the mine on top of the east loop (which is in a tunnel).

Overhead

Left half

Right half