Welcome to my model railroad layout web site The Piedmont Division! Or as I like to call it for short, The PD. I am Ryan Boudreaux, and I hope you enjoy viewing these web pages as I continue to update them on the progress of my HO scale model railroad and layout.

The train room is located on the 3rd floor of our house, it was an attic converted by the previous owners into a fully built out room with AC and carpet. So there was virtually little room prep needed to get it started. A small window unit AC was installed in the spring of 2006 as it does get a bit warm in the "attic/train room." My original plan of painting the walls above the benchwork levels for the sky effects has been scraped and have opted to plan a hanging fascia section to approximate the museum style window box effect. In addition to installing track lighting to illuminate the upper level deck I will also incorporate lighting behind the upper deck fascia.

My layout had been in the planning stages for over two years, and is not the original plan as it has evolved over time and many hours of research have proven a plus in the "final" plan. I use 3rd PlanIt track planning software to design the layout plans, and I have been using it for almost 4 years now and find it a useful tool in creating accurate scale drawings. The plans can be rendered in 3D as well; this helps in the creativity and building stages, and is a great guideline when it comes time to actually build out the benchwork, roadbed, track, etc. I also print out the 1:1 drawings and use them as templates when cutting sub-roadbed and laying down roadbed and track, a very helpful tool!

While I am currently about 95% completed with the track for the lower deck and the around the walls section leading up to the upper deck I have already decided to re-draw that level. Construction on the upper deck has not been started yet, so I feel it necessary to re-design and re-draw that level again. I have learned more since the initial plan was made, and want to incorporate that into the upper level plan.

You can review the detailed progress of my layout construction including bill of materials, building progress entries, or other updates that I will post as they occur from the Construction page and also you can view updated images of the same progress on the layout from the images Gallery Intro. Just click the links for a quick diversion. After accessing the Gallery Intro page, click the Main Gallery link to view the photos page. The original photos page was getting too large with over 150 images, therefore it has been expanded to include separate photos in three month increments. Click the link to the main photos page to browse all the separate pages.

The focus and main attention to detail and progress on the layout at this time is on the Roundhouse Renovations Project. Minor ongoing wiring and electrical updates on the layout will continue, and to see more of the current updates click the link to Roundhouse Renovation Project.