After seven years of living in Lisle Illinois we moved to San Jose in California. The layout was dismanteled and moved. This picture show the major pieces from the old layout sitting in the garage of the new townhome that we bought. The Dombås modules can be seen on the right. The movers wrapped the modules in plastic and because of that everything is in great shape.

The new house doesn't have a separate room that can be used for the layout. There is room in the garage though and after some thought I've decided to put up the modules in the back of the garage. Humidity control might be an issue but only a few months per year because this is sunny California.

The helix also survived the move. It sits on two saw horses right now, just to get an idea how it would fit. The Dombås modules are unpacked and are placed against the wall. Currently the general idea is to have two staging yards that feed into the Dombås station. One that sits along the wall and one that sits underneath the main modules. I'm planning to re-use the old Trondheim modules for the lower staging yard. The staging yard that will serve as Trondheim and Åndalsnes will be new contruction. The old Åndalsnes modules have old brass track from Roco and I don't want to re-use that anymore.

And a year passes by without much layout activity. Painting and other remodelling work takes much of the free time. But that is all done now so back to the layout.
The helix was still sitting on some saw horses and that wasn't a good long term plan. So a new helix base was constucted. Here the first picture after it was standing on its legs for the first time. The construction is much better than the old construction use in Lisle (one of the reason it was thrown away).

Now the base is in position. The Domås modules are clearly visible in the back.

The helix is now put in position. The old switch position (to the Trondheim staging yard) is visible in the front. The old staging yard connector was removed shortly after taking this picture.
The helix will need some work as well. Planned is another full layer. The plan is to connect it to a new set of modules mounted under neath the Dombås modules. This requires another full layer to get enough distance between the two levels. All the track will be removed and carefully mounted again.

To add another layer we start with a sheet of plywood. I used a piece left over from the original helix construction to draw the sections on the plywood. Because I need more sections that I can get out of one sheet I've screwed two sheets together. With the jigsaw the pieces are cut out. (picture to the left).
To top right picture shows the new sections and the helix with the three layers. The top layer was at the right height but because it is easier to add to the top I lowered the existing layers by one level and then added the extra layer/level. The bottom right picture shows the helix after the extra layer was added. The clamps are used to while the glue is drying.

Some more pictures (from the last day of 2006). The basic layout construction has finished. The second level is new complete. The picture to the right shows the Dombås station where the south exit (in the direction of Oslo) now enters the helix. After four turns it enters the second level, which is located underneath the Dombås modules. The former Trondheim staging yard (as it was used in Lisle) will now serve as the Oslo staging yard. This is visible in the picture on the left. Along the wall are the modules that will serve as staging yards for the direction of Trondheim and Åndalsnes.
Next step is the overhaul of the Oslo (former Trondheim) staging yard because some tracks got damaged during the move. Also some basic wiring is needed so trains can run again.