• The mountain is removable and stores separately. It consists of 3 pieces - a center piece with the track mounted to a thin wood frame and two lightweight foam side pieces.
• All of the lower level tunnel entrances detach for storage. They are made of lightweight foam.
• The plywood extension supporting the Lionel Hobby Shop detaches for separate storage. It is secured to the structure with two bolts with wing nuts.
• The front of the lower level layout folds like a drop-leaf table. It's designed this way so that the structure will not be too tall when rotated 90 degrees. (It needs to fit through doorways.)
• The 13-inch high backdrop at the rear of the layout has six caster wheels mounted on the back. When the unit is rotated 90 degrees, these casters allow for easy movement of the structure as it is rolled to-and-from the storage area.
• The structure has reinforced metal folding legs for compact storage. The drop leaf-section has wooden folding legs.
• The layout is quite heavy - requiring too much muscle to lift and rotate the platform 90 degrees. To ease the 'grunt' needed to rotate the unit, I designed and had fabricated two rockers made of 1/4-inch thick steel plate stock. After the layout is rolled into the house and into position (we use plywood ramps to traverse the front step and doorway sill plate), the rockers are attached to the layout with screws. Then a wood cross-beam is bolted to the steel rockers, forming a cradle.
