Thoughts on baseboards

Thanks Marty, glad it's all over.  I am really happy with the way the boards look.  Hope that my experience can help others.

John

It looks neat, John.

Did I miss the explanation for the different levels?

A viaduct?

Not quite a viaduct Max, I envision an embankment.  The fiddle yard will have track exiting a tunnel mouth through a cutting and onto the embankment.  The embankment won't be as long as the lower level.  At the fiddle yard I will put the point ladder on the first curved board, that will take at least 2 feet maybe longer.  I have to plot the track plan at the other end yet (that's an unknown right now) and may need to extend track onto the straight lower board.

Somewhere on the lower level, I'd like a canal, road and pub (cliche I know).

I wanted to try something different since most layouts I see are flat.

John

Sounds interesting, John.

Ok...so this has gone quiet John! What are you up to,....laying track??

I'm still going through old MRJs to see if there's a suitable trackplan Gene.  I already found a candidate but I'll keep looking.  In the meantime I'm working on rolling stock projects.  I was out of the game for so long, I'm now frantically trying to get caught up.

John

Ok.good. Got worried you had dropped out again.

No, I'd say the pendulum has swung in the other direction - can't seem to sit still.

John

Even better.

[user=565]Brossard[/user] wrote:

I'm still going through old MRJs to see if there's a suitable trackplan Gene.  I already found a candidate but I'll keep looking.

Wonderful benchwork John but this statement has completely thrown me ………….:???::???:

When I started building Maxmill, I had a rough idea about what the track plan would be - only "rough", but it was an idea.  You seem to have built some excellent baseboards and are now looking for a trackplan to fit them ………..lol:

I have always had problems with baseboard "drumming" and did, at one stage, think of using the fibre board used under "click flooring" instead of cork.  I finally stuck with the cork (no pun intended) but think Owen (Silver Fox of this parish) tried the floor underlay.  I wonder how it worked ………:roll:

Your side of the pond also seems to make far more use of poly foams than we do here - "Styrofoam" type material (extruded polystyrene) I suppose rather than the much cheaper white "expanded" polystyrene which produces lorry loads of statically charged "bubbles" just by looking at it and is impossible to cut sensibly without a hot wire cutter !!!

Hi John,

I'll go with your approach over trying to fit a previously designed wish-list track plan - build the baseboards to the space available, then fit the railway (not the other way around). It's what happened in 12" to the foot. Easier than moving hills or filling valleys. Rare are the occasions when we have the space to fit the prototype or fictitious track plan we saw in a book or online.

Nigel

Peter, I do have a basic idea of what I want to do - branchline terminus.  The question in my mind is how to make the plan look like something the LMS would do.  There are a plethora of GWR branchline layouts out there - Nicks' Much Murkle is very inspiring and I have toyed with using elements from that.

I also know that I want to do an embankment etc.

I mentioned that I have a candidate in mind, but I'm not in any hurry and want to see if there's anything else done that hits all or most of my buttons.

Given those very broad requirements, the baseboard is no surprise.  The other baseboard constraint is transportability, so standard board sizes are necessary.  I hit on the J shape idea to maximize overall length, my basement is 20' long, but with the curve, I get something over 24'.  It's also a bit different from what we usually see.

As for noise, I plan to use Woodland Scenics/C&L foam underlay.  I mentioned above reading about a layout that used this and it really does reduce noise.

I bought some blue foam, 1" and 3" thick (kind of pricey :shock:) and used that for my curve infill.  I'll also use it for scenery - very easy to shape as you say Peter.

I refuse to use foam for board tops - I've seen layouts that used this with trackwork all ahoo.  This is more to do, I suspect, with the weight of trackwork on top and lack of stiffening underneath resulting in sagging.

Hopefully all will be made clear in the fullness of time.

Thanks and cheers

John

Thanks for the vote of support Nigel.  You make a good point about how the real railway did things, although I admit this wasn't specifically in mind when I constructed the boards.

The creator of the layout that I am thinking of emulating spoke of layouts that mimic real locations as works of art but usually "dead boring".  In the space we usually have available, we can probably convincingly do a Col. Stephens (no, not Terry) like trackplan - small station, and one or two sidings.  Iconic but not a lot of of operation.  Thinking of Barry Norman's Lydham Heath.

Lydham Heath

I see so many layouts in the main mags, that try to get a quart into a pint pot, filling every available sq ft with track - I shake my head.

John

Very often less is more.

So, as if making the boards for my layout wasn't enough, I've made some for a friend too.  He has been infected by the O gauge bug too.  Last weekend we had a layout demolition party as we tore apart his 4mm layout.

His space is limited to 12 feet so there are 3 4' boards:



The near board contains the sector plate, about 34" long.  The boards were salvaged from the old layout although I did make a new wider sector plate that will hold three tracks.

Construction is standard for me.  4" wide birch ply for the ends and sides.  Ends are located with C&L steel dowels and held together with 3/8" carriage bolts.

Tops are 3/8" VG ply.  Everything is joined by yellow glue and 1/4" dowels.

The track plan is based on a micro OO layout from a recent edition of BRM - Drewry Lane.

Peco points have been ordered.

John

Hi John,

I like the tootsies.

Nigel

I had to think about that, you mean the feet I believe.  Legs were salvaged from the old layout too.  Adjustable feet for levelling.  I wanted some that swivel for my layout but they seem to have disappeared - at least I've been to several hardware stores and haven't seen any.

John

Hi John,

Self levelers. Try Lee Valley Tools in Ottawa. The ones I use are  00H50.01, $9.70 Cdn for 4, and come with the T-nuts. Just drill a hole to take the bolt and the T-nut shaft. Gives about 3/4" adjustment.

Nigel

Hey Nigel, the ones I have are very like that.  I was meaning the kind where the feet can swivel to accomodate uneven ground - difficult to explain.  I did a search and couldn't what I mean anywhere.  Anyway I'll make do with what I have.

John

Penny dropped, the term I was after is "ball joint" where the foot joins the screw.

Hi John,

They have a ball joint and swivel. Self leveling.Next ones up with springs or hydraulics are that much each.

Nigel