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Building The Final Table and the Back Drop of my RGS W/Photos Journals/Blogs
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Prolific poster 2,305 posts Rio Grande Dan Prolific poster 2,305 posts
Rio Grande Dan

For the past 2 weeks I have been on vacation from work and have spent 6 to 8 hrs every other Day on completing my bench work and getting the homosote as well as my back drop up for my first section of my RR The Ridgway Engine facility. Next I'll paint the back drop and get the Narrow Gauge Yard ready for track.

Last night I completed the assembly of Ridgway Bench work and it's backdrop. Today is Sunday July 12th and my next step will be Painting my first track to ceiling Backdrop. After that is my Track work, Turn Table and Yard so for now here are some photos of the Ridgway area as far as the finished Bench work and back Drop. I haven't installed the fascia as this will be the last step just before installing the turnout controls.

This is the first time I've actually built a Railroad around the wall where I really needed a full wall Back drop and this is my real challenge as Building models has always come easy to me and Painting landscapes is something I have done for years but on small canvasses so putting the two together will be a big challenge that I'm looking forward to.

Dan

%20Table.jpg 

Above is last week the Ridgway Narrow Gauge Engine Terminal Table.

able%202.jpg Here is a different angle of the same Terminal area.

backdrop.jpg 

Same area with 1/2inch Plywood and Homosote covering for Engine terminal. if you can see where the door hits the table is a white piece of paper on the wall. This area there will  a door or walk through cut through the wall and the existing door will be reversed and open out of the room rather than into the room.0Ridgway.jpg 

All the Back drop Fir stips and corner supports ready for installation. actually this photo should have been posted before the one above.

backdrop.jpg 

 Here I show the corner shapers and support for my Back drop.

y%20Yard.jpg 

Fir strips installed and second corner supports Installed ready for Hardboard Masonite.

k%20Drop.jpg 

Back drop in place. next is to fill in the hundreds of finished brad holes from my power nailer and then Primer and paint the back drop. This corner will have a turntable and 7 stall round house modeled after the RGS Ridgway engine terminal on the right then on the left will start the 7 track yard and station terminal area.

corner_0.jpg 

The far left end of the 7 track Ridgway yard and last level area for now after this will be a 4% grade up to Dallas Divide and then to Placerville and then the last area in this room Vance junction.I seem to have held the camera at a weird angle making the back drop seem to have the top tip in like it's falling actually it is quite square and plumb I'm just not that good at photography.

For now I'm working on Ridgway and will continue on to the upgrade section after most of Ridgway has all it's track work finished. My next post will be the steps taken to do my back drop so, for now my vacation is over and its back to work tomorrow.

Rio Grande Dan
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Artarms Regular poster 297 posts
Artarms

wood walls

Did it break your heart to cover those beautiful natural finish wood panels?  Devoting this room to a layout must have caused some major compromises elsewhere in the family organization.

But, having said that, your backdrops are looking great and will make a terrific contribution to the beauty of the layout.  Please keep us posted.

Artarms
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Rio Grande Dan Prolific poster 2,305 posts
Rio Grande Dan

WOOD WALLS

The guy that owned this house before me finished Two of the four rooms in My basement and one of the two is my office T.V. Designing room. The other is the train room that he had even had 8 electrial sockets installed 2 on each wall . each wall has a 15 amp breaker and the 4 breakers are labeled Train Room 1,2,3 &4. He had a 5ft X 9ft "S" Gauge RR in the room That he took with him when he sold the House to me. The wood walls are actually 4ft X 8ft masonite pannels with a plastic laminate simulated wood coating photo on them "Cheep" wood about $4.00 a sheet when built 15 years ago. Covering it with My back drop didn't bother me in the least and since the Basement is MY world and the two floors above it is my wife's. She doesn't have any word as to what I do in the Basement as long as it doesn't cause the house to colaps and I'm not running my power tools at 2:00 A.M. keeping her awake . She doesn't bother me beside the fact she isn't aloud down here without knocking and getting permission first to enter what I call MY world. except in Emergency like if she tries cooking and the house is on fire LOL

Rio Grande Dan
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ChrisNH Super User 1,277 posts
ChrisNH

Its looking good Dan! I had

Its looking good Dan!

I had not seen the coving done that way before. Most I had seen just fastened the masonite on either side of the curve to an upright support. Thats an interesting way to fit it and may make for less strain on the material in the long term.

Chris

“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.”           My modest progress Blog
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Rio Grande Dan Prolific poster 2,305 posts
Rio Grande Dan

COVING The corners

I read that you are able to achieve a 24" cove in the corners using Masonite as a back drop so I made the inside cove corners to help support the backdrop so it wouldn't flex and wiggle when I was ready to paint it. I didn't want to cause the Masonite to flex to much and crack and then break so the supports in the corner had 3 jobs.

1. Keep the corner of the backdrop at a constant smooth 24 inch radius.

2. Keep the Masonite from buckling and cracking.

3. Keep the corner smooth and square so the adjoining pieces of Masonite would line up square on each edge and avoid any unwanted gaps between sheets of Masonite.

After all my years of Wood working I couldn't see any other way to construct the wall and be able to get all the sections of the backdrop to be smooth as I have nobody around to help me align the corner and the wall sections so the corner brackets were the best bet.

Dan

Rio Grande Dan
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ChrisNH Super User 1,277 posts
ChrisNH

Or tighter

I have a 1/8" masonite facia on my layout bent to about 18" radius.

I hear you about the "working alone with masonite" issue. That was a problem with me. Had to get the wife to hold an end after I squished a toe dropping an 2'x8' masonite piece I was trying to attach myself...

 

Chris

“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.”           My modest progress Blog
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arthurhouston Prolific poster 1,154 posts
arthurhouston

Wet Sand Joints just like sheetrock.

Dan,

This picture is going to scare you, this is about 2001, on the orginal Grande Pacific Rr. Note the old panneling and the wood strips to mount the layout to and connect the backdrops.

I wet sanded the seams.  Use the nylon floating tape and mud just like sheet rock.  Go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a sponge for wet sanding sheet rock mud.  Go lightly. 

No dust.

Good luck have many more pictures if you would like contact me at ahouston3@charter.net
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EivindPT Active Member 77 posts
EivindPT

Bending Masonite

At my local club we have bent 3mm masonite to 500mm radius. and a litte over 180 degrees. We made this possible by laying the masonite in water for an hour. This make it softer and then easier to bend.

EivindPT ATSF in the late 1950's and early 1960's in O-scale
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arthurhouston Prolific poster 1,154 posts
arthurhouston

Great Bench Work One Suggestion

Pre Drill 1" to 3/4" holes with spay bit in center joist before you assemble the grid.  You can do it outside and save a mess and alot of stupping.
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Rio Grande Dan Prolific poster 2,305 posts
Rio Grande Dan

Sanding Drywall mud

Thanks for all the helpful hints Dan

Rio Grande Dan
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Sugar Beet Guy Regular poster 499 posts
Sugar Beet Guy

Bending Masonite

If you can find "untempered" Masonite, it bends a lot easier than the typical tempered stuff.  I was trying to find tempered but was only able to get a couple of sheets of untempered. It easily bends to a 6" radius.  Don't get it wet before you paint it or it will more or less decompose.

George Booth
Director of Everything, The New Great Western Railway
http://users.frii.com/gbooth/Trains/index.htm
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