Benchwork and roadbed
In need of some good ideas
Hello again all. As some of you may know, I will be retiring and moving shortly, so I have been re-designing what hopefully will be my last railroad. The entire layout will be 32" off the floor as I have difficulty standing for long periods of time so this will be a roll around railroad. The benchwork will all be 1" x 4" with inch and a half foam as the sub roadbed. My plan is to build this in sections, probably 4' long. I will lay the track and do the wiring at the workbench and then set the section in place.
NMRA PNR 2nd Division Event April 15th 2017
We are planning a great event!
Come and see Toni Ryan's N scale folding yard as see in the MRH forum (see link below)
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/26602?page=2
HCDs and Bridges
Fellow modelers;
I have utilized HCDs (hollow core doors) for my around the room shelf layout. One drawback is the difficulty in establishing grade changes. Most notably, below the HCD door skin. My goal is to add some variety to the flatlands for streams, rivers and/or wetlands and low spots.
backdrop
I see that many who post here use 1/4" hardboard (Masonite) for backdrops. In my area (DeKalb, IL) 1/8" is readily available. Are there any argument for/against the thinner material? Are screws likely to tear out if countersunk? Thanks in advance.
lighting - SL2 - TOMA Sections?
Joe, am I correct in my understanding that each section (or group of sections) will have a canopy with fascia valance and LED strip lighting? I will be interested in seeing your structural ideas as I am also in the middle of the construction process of a sectional layout for a 14' x 25' space. Regards, John Colley, Sonoma, CA
Thoughts on space available
I am building a portable layout that will fold up like an ironing board into a cabinet. I want to add over head lighting and even more importantly, i want to add a proscenium arch to fram everything. The problem is that I max height the layout can be from bottom of track to top of the arch would be about 14. The base of the layout is 2 inches so it leaves me with 12 inches to work with. Take an inch off of that for lighting wiring and diffuser thickness and I am down to about 11. I feel like I am just out of luck on this aspect and that will simply not be a tall enough viewing area.
removable layout section
We are building a medium size HO layout in a 15'x25' room. However, a loop of the track must run out of the train room and around a gas forced air furnace. In the event that the furnace needs replacement/repair down the road it is likely prudent that about 75% of the roadbed around the furnace can be removable. Any suggestions how this can be best accomplished? Thx in advance for your suggestions.
Eric
Foam Problem
I am building my layout using the TOMA method. I built the bench work with 1x4 open grid construction with 5/8 plywood then a layer of foam. 2" foam is not available here locally so I used two pieces of one inch foam. I glued them together and to the plywood with Liquid Nails adhesive.
Benchwork Span
Engineering class was many years ago. I want to have open grid benchwork made of 1x4 with a 1/2 inch plywood top. What is the maximum span that it will not sag when supported at the ends only. I am assuming 4 feet would be OK as I see many modules built this way that measure 2 feet by 4 feet and have legs at each end. I would like to make a module that is 1 foot by 6 feet and have it supported only at each end. Should I go to 1x6 material?
Any structural engineers out there?
GregW66
Shimming Central Valley turnout tie strips
In discussing his "poor man's turnout jig" in his trackwork book, Joe Fugate says he shims the Central Valley tie strips .028 so that they are the same height as ME flextrack. My first thought was to use Evergreen styrene sheet, but the closest thickness is .030. Before I wander around the house with a caliper looking for something else to use, can you suggest something else?
Bob Herrick
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