Benchwork and roadbed

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Trying something new for shelf layout — shelf without visible supports

Fri, 2021-01-15 07:46 — jimcubie1@gmail.com

Benchwork and roadbed

I am trying something which is new to me and I wonder if anyone else has tried it. In the photo, the benchtop under the 2 “ foam will be scenicked. On the top of the foam there will be scenery. I did not want any visible supports underneath to interfere with the look of the lower backdrop. So I am trying this. I have routed channels in the top of the 2” foam. I will insert 1 “ electrical conduit in the channe;ls. In the next photo down you will see that I have placed vertical 2 by 4s on the back of the bench.

Looking for layout lighting suggestions

Sat, 2020-12-12 20:21 — dperry

I am in the process of building a new layout and am looking for suggestions for lighting.

15 comments

Sheet roadbed

Sun, 2020-12-06 10:23 — Ken Rice

Assuming a flat railroad with little vertical scenery (an industrial switching layout) with a solid plywood layout surface, my question is what to cover that with for roadbed, so that once the track locations are finalized some of the roadbed can be easily cut away to allow for a bit of drainage, ballast profile, etc. A 1/4" thick layer would be ideal. Skipping the roadbed entirely, laying the track directly on the plywood, and making do with no below track level scenery is an acceptable option, so anything I pick for roadbed needs to be enough better than that to be worthw

Grading on a spur

Sun, 2020-11-15 22:37 — Michael Whiteman

I want to grade my HO cork roadbed down to benchwork level. I was hoping for 20 inches. What is the shortest distance you have done with the couplers still working properly?

6 comments

Laying Cork Roadbed

Thu, 2020-11-05 18:47 — railandsail

Laying Cork Roadbed

LED Strip lights for multi-deck layouts

Wed, 2020-11-04 13:53 — Jeff Johnston

The subject of LED strip lights for layout use comes up a lot here so I wanted to pass along a few notes on the now-completed lighting on our Sugar Pine Lumber Company layout.

Cables vs. legs vs brackets

Mon, 2020-11-02 04:11 — manofkountry

I brought this subject up in another thread, and it seemed like there may be some good conversation about the pros and cons of using a cable system VS legs or brackets. I would be very interested in what others may have experienced or considered.

Spline Roadbed Fall Protection

Mon, 2020-10-26 11:13 — Lou N

All,

For those of you using spline roadbed, what are you using to protect your trains from falling to the floor in the event of a derailment? I know rosin paper has been mentioned for use between parallel tracks, but I'm thinking something like a turnback loop.

Thanks,

Lou Nigro

9 comments

Working on my Module... AT LAST!

Mon, 2020-10-19 09:13 — GregW66

Such a slow winter, spring and summer for model railroad work. Fall is here, I'm in a groove finally and have returned to work on my modules. Check out my blog post below. Miles Hale is a very inspiring and inventive model railroader. Trainmasters.tv is a valuable resource.

The Module Rotisserie!

https://gregstrainyard.com/2020/10/19/shogomoc-subdivision-module-progress/