Baseboard Materials

=>And why the 4x2 sheets? =>

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=>-- =>Cheers =>Roger T.

Those Brits are still laying track on flat table tops. Can't seem to get out of the habit... :-)

Sad, init?

-- Cheers Roger T.

of the Great Eastern Railway

I'm not. See my website for details.

At least we've progressed from using tree trunks for the structural members! :o))

Wolf Kirchmeir wrote:

"Dick Ganderton"

Should that "progressed" be "regressed"?

Nothing wrong with using 1 x 4 and 1 x 3 lumber for good, solid, benchwork..

-- Cheers Roger T.

of the Great Eastern Railway

It could be argued that for broad areas, such as stations, rather than narrow shelfs, particularly suited to undulating terrain, a flat table top is a good approach. In a typical UK outline station the ground would be predominately level. Also using a square frame with a sheet securely attached to the top you're employing the characteristics of box girder construction (see, it all goes back to Brunel :-).

That said I personally prefer the open frame approach, I just like a good argument, sorry open and balanced debate :-)

In message , Chris White writes

So why is West Dulwich station moving away from the track and sliding down the embankment?

The ground around Lewisham station is nowhere near level, same with Catford stations.

If your loft is at the same temperature as your house and dry (basically meaning there's insulation under the tiles and a sturdy floor) MDF should be fine, although heavy. Perhaps plywood would be better for getting up into the loft.

They had a falling out and are in the process of separating legally.

R.

Yes, the ground the station and yard are built on are predominantly flat. Though it's visually more interesting if there are subtly variations between the running lines and say the goods yard.

However, the land around the station is rarely flat, so why a completely flat "baseboard"?

The only part of the "baseboard" that would, could, should be flat is that which supports the track and the platforms. Even this should be raised above the "L" girder benchwork by three to six inches. Using the "L" girder method allows landforms to easily rise and fall above and below track level, something that of difficult to achieve using the traditional UK flat "baseboard".

:Baseboard" is, in my opinion, a poor noun to use. Its very nature implies a completely flat surface. The North American "benchwork" is, I feel, a much better name for the structure that supports the sub-roadbed upon which the track is laid.

-- Cheers Roger T.

of the Great Eastern Railway

For "scale" model railways, yes. OTOH, a completely flat baseboard is exactly the sort of thing you want for introducing your enfant terribles to modelling. They can have their oval of track and plenty of flat space for pushing about houses, cars, tanks, etc. My grandfather, bless him, made me a 6'x4' affair when I was a nipper, just a bordered flat sheet of ply painted green with an oval of Hornby track, and helped me make Superquick kits, a hill/tunnel out of chickenwire and papier mache, etc. I happily drew on roads, rubbed them out, recreated various WW2 battles with Airfix soldiers, made a snow scene with copious quantities of mother's cotton wool and talcum powder that completely gummed up the works of my brother's Hornby Peak (whooops), and generally had fun, and learnt without realising I was doing learning. (Of course, this may have been so I didn't mangle grandfather's vintage

1950s TT layout with my five-year-old mitts :-) And a flat baseboard was absolutely essential for standing Airfix soldiers up on :-)

R.

Remember them well - Also I have recently, well a couple of years back, built a layout is a very crowded space, I used spur shelving to support 'conti-board' shelving (resin based chipboard covered with thin plastic. Used for domestic shelving). I covered that with a soft fibre board sold as expansion joint insertion material for concrete. This is soft enough to allow chanels to be carved into the top for power feed wires and wire-in-tube point/switch controls. The supporting shelf and top materials were a total of about an inch thick, the layout ran round the walls sandwiched between other shelving. It worked well and allowed the lads books to be stored in the same space. I am currently building something similar in my shed as a test track. Flat basebaods do have some advantages.

Sundeala used to be good for a traditional baseboard - You can actually build complicated pointwork from scratch spiked to it.

Dave.

I was surprised to find out the other day that sundeala is made from compressed newspaper.

Alan

I think I would go along with 'progressed'. As we all get older and the prospect of hernias becomes more likely, good solid benchwork has questionable benefits :-)

I must admit to always being amazed at the thought of an H0 train sitting on a baseboard made of 1" x 4" and 3/4" plywood. Overkill at its best :-)

Jim.

"Jim Guthrie"

Not when, as in my case, the railway is 12 x 16 feet. Besides, I use the "L girder" system of benchwork and don't have "baseboards".

-- Cheers Roger T.

of the Great Eastern Railway

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You call it "benchwork", we call it "baseboards".

I still find it difficult to understand anyone using massive bits of timber when equal strength can be obtained by using strips of quite thin plywood assembled so as to produce a lightweight but very trong and rigid structure.

Roger T. wrote:

snip

Massive bits of timber are (comparatively) cheap and easy to work with. For a permanent layout in a concrete-floored basement they are fine.

"MartinS"

Right on Martin. And I can lean on my benchwork, with most of my considerable weight, when working towards the rear of the layout If necessary, I can even sit on it. I also have wooden shelving attached to the legs under the benchwork for storage of all kinds of items, from unbuilt kits to hundreds of magazines going back over 30 years or more.

Sorry, you'll never convince me that using 2 x 2 and 1 x 2 lumber is a way to build a permanent layout with an expected life span of well over ten years or more, in my case. Many of the big North American layouts are 20 to

30 years old. If you're planning on building a 30 x 40 foot model railway in your basement, a not uncommon size, then you're looking at a 20 to 30 year investment in time. Sturdy benchwork is a must.

-- Cheers Roger T.

of the Great Eastern Railway