Looking for info and pictures for building bench work for modules. I’m building a room sized around the wall type layout but without the room. I can store the modules when not in use I just can’t dedicate a room full time.
What I am looking for is any tips, thoughts and pictures on module bench work. Particularly on protecting the modules when not in use, wiring thoughts, aligning tracks or anything else that might help.
Thanks in advance ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
There are many things to consider
There are alot of thing to consider before cut the first piece of wood. A little forthought now will save a lot of frustration later. Here's a few thoughts
Read up on David Barrow's dominio style benckwork. Try to come up with a standard width and length. This will safe time in construction, make storage easier and perhaps allow to mix up the order to change things around. Avoid building one module that is 48" long, another that is 52.5" long and a third that is 46.5" long. Each os those require different measurements and cutting. With a standard design all you cuts will be the same cutting construction time. You would also be able to stack them one of top of each other, with a spacer, to make storage/transportation easier.
For lumber I recommend 3/4" cabinet grade plywood - birch veneer or oak veneer, which every is cheaper. The birch will paint nicely, the oak can be stained and finish to look nice while set-up. The plywood can then be ripped into strips to construct the modules. The plywood will be less likely to warp or twist that dimensional lumber.
Regarding trackwork and joints - plan ahead and avoid turnouts at module joints. There are two basic options - spanner tracks/rails or butt joints. Using spanner tracks adds some time to the set-up but is common done using a 9" or 6" piece of snap track. Free-mo uses a 2" piece of rail only with the ties laid right to the module's end. The other is to lay the track across the module joints and then cut them apart. If doing this it is best to use something to solder the rails ends to to assure good alignment.
You also need to consider how to connect things eletrically from module to module.
Well just a few things to consider.
jktrains
ratled wrote: Looking for info and pictures for building bench work for modules. I’m building a room sized around the wall type layout but without the room. I can store the modules when not in use I just can’t dedicate a room full time. What I am looking for is any tips, thoughts and pictures on module bench work. Particularly on protecting the modules when not in use, wiring thoughts, aligning tracks or anything else that might help. Thanks in advance ratled
You might want to take a look at some of the existing module standards. If you use an existing standard you can set up with other module builders who use the same standards. Each standard has had to solve the issues you mention in order to transport, set up, and take down their modular layouts efficiently. If you do not fully comply with an existing standard, you probably cannot match up with mdoules other than your own - a perfectly legitimate choice, but you should realize the implications.
I assume you are talking HO. I tend to favor Free-Mo (see http://www.free-mo.org/standard) for a modular standard because it features single or double track across the boundary, and has more flexibility than most in module design. The disadvantage in Free-Mo for your situation is that the standard requires modules be operable from either side (means no backdrops), and modules are reversible.
For actual module construction, my favorite tutorial is here: http://www.railwaybob.com/Modules/ModConstr/ModConstr01.htm
Hope this helps.
Fred W
ratled wrote:Looking for info and pictures for building bench work for modules. I’m building a room sized around the wall type layout but without the room. I can store the modules when not in use I just can’t dedicate a room full time. What I am looking for is any tips, thoughts and pictures on module bench work. Particularly on protecting the modules when not in use, wiring thoughts, aligning tracks or anything else that might help. Thanks in advance ratled
ratled.
Try going to the NTrak web site. They have a diagram of what they call the POFF or Plain Old Four Footer. It has all the measurements you would need to build 2Ft. by 4Ft. modules. You could use those measurements as a base and expand each module lengthwise or widthwise as your space dictates. These sizes make it simple to carry them through all but the narrowest of doorways without even taking off the legs.
To make things easy for myself, I went to Home Depot and picked up their pre-cut lengths of Clear Pine to make mine. It comes in lengths of 2', 3', 4', 6', and 8'. and in nominal 1" X 2", 3", and 4" sizes. It may cost you a buck or two more to buy it this way, but it sure saves a lot of time and the aggrevation of cleaning up all that sawdust that gets tracked all through the house from the garage to the train room, AKA the family room. Just bring it in the house and Glue & Screw it to-gether. You can have the legs removable by just bolting them to the top.
I hope that this helps you in your pursuit of Railroading happiness.
Blue Flamer.
The others seem to have covered the construction aspect well so I'll just speak to the electrical connections. My layout is composed of 2' wide sections either 4' or 8' long with a "balloon" at each end--a wider piece--so I can turn trains. (I'm in N scale.) For electrical I'm using barrier terminal strips and lugs on wires. I have standardized on a set of wiring busses--track power from two throttles, sound, structure lighting, etc.--and these run the length of each section. At one end the wires attach to a barrier terminal strip and at the other end they hang free. The terminal strips are numbered and I've written numbers on the lugs on the free ends. Lug #1 goes to terminal strip screw #1 etc. I don't plan to take apart the sections very much, but when I do I just have to undo a bunch of screws to free the wires from the adjoining section then match the numbers when I put them back together again.
The advice to check NTrak for how to build standardized modules is good advice. That was my starting point too. To join my modules I aligned them, held them together with C-clamps then drilled holes for a pair of bolts with big washers on each side. They aren't going anywhere!
..... Bob
Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here. (Captain Kirk)
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
Resistance is not futile--it is voltage divided by current.
ndbprr wrote:The single most important factor and to me, and everything else is just details, is how big a size and how heavy a weight can you lift by yourself. This from a guy who when he was thirty thought he would be able to get a 3' x 8' "module" out of his basement by himslef when the time came. I did but it wasn't 3' x 8' when it finally wound up on the curb.
Good Point.
Enjoy
Paul
Thanks guys for the responses. I guess I could have added a little more info to go on. What I am doing is building a room sized layout based on the June 07 MR Red Rock Northern in HO. I just don't a have a room for it. I do have space to "store" it when not in use - hence the module format. I did like he stuff I have read on the dominos systems. I won't be able to make a basic sized module size each will guided by the track plan but will try to keep it in the 2' X 4' range.
I'm going to used ripped ply for the frame. I'm leaning towards cardboard draped plaster cloth shell since I'm thinking it will be lighter than foam.
What I would like is to see some pictures of module bench work, how you protect the edges, what is being done it terms of wiring practices, and how folks are storing the modules, protecting it from the dust and bangs that may come from those who travel.
Thanks again for the info
ratled
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR