cudaken Sue, when I bulit the last section I used wood screws, much cheaper than bolts. Randy, the pictures of donut layout you have posted looks alot like what I have in mind. Does or did it have any grades? Why the foam for the back drop? Did it have any lift out sections or did you duck under to get to the center? Cuda Ken
Sue, when I bulit the last section I used wood screws, much cheaper than bolts.
Randy, the pictures of donut layout you have posted looks alot like what I have in mind. Does or did it have any grades? Why the foam for the back drop? Did it have any lift out sections or did you duck under to get to the center?
Cuda Ken
No grades, it was all flat. I had no place on that layout for grades - it was intended (if yo ulook at the old plan for filling the basement) as eventually being one end of a larger layout that would have had two levels. At one point I had worked out jus thow I would support two layers with a similar framework, although I never made a CAD drawing of it. I also had some Woodland Scenics foam inclines I experimented a bit with. The main purpose of the 8x12 was to test new things, like using foam instead of wood, the track-bed instead of cork, making curves wide enough to have two 80 foot passenger cars pass each other, test run locos, experiment with DCC, etc. It was the first layout I'd built in about 9 years so I wanted to start simple before trying to fill the basement.
No liftouts - the middle opening is 4x8, plenty of room to stand. It wasn;t bad to duck under, but it was a little low to suit me. If it was as high as I would have wanted it, ducking under would have been easy. The foam backdrop was a failed experiment, mostly. It probabl would have worked covered by soemthing - in a few pictures you might see some white posterboard which I was goign to glue on the foam and curve in the corner, and then paint blue. The foam is held on by a 1x4 used as a clamp - there's teh back edge fo the frame, then the foam, then the second 1x4. I drilled through all 3 layers and put in some bolts to clamp the foam on. I think it actually worked, but it was way to cumbersome. More typical masonite would have been a better choice.
I used bolts for the legs - so I could take them off to move the sections, which ended up not happening. The frames themselves are fasted with yellow glue and drywall screws - drywall screws seem to have less tendency to split the wood (I always drill a pilot hole), and are half the price of deck screws for a 1lb box.
I'm hoping to finish the legs on the new module this weekend, so I'll get some pictures with the crossbraces and 2x2 blocks for the levelers in place. If I'm really ambitious I'll built the enxt 2x4 section - I have all the wood just stacked here waiting to go. The difference this time is that the modules are 4 feet long instead of 8, and since I felt the 2x3 legs I used before were too heavy and I couldn't find any straight 2x2's around here, I made the legs like they did in the Beer Line article - 1x3 with a 1x2 glued and screwed to make an L shape. The side of the 1x3 is screwed to the edge of the 1x2, making the legs about 2 1/2" square - maybe I should take some close-up pictures for my web site. At the bottom I am goign to put short lengths of 2x2 so I can drill in the bottom for a T nut, and I will make diagonal braces from 1x2's.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Kalmbach's benchwork book (by Westcott and Shelby) would answer many of your questions and probably spark some new ideas, too. How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork
They also have a newer "basic" book on benchwork, but I have not seen it.
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2x4's are definitely too big if you want something easily moved. Like you said, it's heavy. 1x4's are plenty strong for layout benchwork, and fairly lightweight. I have pictures on my website of what I'm building now - my old stuff it there as well so you cna see the 2x8 modules (which perfectly fit a piece of extruded foam, at least the only size I can get is a 2x8 foot sheet in various thickness). The new ones are 2x4 foot frames, with the crosspieces made from 1x3's and the side rails 1x4's.
Ken,
Are those sections screwed or bolted together for disassembly later? We used 2 x 4's, but we weren't planning on moving it.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Randy I all ready know that the sizes of the wood is not the real sizes of the wood. What I sort of have in mind is how I have done K-10 Mining section.
It was built in 3 X 4 foot sections and 2 X 4 sections. Problem is it was based on 2X4's and 3/4 plywood. All the terrain is foam and as a whole it is very heavy.
My new sections will be 36 inches wide and each section apx 4 foot and around the room donut with maybe a few free standing peninsulas.
I seen terms like L Grinder and cook cutter and still a little unclear on what the terms mean. I will add I want it to be duel level, and free standing.
Sue, thank you as well. I don't scribe. I pick it a month later for a $1.00.
Guess I need to do a ruff drawing on what I have in mind. There would be 3 lower main lines and upper level will have 2 very simple mains with no switching. Upper level will only be apx 6 to 8 inches wide and will not connect to the lower level.
You can do it with practically no cutting, bit it will cost more. Lowes, at least around here, had their better quality dimensional lumber available in shorter pieces. Biggest length I can fit in my car is 6 foot, although to be more a 'standard' size I'm making my sections 4 feet long. I could conceivably build the whoel thign with zero cutting, but it's a bit much paying for the 2 foot crosspiece sections when I can buy a cheap miter box with a hand saw and cut 4 foot sections in half. I can't exactly run a power saw in my apartment so even renting of a power tool was out of the question.
You'll need to figure out how many sections you need, and calculate how many pieces of wood at each length you'll need. If you make all the sections the same size, it will be easy. You would then only have 2 different sizes - the long length and the cross peices. The modules I made for my 8x12 layout were 8 feet long and 2 feet wide - at this size they could be easily manuevered through doors, and they were - I assembled it in the garage and carried it down to the basement. So in for that, the only cutting I had to do was to make the cross pieces, the sides were full 8' boards. The trick for someone not familiar with wood is to remember the sizes are NOT what they say. A 1x4 does not measure 1 inch by 4 inches, it's 3/4" by 3 1/2". Sheet goods liek plywood are the stated size - a 4x8 sheet of plywood is, indeed, 4 feet by 8 feet. Where this matters most is making the frames to put plywood or whatever on top. If you want the TOTAL width to be 2 feet, your cross pieces have to be 22 1/2 inches - 22 1/2 inches plus 3/4 inch for one side plus 3/4 of an inch for the other side. Once you can remember that, you're all set. Really nothing to it.
Those quick-change bits for the drill/driver are a huge timesaver - beats unscrewing the chuck and switching between the pilot hole drill and the screwdriver bit. Use drywall screws, and I also glue the joints with yellow glue. They make right-angle clamps which can hold the corners precisely while you drill and drive the screws in. Hard to mess up. You'd still want a framing square to make sure your corners are square. It's really not hard at all. You can't be sloppy, but it's not like you have to cut the wood to the nearest thousandth of an inch or your layout will fall apart.
The latest issue of MR has a good article on building a sectional layout. If I was renting, I would build in sections. Their plan lets you change the layout into different sizes.
Check it out.
OK, hope to be moving and will start a adult bench. What I have now is 2 X 4 frame and 3/4 plywood top and new section is based on the same but, with 2 inch foam on top of it. I have used woodland foam risers and I do like them.
Wood working skills, well LHS shop will be doing the cutting and after that not great. This will be the first time in 19 years I will be renting so I want to do it as a modular layout so if I have to, it can be broken down. Ho scale, around the room and will need a lift out section.