help for a dummy....

[Anonymous]

Hello to all,
I have a question that I hope you can answer .I had a layout that was 9 feet long by 5 feet wide.I put it up in November and take it down in January...It was made of 1/2 plywood with 2x4s to support it...with my mountains and such on the board it was very heavy...I had to get my son and his two friends to help me move it...
The question is if any of you know of something I could use thats strong as the plywood and 2x4s,but a lot lighter...

ANY HELP YOU GIVE IS APPRECIATED..
THANKS ,GREGG

[Javern]

2" sheet of foam, they come 4 x 8 and a support made from 1 x 2s, light, easy to work with, inexpensive

[nfmisso]

Gregg;

To expand on the above; you want to use 2" of extruded (not expanded) foam, laminated to 1/4" or thinner plywood using a foam compatible adhesive (yellow carpenters glue is fine). Clamp it up, and let it sit a week or so. You can glue thin strips of plywood around the edges too if you want. Glue and screw 1 x 4 to the bottom to attach folding legs to.

Use the same foam as the internal structure for your mountains.

I like Woodland Scenics foambed for road bed, attach with Aleene's Tacky Glue (Wal-Mart crafts sections and other sources). Attach the track to the foam bed with the same adhesive, weight with cans of food/pop/beer over night. Use long stick pins to hold the track in alignment over night too, then remove and reuse. Do NOT glue down your turnouts.

After you have the foam shaped to your liking, paint with Latex house paint. Solvents will eat the foam.

Have fun.

[ericsp]

I can resist.

Just change the trucks and put a motor in it. (For those new to model railroading, "dummy" is used to refer to an unpowered locomotive).

[bcammack]

Two 2" sheets of foam insulation bonded atop a 1/4" sheet of luan plywood. If you stagger the joints between the various layers you should end up with a light, rigid, and sculptable base.

Use acrylic Liquid Nails as a bonding agent.

[randybc2003]

That 2x4 frame doesn't help the weight problem either. Go to 1x4 "cookie cutter" framing, or "L" girder. Add glue, screws, and angle brackets. These trade shape for bulk, and are as strong or stronger. Check out the "Atlas Flat-top" design in most beginner Atlas books, or Kalmbach's book on benchwork. Use SCULPTAMOLD for final shaping over the foam. These days, no need for that little kind of a layout to weigh a Ton.
I don't rember the date, but I saw an article in Model Railroader where a New York apartment dwelling architect built a layout using pre-fab steel shelving and foam.
Good luck, and Keep Building!! [:)]

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all of you for your replies...I will give it another go...talk to you again...
gregg

[Anonymous]

Gregg,

The title of your thread is interesting. Remember, the only dummy is the one that doesn't ask the question. We were all newcomers to this great hobby at one time . .. . although I think at times some folks, myself included, tend to forget that.

I've had lots of people help me over the years and hopefully I've been able to help a few. Maybe sometime in the future, you'll be the local expert and help someone else out thats new. This is the one thing that I really love about the hobby. Ask a question and someone is more than willing to help out!