Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Hi, Big Daddy!
I have a serious (and permanent) space constraint, so I'm modeling in N scale despite being an HO man for a few years in the 1970's. I have built my switching layout on 1/2" plywood 20 inches x 4 feet, completely covered in Homasote, and I'm quite satisfied with it. By not making roadbed for each individual track, I eliminated the Homasote dust, and I can still carve small details like drainge ditches and ruts in dirt roads, etc. In addition to the switching portion of the layout which is designed as the terminus of a branch line, I built a double-track reversing loop to simulate a main line. This too was done on 1/2" plywood, and is removable since it lives on top of the washer/dryer and has to be removed on laundry day! For ease and light weight, I used cork roadbed on this section, and the noise difference is amazing! The sections on the cork roadbed are MUCH noiser than the sections on Homasote.
I've never tried installing track directly on foam, but I do have some 3/4" foam board which I might try over plywood if I ever rebuild the removable section. I imagine it would be much quieter than the cork on plywood construction.
Walt
BigDaddyHis premise was to build his modules that would be easily movable, as he was in the military. In his later videos, it is obvious the track did not survive the movers, perhaps more than once. Short of building a box lid or pulling the rail, how does one make it mover proof, yet amenable to expansion later on?
Grid construction (as in the MR article you referenced) is probably the best choice for a section as you describe.
Building a wooden box to cover the layout sections is the most reliable way I know of to insure survival when movers are involved. A couple of layouts I know of have been moved mutliple times by commercial movers and have come through fine -- but the sections were boxed.
Pulling the rail seems like a very bad idea and would be very difficult to put back into place.
Best of luck with your layout.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
BigDaddyFor benchwork I am considering a 2x6-8’ based on the plywood construction method in this article
Do 2 separate 4'x2' modules. Way easier to move. You might consider going slightly wider than 2', maybe 30' for some stability. 2 ft will work with properly gusseted legs and a level and relatively hard surface.
BigDaddyI am undecided whether to cover the plywood with cork or use foam. 6” of foam with a sheet of Masonite underneath(as suggested in another thread) would only be .21 psf lighter, by my calculation and more than twice the cost of ¼ ply
You dont need 6" of foam for a switching module. Use 2" or 1" instead. They come in 2" Deep x 2' (or 4') x 8' sections, get the Dow Blue stuff. Put that over a sheet of 1/4" plywood. Attach the foam with liquid nails LP-903 or wood glue. Use lots of weight to hold the foam down until the glue/adhesive sets.
Put cork over the foam. For a yard or industrial area consider cork sheet instead of individual track cork. If you want the track inset, use nscale track cork under the track and ho scale sheet cork next to the track (see the MR Rice Harbor Project layout).
For moving concerns either a) move it yourself, b) build a cover for your modules, or c) accept the damage done by movers. B sounds like the best choice to me.
Check out my clubs modular layout standards here: http://www.mprr.org/docs/MPRRModuleConstruction.pdf
Towards the end it describes covers (page 19 or 20). These 4ft modules can be picked up and carried by 1 person, more so if only 24" wide. They are also durable and survived the trip from Connecticut to Cleveland, Ohio for the 2014 NTS.
Go with detachable wood legs in your case instead of the metal ones described for our modules.
I have put track directly on extruded foamboard on most every layout that I have built. The only place that I used roadbed is on the main, everything else is track white glued directly to foam. I even hand lay track directly on foamboard and have never had the issues that some claim to have had.
I will echo that you dont need that much thickness of foam. My newest HO layout is 2" foamboard directly on shelf brackets. No box or girder, just foam on brackets 24" on center. On my portable On30 module, I built a box of 1X4 and set 2" foam down into it. It's 2X7' and one person can pick it up and move it alone, yet it does not flex or bend at all.
Foam my be more expensive than traditional plywood methods, but the older that I get, the more I appreciate how light and easy foam is to work with. I can't even handle a full sheet of ply anymore, but I can lug around a 4X8 sheet of foam all day if I had too.
I found an old thread on shelf layouts http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/153668.aspx?page=1
Some of the links and photos are dead, but I ran across a lot of plans with crossings (the rail-rail type). I'm reluctant to use one because of a youtube vid where a 44 tonner died everytime it hit the crossing.
I'm partial to small engines and would like to re-motor my 50 year old Lionel HO Husky. It's the noisiest engine you can imagine, without DCC sound. Am I right to avoid crossings? Converting to DCC and adding supercapacitors is a bit beyond me right now.
BigDaddy I'm reluctant to use one because of a youtube vid where a 44 tonner died everytime it hit the crossing.
Making the link livehttp://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/153668.aspx
Some crossings (like Atlas) are dead and may cause problems with short-wheelbase locos. Others, like PECO Electrofrog, are powered.
It's something you could mock up and try at little expense with your desired locos -- though I would opt for one of the smooth-running newer locos personally.
BigDaddy His premise was to build his modules that would be easily movable, as he was in the military. In his later videos, it is obvious the track did not survive the movers, perhaps more than once. Short of building a box lid or pulling the rail, how does one make it mover proof, yet amenable to expansion later on?
His premise was to build his modules that would be easily movable, as he was in the military. In his later videos, it is obvious the track did not survive the movers, perhaps more than once. Short of building a box lid or pulling the rail, how does one make it mover proof, yet amenable to expansion later on?
I am going to have to go to the next model railroad show and see how they do their portable layouts. Right now I am stumped as to how to add a yard or an industry on an angle without having a turnout overlapping an edge.