DFW Portable Layouts -- Mainline and Traction

[Rufus T. Firefly]

But using birch plywood is probably overkill vs. what's really needed.

It’s only overkill because you didn’t build yours that way.

How mine was built is not remotely relevant.

I used a lot of good straight 1x stock for gridwork and 5/8" plywood where that was needed. Everywhere else was left open for foam and plaster that I can cut into or through easily.

It’s simply an alternative to crooked lumber.

Now that is true.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I bought some yellow pine one time not really knowing about it. It's harder and heavier than the oak I have stashed away. Don't know what the hell I'll ever do with it.

It's great stuff, but it can be hard to work with if you are expecting regular old white pine. Southern Yellow Pine.....somebody would probably take that off your hands these days.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Let's face it, trees are a resource that is being used up at a record pace.

When I had my timber cut this year they did a very nice job of being selective and leaving behind all of the smaller trees - really opened up the forest for better growth and management.

They also did not cut my hickory and cherry trees on my request.

I know metal studs aren't very popular and I seldom see them used around here in home construction

Have seen metal stud framework used for layouts - not common but certainly doable.

....but cutting down trees at the rate we are doing it, is going to have severe consequences. They might be considered a renewable resource is time is not factored in.

Does take a sense of conservatory behavior; the timber on my land had not been cut in at least 50 if not 60 years. Probably be another 30-40 years before it might be cut again. The investment in time/money is not for everyone.

[gregj410]

How mine was built is not remotely relevant.

I used a lot of good straight 1x stock for gridwork and 5/8" plywood where that was needed. Everywhere else was left open for foam and plaster that I can cut into or through easily.

How mine was built is not remotely relevant yet your going to proceed to tell us how you did it Pics?

[R.K. Maroon]

This is a big change of subject, but I finished editing a video of some action on the club layout and uploaded it to YouTube this evening. I decided to post a link here, as it gives people a chance to see what our layout looks like at the present time -- that is, before the modifications that are in progress. Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t53O8ggqet8&ab_channel=ParadocsMusic

In the first clips, the locomotive (running light) is on the outside main. The later clips show the train operating on the inside main. It is not terribly obvious, but the inside main is incomplete, so that the train has to divert through the yard to complete a circuit. One clip (with the Missouri Pacific F-units) shows the train coming out of the yard and heading back to the mainline. When the new modules are completed, the two mainlines will be complete and run parallel all the way around the layout.

Jim

[ScaleCraft]

Is it my laptop, of does it not come into focus until the last 1/4?
Tried twice!

How did you talk Garberson out of a Q engine?

I like it.

Chassis?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

T..........I finished editing a video of some action on the club layout and uploaded it to YouTube this evening. I decided to post a link here, as it gives people a chance to see what our layout looks like at the present time -- that is, before the modifications that are in progress.

Nice! Thanks for posting it.

[sleepmac]

Very nice video! Thank you

Dan Weinhold

[R.K. Maroon]

Last week I posted a photo of a module frame with its foamboard deck installed and marked for routing. We use a plunge router and a one-inch straight bit to do the routing, which we did at our work session this last Saturday. It took two of us about two hours to get all six foamboard decks routed:



There is a 3x3 array of straight cuts in the middle of the deck, each about six inches long. These allow wire to pass under the side-to-side support stringers that will be added later (You can see them in a previous photo of a built module posted a week or two ago). The four shorter straight channels in the middle area are for looming the module-to-module interconnect cables when the modules are in their transport cases. The connectors on the end of the cables slide into these pockets and are held in by the stringers. The four even-shorter pockets on the left edge are for clamps we used to hang a curtain around the layout at the train shows. Finally, the pair of big pockets at the top are for access to the bolts used to join the modules. These are routed with the straight bit and then beveled my hand with a hot-wire cutter.

The foamboard is ready to be glued in, but we're going to wait to do a fit check of the module frames to the existing layout before proceeding. We'll be taking the layout down soon to go to the local January train show, so we'll do the fit check as the layout goes down (or back up).

Building the new legs is next.
Jim

[gregj410]

Nice neat work! I’ve never routed foam though I’m sure there is very little resistance. Are those free hand routed? They look very straight.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Neatly done.

[up148]

How messy is routing this type of dense foam?

[R.K. Maroon]

Are those free hand routed? They look very straight.

Yes, we marked a centerline to follow, but they are otherwise free-hand. The direction of rotation of the cutter bit is such that the router wants to drift right if you pull the router towards you and left if you push it away. You learn, after a curved cut or two, to anticipate this and counter it.

How messy is routing this type of dense foam?

It generates a lot of sawdust. This is why you want a second hand. One person routed, while the other manned the shop vacuum (two of them, actually). You still get some dust but its not bad at all. We did it indoors and the dust did not spread far.

Jim

[up148]

It generates a lot of sawdust. This is why you want a second hand. One person routed, while the other manned the shop vacuum (two of them, actually). You still get some dust but its not bad at all. We did it indoors and the dust did not spread far.

Thanks Jim. Expected answer, but with a good shop vac and help (plus masks) it is very doable. I'm impressed to say the least. Some of the cleanest modules I've ever seen.

[R.K. Maroon]

Thanks for the kind words, Butch. We have learned a lot over the years, and our design and process improved every time we built a new set of modules. Now we know what we wished we knew when we started. And so it goes.

The next step is to assemble the legs, which are comprised of a pair of 2x2s and two 3/4" plywood panels. We assemble these with the leg in place -- that is, attached to one of its two mating modules. We do this so to ensure that the deck height is correct:



The plywood came from a built-in entertainment center that was removed in a remodeling project at the house. It has an oak veneer and was in good shape, so there was no way that was going in the dumpster. Glad to have a chance to use it.

Jim