Baseboard for portability

[stonesfan]

Hi All

Midlife crisis time, have just moved to live with my partner in the Isle of Skye. Have all my old 80s childhood train set stuff still stored away in my parents house and simply cannot bear the thought of it being given away or sold as they are planning on moving at some stage. So its all coming up here either for on show storage or to get back to life. Have a fair sized 3 bed house with a decent sized spare guest room. Plus a fair sized shed too. I don't want to build anything too elaborate or detailed, something like a 6x4 or 8x4 with 2/3 running lines plus some sidings etc. Always more of a 'run and watch' kid than wanting anything themed or intricate to timetable! Still feel that way

So something that can come out every so often for play and to keep the guests amused. So choosing the right baseboard is going to be key. Something that can be stored, carried and then mounted directly onto the dining table or put onto legs. A bit like a home snooker table. Am a big strong bloke so not overly bothered about weight (within reason). Guess we are looking at ply and two questions for the panel.

1) Could I get away with a single section of ply of around 18mm thick?

2) Or better off with two thin sections divided by sections of 20mm x 50mm?

Need to get this basic bit right before worrying about track design, underlay etc!

Cheers.

[Steve M]

Welcome to the forum.

There is plenty of advice on the link below, and not just baseboards!
The baseboard is quite literally the foundation of the layout and it’s vitally important to get it right and a single sheet of board is not going to work. It will warp and flex and cause no end of problems.
If building your own, use 9mm or 12mm ply with plenty of bracing to keep it flat. Alternatively look at the various outlets that supply laser cut modular boards.

https://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/

[bulleidboy]

The bigger the better - I'd go for the 8x4. The thing to remember is if the board is up against a wall, four feet is too far to stretch - should you have a derailment etc. As Steve mentioned lots of suppliers producing boards in kit form - mine were, and very easy to put together.

[Tricky Dicky]

First of all forget 18mm ply an 8 X 4 sheet is very heavy and not particularly easy to manipulate in a confined space and that’s before you start adding to it.

For portability you have to go for lightness and use the properties of the material used and structure it so as to add in the rigidity and robustness. Most portable baseboards are a series of box like structures linked together to form a bigger surface for the layout. The box structure adds rigidity and allows wiring to be concealed yet still accessible. For permanent layouts there are a number of approaches and if you have the room that is probably the best way to go.

If you require a layout that can be stored away when not in use then you have several options. A 6 X 3 can be stored under a bed assuming it is not a divan bed. This can have castors for easy roll out and either foldable or separate legs for raising to a comfortable height. If you have wall space another approach is to secure one side to a wall and hinge it so it can be swung up out of the way. I know of a number of garage layouts where the base board can be raised out of the way in the ceiling using a pulley system. A know of a layout where a modeller converted an old sideboard so the the layout could be folded away when not in use.

You have a number of decisions to make as to the what you want? Location being the first? Then can it be permanent or does it need to be portable? If portable where is it going to be stored when not in use? Another perhaps not so obvious question is what have you got in the way of tools, plywoood, chipboard and MDF etc. are not easy to work with just hand tools and really need some power tools. Although the sheds like B&Q and Wickes sell smaller sheets cut down from 8 X 4 you may still have to cut them down unless you are lucky enough to live near one with a cutting service where you can provide the dimensions and your material can be cut in store and you are left to simply assemble it.

Come back with some answers to the above and we can start to offer more detailed advice, in the meantime following Steve’s link will help get you thinking and outline some of the details of how to construct baseboards for a layout.

Richard

[stonesfan]

Hi all....thanks for the replies so far.

1) Definitely needs to be portable.

2) Storage. Yes a genuine concern but am presently looking at options. I do have a fairly large garden shed that's dry inside.

3) Yes , agreed - 18mm ply you are looking at around 28kg for a standard 2.4 x 1.6m item. Yes I'm a big strong lad but don't want to be humping likely 30kg+ about the house every time I fancy a blast. I guess for a great example of rigidity versus weight then the average modern household interior door is a great example. Could I get away with 5.5mm ply on either side of a timber construction similar to an interior door?

4) Tools....have a decent selection of carpentry hand tools plus some electric such as a cordless screwdriver etc. Absolutely loads of screws, nails etc.

Great place to come for advice. Gonna definitely think this over before taking the plunge.

[RogerB]

This is the board I have ordered. It's 6' x 3' and you can have a 6 or 9mm ply top from them or supply your own. The manufacturer /https://www.modelrailwaysolutions.co.uk/ is suggesting that without the top it will weigh 6.5kg.

I have ordered from them for an earlier layout, they are great to deal with and will deliver if you need that.
R-

[Tricky Dicky]

Correct me if I am wrong, your proposal is to support your layout on a dining room table and store it in the shed when not in use. Table top layouts are not anything new after all the TT in TT120 scale stands for table top. I would caution you to discuss it with Domestic Management, he/she may not like the idea of the furniture possibly being marked. You could still use the table top idea but I think I would look at it being self supported on its own legs above.

The shed storage does impose some restrictions. First, do not use MDF, your shed may be dry and rain proof but the changes of temperature even in a single day will cause some condensation you may not be aware of it but MDF will swell and distort as a result. Plywood is the most stable of all the timber sheet materials and if you can get moisture resistant type thats ideal. Second you need to consider how you get it between shed and where you intend to set it up. Getting through doorways, round corners and down corridors is made harder the larger the baseboard is. For that reason many exhibition layouts and home modellers tend to make their layouts out of 4’ X 2’ (1240mm X 600mm) units bolted together, so four of these would make your 8’ X 4’ baseboard.

I have seen layout on old doors even one built on an ironing board. They do present a couple of problems the first being that unless framed around the underside wiring and anything fixed with say screws will be subject to damage moving it about. It is possible to use quite thin ply for the top but what you will find is just as the inside of flush door has an egg box type separator the thin top will require a lot more bracing to stop flexing again there are examples of such construction but it is a lot of work if doing it by hand. The other issue with thin tops is fixing either with pins or screws is difficult although glueing some softwood underneath in the relevant places gives fixings something to fasten into. A 9mm thick ply is commonly a good compromise giving lightness and a reasonable thickness to fix to.

For the construction a baseboard in its simplest form is a sheet of ply framed underneath with 2 X 1 softwood with a few transverse spacers all glue and screwed together. The deeper the framing the better so 3 X 1 and even 4 x 1 will make for a more stable construction. Soft wood is still subject to temperature and humidity variations an example for me was a door lining I recently installed, it came wrapped in plastic sheet and was very straight after two days in the garage and finally unwrapped it twisted as I looked at it. Myself I would not use softwood framing but make the top and under frame entirely from ply you could use timber battens in the corners to give yourself some extra thickness for glueing and screwing purposes but it will the depth of the ply under frame that would give it its rigidity and stability.

Anyway let us know what your thoughts are as how you want to proceed and further advice can be given.

Richard

[stonesfan]

Great advice once again. Heart v head I guess and 8ft possibly a bit too long. Could go with 200cm long as that means I can get it through the doors vertically as there are a couple of tightish corners. . That also means it can go under the main King size here with about 20cm to spare lengthwise. I guess 200cm long would just about give me enough room to run a loco plus 4 on a straight.

Yes a portable stand of sorts a good idea too.

[Mountain Goat]

From building a yet-to-be-finished portable layout, it is easier to carry if boards are 18" or less wide. I would not really go more that about four foot in length as less length is easier to fit in the car.
Think about weight too as boards can easily become heavy, but don'tskimp on strangth where one needs it.
Better to have separate legs to save on weight as I made mine with lightweight foldable legs as part of the layout and it does work, but maybe legs that are separate would make overall board weight easier to carry.

[stonesfan]

The baseboard is well on its way to being created. Using 9mm ply and 25x50mm batten. May also attach a thinner piece of batten to the underside with a removable mid section. Seems fairly rigid so far. Going for a 6'6 x 4ft layout to start with. Can get it through the doors upright with about an inch to spare. Thus far can manhandle it around the house without too much of a struggle.