BASEBOARD JOINS 100% GUARANTEED SOLUTION - THERE IS NO BETTER METHOD !!! On ALL my exhibition layouts for over 30 years, some of which have featured in Modelling Magazines all over the World, I use "Pattern Makers" Alignment Dowels, for EXACT precision alignment. They restrict any movement to 0.1mm. These are PRECISION STEEL (not cheap brass) male & female, circular plates that have to be rebated into the baseboard frame ends. You will NOT find them in DIY stores. I've only ever obtained them from Dyers Ironmonger shops, and they are designed for specialist Carpenters, Joiners & Cabinet makers. These are guaranteed to keep even "Z" gauge tracks perfectly aligned. In addition to these Precision alignment dowels, to hold the baseboards tightly together, I also use M6 Carriage Bolts, wingnuts & washers. These provide the muscle of holding the baseboards tightly together. I use TWO alignment dowels & TWO bolts per baseboard join. Further because Exhibition baseboards get dragged around the country or in my case the whole of Europe, I build my baseboards sturdily but as lightly as possible. ALL my Baseboards are normally 2 metres (6ft 6in) long, (longer than normal to reduce the number of track joins, D connector wiring plugs, & the number of support legs). The boards can be to various widths to suit scenery issues. Each Baseboard, both frame and top/surface is made from Quality MARINE PLYWOOD, because this is a WATERPROOF wood. Costs a bit more but should last 20 years without any sign of warpage. I only buy this wood from Carpenters suppliers NOT D.I.Y stores , who do not even know how to store wood properly. Sheets of wood must be stored flat, never on end, as this will result later in the wood warping. PROFESSIONAL BASEBOARD CONSTRUCTION METHOD. Each frame is made from 15mm Marine Plywood. Top/surfaces utilise 12mm Marine plywood. Each frame side (but not the ends) is made as a sandwich. Usually 80mm wide stripes are cut 2m long. Two of these make one frame side, with 15mm x 50mm long strips inserted at 500mm intervals, to produce a sandwich. The method is a timber version of many real life Bridge structures, and incredibly strong, which also resists warpage. Two of these sandwich frame sides, require each end and crossbars at 500mm intervals, in strips of 15mm thick plywood, each 80mm wide to match the side frames. These sides, ends, & crossbars are now screwed together using screws of 40mm, 70mm & 100mm length. A top of 12mm plywood can be applied either complete or just in areas where track will be, so allowing scenery to be lower than track to allow for embankments etc. A "Railway" passes through the contours of the landscape in reality, NOT on top of it, or you will end up with what is called childish "Pimple" scenery !!! This baseboard method allows a full grown Man to stand in the middle of a baseboard once on its legs with only a couple of millimetres of deflection at the middle !!! RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP & SIMPLE LEG SUPPORT METHOD For the legs I use 2.5" x 2.5" square softwood timber. Two verticals 4 ft long, then have two crossbars of 2.5" x 1.5" softwood screwed to them. The lower crossbar around 18 inches from the floor, so as to allow a vacuum cleaner to clean under this crossbar. The upper crossbar must be positioned at exactly 70mm from the top of the two vertical legs. Legs are only needed at ONE end of each Baseboard. They legs simply "slot" into a baseboard frame at one end. To ensure the legs remain vertical, scraps of 15mm plywood need to be screwed inside the frame side 2.5" from each end, and 2.5" from each side. The crossbar on each set of legs being just 70mm from the top of each leg, ensures the crossbar will take the weight of the baseboard. The Baseboard sides being 80mm deep, ensures the legs will not touch the underside of the baseboard top. The only other product needed will be Evo Stik PVA (non waterproof version in the Green bottle). This being used in addition to screws wherever two pieces of wood are screwed together ! Using "non waterproof" PVA means this product can also be used (mixed with water) for track ballasting and hillside making. Being non-waterproof you can pour warm water over your ballast to recover track at a later date !!!! TRACK ACROSS BASEBOARD JOINS Track across baseboard joins (using something like Peco Flexitrak) should be laid ACROSS the baseboard join, with at least 4 INCHES of track BOTH SIDES of the join. ALL tracks across that join MUST be laid, before cutting ANY of the rails at the join. To cut rails so you do not damage the track, a Modellers Mini Drill with Grey Carbonundrum discs should be used. The Carbonundrum disc is brittle so must be used carefully and at exactly 90 degrees to the cut, to avoid it shattering. It will cut through the rail like a knife through butter. NEVER use idiotic "Rail Snippers" they do not cut the rail, they pinch through rail leaving a squashed rail end. To secure the track at the baseboard join, probably the simplest and best method is to use "Copper Clad sleeper strip" to form the last one or two sleepers each side of the join. The rail can then be soldered to the copper clad sleeper strip. The sleeper strip can also be glued, and even a tiny Fleischmann track screw used to hold it in line. TCopper Clad Sleeper strip, used by professionals to handbuild points, is available from "Marcway" in Sheffield. They are a model railway shop that specialises in track for specialists like EM & P4 gauges. THEY HAVE A WEBSITE, and can give you very helpful information on the phone if you are not yet an expert of track !!!! Happy Modelling The Duke 71000.
Hi Tom Some advice to consider with your layout. I would strongly suggest using a primer and sealer paint like Zinnser B.I.N. for your baseboards before you start laying track, etc, as you will find after a few years that your boards will warp with the moisture and cold air your attic is exposed to in the winter. Also, with the moisture of ballasting, you could probably also do with some silver foil roll insulation (remember to leave an air gap) in the rafters so the heat is retained in your loft. I no how exciting it is to get your trains running but believe me take the time to do things right and you won't have to repeat yourself in future
Hi Tom, only thing I can say is keep going at a steady pace. No matter how long or how many layouts you've built you'll always find something that needs sorting. Regards John
You have the potential for a really good layout there. Nice to see the wide radius curves - coupled to a manageable plan. Good that you have trains running already - this is important when things go wrong - then you can just run some trains. One thing I will say, get your loft location sorted first. Insulate if you can even a little bit. You can explain to the family that it will save 'the family' money! Lofts can get extremely hot in summer and cold in winter. If you can reduce the temp change and use a dehumidifier, it will help both baseboards and models no end. I found this out the hard way. Look at Richard from Everard Jnc. His first loft layout bowed and warped forcing him to give up and start again. Again, you have progressed alot further than me of late. It is great to see younger people building this kind of layout. What I call a real enthusiasts railway, built where you can, with all the pressures of family life below competing with your valuable train time! Good luck sir..... look forward to the next video.
Well done and good luck with the layout. I did basically the same thing and didn’t plan it out very well. I am still trying to improve and work on it. I have 2 main tracks, a four track station at one end at at the other I have two loops in either direction. All my locos are DC and it is cost inhibitive to chip them I look forward to seeing your progress Regards Charlie
Hi Tom, looking good 👍 my bit of advice would be to build your layout once and get it right the first time. Just take your time. I've done my layout three times now, and as I thought I was getting somewhere bad luck struck again, and I'm not getting any younger, so I decided not to put layout back in loft @44 I can't be arsed climbing ladders and being in the way of kids and the missus so a shed maybe the way forward for me. Tom Measure twice do the design of what you want and build once.
