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Jaggzuk

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  1. Jaggzuk
    After a post Christmas trip to the NRM at Shildon end of year toy fair with my 3 year old son, I came away, with among other things, two boxes of the triple Railroad MGR wagons. Even though these are Railroad versions, I was impressed with the level of detail, ok they are missing the fine level detail some wagons now have and the chassis lacks and painted details, but I think with a bit of a paint touch up and some weathering they will be great addition to my railway (once built).
     
    The key bit that was missing though was a good realistic coal load. While I was at the show, the in-house Shildon Model Club layout “Shildon” was being operated with some modern stock. Whilst we watched one of the Ops got out a box of coal loads and began dropping them in to a rake of HAA MGR wagons. He showed me that they were home-made from shaped pipe lagging covered in grit blast grit. With the wagons also being weathered they added a great finishing touch.
     
    So, I cannot take the credit for the idea, but I thought I would share how I made the coal loads and what they look like when finished. I have to say that I am really pleased with the outcome and the way they have enhanced the wagon. Plus this was the first railway modelling session I have had with my son. He painted on the glue and helped to sprinkle the coal dust… our model railway hath started!!!
     
    So here’s how I did it:
     
    1) Starting point, 10mm dia. Microbore foam pipe lagging (15mm dia pipe lagging would also work)
    2) Cut it in half long ways and angle the ends so it fit snuggly in the hopper, no need for a lift out loop as pushing down on one end pops the load up out of the wagon for removal.
    3) Cut, scrape and pick off the foam to required coal load shape, thus creating a unique load shape every time.
    4) Sprinkle on black grit to represent the coal over PVA wood glue. Make sure that the surface of the foam to be coated with glue is fully roughened to create a good key – remove all shiny surface.
    5) Leave to dry; the load will become quite stiff and robust.
     
    I found that I could create each load in about 10mins, with small hands help!
     
    I researched photos on the web of MGR wagons to get an idea of the way coal loads looked in real life. What I found was that there were a number of key visual points to bear in mind.

    Auto load, which creates a uniform section, sloping sides and a flat top.
    Manual chute, typically three/four mounds.
    Track side bucket loader, creating various mounds and levels of loading from flush to high peaks. In some cases the bucket of the loader was used to flatten the coal load down to maintain loading gauge and reduce loss due to air flow.
    The final visual point to note is that MGR wagons carried power station coal and this is typically transported in a pre-crushed state and looks very fine, no large lump coal! Hence, track ballast is too coarse in my view. I crushed a lump of ‘real’ anthracite coal using a hammer to a fine grit/dust. Which when stuck to the foam, I think looks perfect as it has a lovely black sparkle effect like the real thing.

     
    Useful links to photos of real wagons
     
    Shows the fineness of the MGR coal load - http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brhaatopskip/h119292E1#h119292e1
    Auto loaded coal load - http://www.flickr.com/photos/55879910@N02/6277683605/in/photolist-ayJLCe-gyFia4-dUTfzq-bsFEwK
    Large heaped coal loads - http://www.flickr.com/photos/55879910@N02/9558916762/in/photolist-fyFWVG-dnewHu-gJqVHV-g8GVdB-dvPq5E-e45QLz-e49q2D-akoVz5-b9DEm4-iu7kDD-dcepw2-9sMB4m-e5GUBg-dUKfeY-cWGf97-dNmSYp-d1Tqrs-fq9nxU-foCt9R-foSK4Y
    High peaked load - http://www.petertandy.co.uk/58023_mgr_hat_3785.jpg
    Load flatten with loader bucket - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Penmanshiel_Tunnel_(coal_train_on_new_alignment)..jpg
    Railfreight wagon with coarse coal load - http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brhba/h3c33f975#h3c33f975
    Side view of coal load - http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brhda/h1cb3829#h1cb3829
     
     
    I hope this article is of use and inspiration to people
     
     
    Views of my efforts (click images to view larger versions):
     

    Pipe lagging cut to shape 

    Checking it fits in the wagon 

    Before and after gluing on the coal grit/dust 

    Finished view, before weathering wagon 

    Finished view, before weathering wagon
  3. Jaggzuk
    After being hoiked out of a skip some 30 years ago by my Dad and being stored in his garage, I have some 65m of 8 core cable to strip for use on our model railway electrics. Once stripped the cable will provide me with 8 nicely coloured wires, red, black, orange, yellow, purple, green, brown and white, some cotton twine and some braided wire sheathing.
     
    Originally there was 100m of this cable which had be wrongly bought for a building job and was skipped brand new! Me and my dad stripped 30m for the railway we built together when I was a teenager. Now in my 40s and being given the cable by my Dad after a bit of a clear out, I now get to strip the rest of it for use on my Son's layout, and probably the next few layouts after that
     
    Uses, well the wire is obvious, anything needing wiring up on the layout and colour coded too
    Cotton, not sure?
    Wire sheath - could be used for main trees as it takes solder fairly well if I remember
     
    One thing that I am not sure about is the wires capability to take current (max amps). It is 1.4mm OD with 7 wires strands each 0.2mm in Dia. Having had a scrape of a strand it looks like it is a copper core with a silver metal coating. We never had an issue back on the old DC layout 30 years ago, using the wire for all the track electrics, feeds, isolation breaks etc. But now for DCC, I am unsure. How can I test it / work out is capacity?
     

     

  4. Jaggzuk
    After attending the York Model Railway Show, came back with a Hornby Railroad Class 37 (in Yellow) and a NEC Powercad (PCab) DCC controller. I got it from the Digitrains stand and am very happy with it. I had previously visited their shop in Lincoln to try out the various controllers and to ask beginners questions and the guys from the shop were very helpful and impartial whilst I was doing my research.
     
    I really like the Powercab and find it very intuitive to use. The speed control buttons & wheel are just in the right position. Plus with a bit of modification to the key buttons (addition of some coloured stickers) my 4 year old son has cracked how to use it to control our two DCC locos.
     
    I am so glad that I have now taken the plunge in to DCC, as it is so much fun and flexible; just having two locos on a simple layout running independent of each other is just great!
     
    Now I need to work out what decoders to get to convert all my old Lima stock (31s and 37s) and to add to my DCC ready locos.
     

  5. Jaggzuk
    Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2011.
     
    Well our due date came and went. This gave us a bit more time to finish the building works; the kitchen units went in on Monday, then carpet in the nursery whet down on Wednesday night and our son arrived the following day (16th Dec) all safe and sound.
     
    So, apart from slowly getting my head round all things baby including some serious toxic waste I am now starting to realise that I now have perfect excuse to play trains, model and 12" to the foot - so what is the ideal age to buy them a Hornby Trainset?
  6. Jaggzuk

    Another 2010 deadline

    By Jaggzuk,

    It looks like my 2010 competition layout is going to have take a back seat for a while, which is really disappointing, the reason, well our baby is due in December!! So not really that disappointing As we are still trying to renovate our house, I suddenly have a lot of DIY projects to complete before Dec arghh!!!
     
    OK, so I might not have got anything ready for the 2010 competition, but with out it running I would never have even have started. So to Andy and RMWeb, I say a big thank you.
     
    North Marsh Road will carry on, just not as fast as I would like. Plus my model railway space might end up becoming the baby's room
     
    Anyway guys, I will continue to watch you all romp to the finish line and I looking forward to seeing all the completed layouts.
     
    Paul
  8. Jaggzuk
    Well long time since last post, but hands are pretty full having two boys; 4 year and a 18 month. But we now have a basic 8x4 layout slowly growing in the attic conversion, so at least I get to play trains more now;-)
     
    So I have had a go with the pipe insulation method again and crated some more wagon loads; lumpy (real) coal, ballast and gravel. Just like the MGR ones is did sometime back. Very happy with the result and they are so easy to pick out of a wagon and very robust in kids hands too! Plus they are very light as well so no issue with weight.
     


    Lumpy coal in POW 
     


    Ballast load 
     


    The actual loads on varying thickens of pipe insulation 
     
    Next load will be scrap metal as I have just bought a couple of Bachmann POA wagons.
  9. Jaggzuk
    As I intend to carry on with North Marsh Road outside of the 2010 Competition, I though I had better get my blog up-to-date. So there we go my blog is now fully updated with all my posts from the 2010 forum area.
     
    If you have been following NMR then there is nothing new in any of the posts, but if you have not seen my layout before, then please start with post 1 and work your way backwards so to speak. Please do leave any comments as I would love to hear what people think of the layout and my ideas etc.
     
    As I mentioned in my last post we have a baby due at the beginning of December, so I am not sure how or when I will make any new progress on NMR. Plus, today my builder started digging some big holes out the back of our house for our kitchen extension!!, Oh yeh right that's a good idea, why not rip out the kitchen six weeks from our due date Mmm well it's supposed to be a 4 week build, so let’s hope baby is not early!!
     
    Anyway, as and when I do any modeling I will post details….
     
    Paul
  10. Jaggzuk
    After much procrastination and umming and ahhing I have decided to take a late plunge and enter the RMWeb 2010 challenge. Not sure how far I will actually get, but the challenge has really inspired me to get on do at least something. However, my modelling efforts will have to be shared with a rather long running and fairly extensive house renovation project.
     
    But for now here are the basic layout stats I am thinking of:
     


    Layout Name - North Marsh Road
     
    What Type - OO 4mm/ft - DCC
     
    Where is it - Eastern Region
     
    When - 1975 to 1995
     
    Form - Scenic section - 45''x12'' - Full layout including fiddle yard and continuous loop - approx 10' x 6'
     
    Why - The 2010 Challenge and for some fun
     

     
     
    Introduction
     
    North Marsh Road will be a fictitious station based somewhere in the Eastern Region and possibly on the section line running from Kings Lynn to Ely in Norfolk, the London & North Eastern line.
     
    The track layout, scenic elements and typical railway operation will be based upon a mixture of the stations and surrounding areas at Wymondham, Littleport, and South Lynn (disused).
     
    I have purposefully chosen to create a fictitious layout as I like to idea of 'creating' a plausible layout at a justifiable location with prototypical operations. This, I feel, adds to the challenge of creating a layout that looks believable and would require a bit more research. It also frees me up from having to find an exact location that fits the baseboard size/room space or having to heavily modify an existing track layout to fit.
     
    What I have not yet decided is whether to locate the layout on an existing line such as the Kings Lynn line or to create a completely fictitious place. There are two schools of thought on this; one is to add a station as a 'what might have been' scenario, or make it fictional but to take on the look and feel of the line, local architecture, railway operation and regional railway style. I guess time will tell.
     
    Inspiration
     
    Having grown up close to Kings Lynn and spending my formative railway enthusiast years traveling out to such places as Ely, Cambridge and Peterborough, I now have fond memories of that region during the late 70s and 80s. The era that
    I grew up with at this time was BR Blue and then Sectorisation. It was a time of loco hauled passenger trains and freight services such as Speedlink and local trip workings.
     
    It was also still a time when many areas were ruled by semaphore signalling. From an atmosphere perspective everything looked run down; stations, track and infrastructure. Track rationalisation and modernisation had not yet really started either, so with many stations still retaining their old track layouts and disused sidings.
     
    Research
     
    Research, I think, is one of the fun parts about building a model railway. In fact I am sure many a layout idea gets researched but never built. I guess this is why I am entering the 2010 challenge, to actually move on from the armchair phase to the construction phase ;-)
     
    I have been in the armchair phase for many years now, playing with plans searching the web and reading books and magazines. During this time I have come across many fantastic archive photographs on the web and these brought memories of BR days flooding back.
     
    Some of the more specific web resources that I have found which have inspired this layout are as follows
     

    This is a video that really inspired me on the Wymondham track layout and fright operation for my layout idea - I think some of these photos really sum up what East Anglia felt like in the 70s and 80s = East Anglian Railway Archive and in particular Cambridge- Ely- Kings Lynn
     
    And of course I have found RMWeb a great resource and inspiration too
     
     
    Part Two - Further Idea Developments
     
    The Fictional History
     
    The station is located on a double track main line with a freight only branch line leading to local industrial facilities and a small port. At the station there 2 platforms, a good yard/loading facility, a good loop and some exchange sidings.
     
    The 1946 OS Map below shows the location of the station, the various freight lines, port and surrounding area.
     

     
     
    After the end of the World War II and then with the privatisation of road haulage in 1954, the volume of goods being handled by the port steadily declined. As a result and as part of the Beaching cuts in the mid 60s, the railway dock capacity was cut back with the double track branch line becoming a single track. This actually lead to an increase in shunting movements at the station as more freight was now trip worked from the port and local industries to the exchange sidings. Here they were marshalled into longer trains ready to be moved to other parts of the country. The reverse operation took place for goods arriving and empty stock for incoming goods.
     
    The track layout and sidings at the station were built to enable freight from the docks to be exchanged and marshalled. There were also facilities to allow locomotives to swap ends. These simple sidings also offer storage and shunting capacity for the small loading facility adjacent to the station. The original track layout at the station is still pretty much in tacked today.
     
    This loading facility with hard standing allowed for the handling of such products as cement, arable goods and other van load items.
     
    The track layout will be based on Wymondham Station in Norfolk on the Norwich to Ely line at the junction to Dereham. The current station track layout is show below.
     

     
    Rolling Stock
     
    The period to be modelled will be set between 1975 and 1995 and so the livery era will cover both BR Blue and the introduction of Railfreight Sector liveries. Passenger traffic will be formed by both loco hauled and DMU stock and goods traffic being formed from short wheeled based wagons including such formations as Speedlink short trip workings.
     
    The key traffic types are summarised as follows:
     
    Goods Movements

    Branch Line - Docks - Grain, coal, timber, steel and petroleum Branch Line - Local Industries - Food products (Campbell Soups), sugar, building materials and timber Station Goods Yard - Cement and agriculture Main Line - Anything within reason Typical loco types - 08, 25, 31, 37 and 47
    Passenger Movements

    Branch Line - None Stopping at Station - Local stopping only - DMU (101, 108, 105) and short loco hauled (31 and 37s) Main Line - Loco hauled - 31, 37 & 47 with MK1, Mk2 coaching
     
    The rolling stock will mostly be RTR with some kit built wagons. I hope, over time, that all rolling stock will be weathered as I think it looks so much better. I have not yet fully decided on the coupling system to be used on North Marsh Road but it will be either 3 link or an auto coupler like Dingham - See here.
     
    As already mentioned the layout will be DCC, initially just for control purposes. But, ultimately, I would like to go the whole hog with DCC and taken advantage of sound and rolling stock internal lighting, but the cost is just too high for sound at the moment. I would like to install sound to a Class 37 and a DMU, as these do sound good so who knows.
     
    Summary of Key 'Wish List' Elements
     
    Scenic

    A set Period Semaphore signalling Run down feel Realistic Illumination - buildings, signals, etc
    Operation

    Must be fun to operate To provide a sense of the bigger world outside of the scenic layout itself. Train movements to be based on typical prototype operation Continuous running (to allow for watching train go by) and shunting DCC Prime function - Single operator, Secondary function - two person
    Construction

    Must be quick to build and also achievable in a short time period Test bed of modelling techniques, materials and experience Flexible - the layout design to allow future expansion
     
     
    Part Three - 2010 Challenge - How to fit all this in.
     
    "That's a lot to fit in 2010sq inches", I here you say Well here's the twist what I will try to build will be a very small part the Wymondham track plan yet give the impression, operationally and scenically, that it is part of the bigger layout.
     
    Time is short, so I needed to come up with a layout design that I could build relatively quickly without too much cost outlay. I needed to come up with an angle that would achieve all this but still be part of the 2010 challenge.
     
    After a little bit of sketching and some calculations in Excel, I came up with the following idea - how about modelling 2010 sq meters of real life but in 4mm / ft. This equates to 536.6sq inches of baseboard area and so a 45' x 12' baseboard (1.154m x 0.300m) would work quite well. As this would be the scenic board I would use the rest of the 2010 area to create a non scenic continuous loop layout and fiddle yard.
     
    What this means is that the small scenic board will be a small window of what is a much bigger layout 'off scene'. The trick will be choosing the right bit of a track plan to put in the Scenic window.
     
    Taking the original Wymondham track plan and turning this in to North Marsh Road and then selecting the 'scenic window' area I have come up with this.

     
     
    So the basic track plan I have come up with looks like this.
     

     
     
    This is the early idea for the 45' x 12' scenic 'window' section.
     

    (This was drawn in TRAX2 and then modified in SmartDraw to add the scenic elements)
     
     
    And the over all baseboard dimensions are shown below, this all adds up to just under 2010 sq inches.
     

     
    The green is the scenic base board, the yellow are the non scenic radius boards and the blue will be the fiddle yard, which will in the long term be a vertical traverse (thanks to Fen End Pit for the idea of a Vertical Traverser).
     
     
    The next stage will be finalising the track design so that I can move on with the final baseboard design. Not sure at the moment whether to make the baseboards to buy them. To get me going quickly I could get the 45"x12" scenic board from a local company, White Rose Model Works, but not sure at the moment.
     
     
    So there we are, a rather long introduction to my planned layout, but I hope an enjoyable read.
     
    I look forward to sharing updates and photos of the various stages of the build and I welcome any comments / feedback.
     
    Paul
  11. Jaggzuk
    As mentioned in may last post a some major work and home projects have been completed which meant that a much needed holiday was due. This was supposed to be spent up in Scotland, but a two week forecast of rain and gales put paid to that. So we ventured South West to Cornwall instead and found much better hot sunny weather.
     
    As I also said in the last post not much has happened on NMR, so I managed to sneak some wagon kits into the campervan to make while on holiday; well I think building a kit is a bit like a reading a book on holiday - nice and relaxing.
     
    So after nice long evenings spent watching the sun set into the sea I came back with the following competed kits (excluding painting):
     


     
    LNER 12 Ton Low Sided 'Lowfit' Wagon - Parkside
    BR Vanwide VEA Air brakes Wagon - Parkside
    LMS/BR 16 Ton Steel Mineral Wagon - Cambrian
    Class B Tank Wagon BP Wagon - Dapol
    20 Ton Cement Wagon - Dapol
    BR FM and BR BD Containers - Parkside

     
    These all came out of my stock pile, a draw full of wagon kits from all the different manufactures just to try them all out to see which one is the best, easy to build etc.
     
    I would say that Parkside and Cambrian were all round very good; no flash, easy instructions and went together well. Both came with steel wheels and brass bearings.
     
    The Dapol was not so good, although there were good instruction and there was a high level of detail on the Cement wagon when compared to the recent Bachmann RTR, but the level of flash, bowed and brittle parts meant that a lot of trimming a had to be done and lots of the finer parts kept snapping. Both kits came with only plastic wheels with steel axles, no brass bearings. (Note - these kits were about 4-5 years old)
     
    So, RTR verses kit build? Well obviously RTR quality is now 1st class. A kit brings much enjoyment and relaxation in the building. So as I like building wagons but I am also prepared to buy RTR, I think from now on I will focus my kit building on those wagons not in current RTR production, like the VEA.
     
    Here are some picture of the wagons built.
     

    Bachmann Presflo vs Dapol Cement - Side View
     
     

    Bachmann Presflo vs Dapol Cement - End View
     
     

    LNER Lowfit and BR Vanwide VEA
     
     

    Class B Tank and LMS/BR 16 Ton Steel Mineral
     

    BR FM and BR BD containers.
     
    I intend to use the two containers along with the Ratio Provender Store kit (the next build) to create an sort of railway engineering/PWay/S&T compound which will be just behind the signal box. These will be made to look run down and very aged, I hope.
     
    On with the baseboard and track build next...
  12. Jaggzuk
    My word how time flies and unfortunately modelling progress has not been made during this time.
     
    I have spent a large part of my recent spare time working on home restoration work and my job has also taken up a lot more than just my basic hours, so with these two things added up, railway modelling has taken a very big back seat.
     
    However, the repair work, plastering, woodwork, painting, wallpapering is now complete, the carpets are laid, the furniture back in place and one bedroom and new en-suite later I can say it is finished, well almost At work too there has been a substantial milestone passed with the submission of a major bridge inspection report I have been working on for several months now.
     

    Yep that's me counting rivets in 12 inch to the foot scale!
     
    So with both of these time sponges out of the way I finally find myself leavening work on time and getting home with more time in the evenings. I also treated myself to a bit of a celebratory purchase from my local model shop which has re-invigorated me back into 2010.
     
    So what did I buy, well 3 things actually; a Bachmann Class 47, 47148 in BR Blue (32-803), a Ratio Provender Store kit and some grey ballast. I was well pleased with the Class 47 purchase as it was being sold at a very good bargain price so I could not resist getting it. But it is an early version of the 47 with numeric head codes and 3 radiator grilles, but a bargain is a bargain.
     
    As 47148 was one of the 3 radiator grille versions I tried to do a bit of research into its history but could not find much on it and the only photos I found were all of it post conversion to the Serck radiator grille type. The best shot being 47148 at Llandudno Junction
     
    If anyone could help out with some history dates as to when it ran in this version I would be most grateful.
  13. Jaggzuk
    Well I have finally plucked up the courage and have made two out of the three turnouts. I say courage as these were C&L B6 tunrout kits and I have never scratch built any track before, so I did feel a little trepidation before I started.
     
    The first one was a real challenge and there are a few minor glitches with gauge I think but it was a good learning experience. The second was much better and I found quicker ways of doing things like threading chairs on to rails before cutting them off the frets.
     
    I think I can say that although they have taken a long time to build, about 3hrs for the second one, I have really enjoyed the build process and as they look so much better than RTR ones I am now a convert - mind you I think I will stick to using C&Ls flexi track for my plain line - too many chairs to thread!! .
     
    One thing I did do before I tackled this part of the project was to read, and read. I found the books by Iain Rice very helpful, both "An approach to building Finescale Track in 4mm" and "A Pragmatic guild to building, wiring and laying PCB Track". I also found the various topics on RMWeb on the subject of track of great support.
     
    Anyway, here are a couple of shots of the turnouts - I have yet to solder on droppers and weather.
     
    The bottom one is my first attempt and the top is the second. The second will form the turnout to the sidings.

  14. Jaggzuk
    One of the wagons I remember see round Kings Lynn during my childhood was the red curtain sided Campbell soups pallet wagon.
     
    As these do not exist as RTR and so as a bit of a sideline I am looking into a wagon scratch building project, to this end I have just bought 8 blank wagon body shells.
     
    I have created a new topic in the Kit building & Scratchbuilding modelling Zone to record the build progress, it can be found here - Campbell Soups wagon - A scratch build project.
     
    In the meantime here is a mock up of what it might look like, minus the underframe.

  15. Jaggzuk
    Having now got North Marsh Road under way I though I would post where the fictitious map came from. I used a copy of the 1946 OS map of Kings Lynn and after quite a bit of 'photoshopping', well Paint.neting I came up with the map for North Marsh Road.
     
    Here are the two maps - First the original Kings Lynn one (flipped) and then the edited North Marsh Road.
     

     
    I have to say I quite enjoyed trying to create a map that firstly matched the track layout of Wymondham and then one that was plausible with road, bridges etc.
  16. Jaggzuk
    I've decided to beef up the scenic baseboard construction as I was not very happy with the flexibility of the 3mm MDF one. So I bought a 1200x600 sheet of 9mm exterior ply. This provided enough wood for 2 long sides, 2 ends and 2 stretchers bracings. Each 'girder' still measures 100m deep was built following the same method detailed for the MDF girder.
     
    The build time was about 3 hours, which was a bit slow but it was after a full day of DIY on the house The result though is far better than the MDF one and I am really pleased with it; much stronger, more twist resistant but still very light.
     
    Here are some photos of the built.
     

    General view.
     

    Close up of corner joint which was built the same way as explained by John Chivers and I think look very neat.
     

    View showing how the stretcher girders can support track bed risers which I still intend to use.
     
     
    Having now made the baseboard I could not resist in creating a bit of a mock with some cardboard, track and some building outlines. The following photos give some idea of how it might all look.
     

     

     

     

     
     
    Overall I am quite pleased with it how it looks.
  17. Jaggzuk

    Baseboard Construction

    By Jaggzuk,

    Well I have made a start on some baseboard construction trials. As the scenic board will require an underbridge, I need to be able to create some vertical depth to the scenery. I could achieve this either by having a raised track bed or by splitting the baseboard level.
     
     

     
    My initial thoughts are towards using the open framed baseboard with a raised track bed method. I feel this allows for a more natural landscape to be created which the track runs through rather than on.
     
    I have no intention to make this an exhibition layout, but it still needs to be lightweight and portable. It will be built in a converted attic and this space is used for other activities so the layout will not be permanently erected.
     
    I have seen various type of baseboard on the exhibition scene and have always liked the composite girder/cellular type – two thin outer sheets of ply/MDF with internal blocks of wood. I found a useful "How to guide" on the web by John Chivers of Barry and Penarth Model Railway Club showing this form of construction Building Lightweight Baseboards
     
    However, I decided to try out smaller sections and so my trial is made from two 100mm wide strips of 3mm MDF sandwiching 45mm x 12mm blocks at approximately 275mm centres. The joint are glued and screwed.
     
    My first trial was 2" long and appeared to be OK, but being in a rush I wanted the glue to dry quickly and so I put in front of the log burner. Upon retuning an hour later my nice straight side was now curved like a banana!! So lesson 1 do not dry in front of direct heat.
     
    My next effort was a 45" long side. This appears to be OK and very strong in the vertical plane, but it is possible to deflect horizontally with the MDF bending between each block. In guess the 3mm is a bit too thin. But with further cross bracing it should be OK.
     
    My next test will be a radius board. I hope that the MDF will be more suited to this type of board, but time will tell
     
    Anyway here are some photographs of the base board trials.
     

    First trial - before I dried it into a banana
     
     

    Close up of the corner joint
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