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Upper Baseboard - Framework

 

As I mentioned in the previous posting, the Upper Level baseboards have taken me days to design, draw up, correct, tweak, and generally fiddle with until they meet my requirements of being sufficiently clear of the Ramp tracks, and be capable of being slid out:heat:. All the 'work' has been on the framework to support the baseboards. I haven't yet drawn in any mid-board stiffeners, but these can be adjusted to suit later (including avoiding point motors):unknw_mini:.

 

In the 3D renderings below each element of the baseboard is colour coded as follows:

  • BROWN - Baseboard
  • ORANGE - Frame
  • DARK GREEN - Baseboard vertical 'step' (where there is a dropped area)
  • CYAN - Runners to permit sliding out of the baseboard
  • PURPLE - Perimeter timbering & support

Here's a view looking down from opposite the window. I hope you can see the downward gradient, starting top-right, in a clockwise direction:

911162214_modelrailwayPlan43-finalisingupperbaseboards13.jpg.e88bbcce1ea72b2b3dd3716263d0b9c9.jpg

And here's what it looks like looking up at the underside from opposite the window:

1005988562_modelrailwayPlan43-finalisingupperbaseboards12.jpg.4eed1e8c52ad155a780bd0c8a00525b5.jpg

There were a few places where the Runners and/or the Framework was so low that it caused interference with the Ramp tracks below :mad_mini:. At those locations the Runner is cut into 2 separate sections, and BLUE triangles added to support the resulting cantilever:biggrin_mini2:. The Runners only take any weight when the baseboard is being inserted or removed, so it shouldn't cause a problem - famous last words ...

Where it is necessary to have gaps in the Framework, these will be stiffened by adding aluminium 'L' angles.

 

It's been something of a mission this Upper Baseboard, but I think I've now cracked the major hurdles :dance_mini:.

 

To anyone out there building baseboards, I can recommend drawing it up in a CAD program (or similar) before you commit to cutting and assembly. It helps with dimensions and avoids costly mistakes (or mistakes that take ages to fix!) when actually building.

 

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Upper Baseboard - Framework

 

Lest there be any doubt (another good Contract Document term - usually where the text lacks all clarity!) regarding the usefulness of drawing the layout in 3D, here are two examples showing the problems I was encountering and how being able to adjust the drawing in 3D eventually provided a solution, after much head scratching and hammering on the keyboard:banghead:.

 

First, under the baseboards at the Window end. Here is a view looking to the Door side (Window on the left) with Connection 1 (down Ramp) on the left with Connection 2 (up Ramp) on the right.

You can clearly:sarcastichand: see how/where the 'gaps' in the Upper Level baseboard supports provide enough clearance to the Connection 2 Ramp tracks:

1009208998_modelrailwayPlan44-LLxover1.jpg.00de3a779fc38aaa91e0df532d235140.jpg

 

Secondly, under the baseboards opposite the Door (Window in the Distance) with Connection 1 (down Ramp) on the left with Connection 2 (up Ramp) on the right.

As in the previous example you can clearly:declare: see how/where the 'gaps' in the Upper Level baseboard supports provide enough clearance to the Connection 1 Ramp tracks. Please ignore the American locomotive in the distance:stop: - the software doesn't include any UK rolling stock:sorry::

1446855470_modelrailwayPlan44-LLxover2.jpg.924a999f8d56d38f4c989b6ab050f4c2.jpg

 

The software also enables the creation of videos:good:, for example a drivers eye view as you move around the layout, but I haven't worked out how to import them into RMWeb:wild: due to the rather enormous filesizes involved. If anyone can help in this regard it would be appreciated:help:.

 

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Upper Baseboard - Rendering

 

Now that the Upper Level baseboards are in a 'reasonable' state:danced:, it's possible to have a better look at what the Upper Level should look like once completed.

Below are two renderings from the CAD software, showing the Upper Level.

 

The first one is looking from Opposite the Window (Door on the right). The station is off to the bottom left, with the road level elevated. The blue 'wall' is a scenic break hiding the Ramp Tracks coming up from the Lower Level. The Fueling Point is bottom-right.

55495764_modelrailwayPlan44-LLxover1.jpg.79f0bd62e19c3b014626674b915f9169.jpg

 

The second one is looking from the Window (Door on the left). The Brewery Buildings are in orange, and the Brewery Lines passing under the mainlines can be seen in the lower-right. In the top-left are the two Leicester Lines branching off from the Mainlines. In front of the blue 'wall' (scenic break) the Leicester Lines & Mainlines pass under the station at the top-right from where they go down the Ramp to the Lower Level.

811569765_modelrailwayPlan44-LLxover2.jpg.9f0be8f6a867a075b47d2503b1c84fdf.jpg

 

Hopefully this all makes sense. I'm sure that if I described it in text, no one would understand a thing!:rtfm:

 

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On 04/05/2020 at 18:39, ISW said:

*snip*

The software also enables the creation of videos:good:, for example a drivers eye view as you move around the layout, but I haven't worked out how to import them into RMWeb:wild: due to the rather enormous filesizes involved. If anyone can help in this regard it would be appreciated:help:.

 

 

Found it ...

There's an article in RMWeb about posting videos at:

 

 

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On 03/05/2020 at 16:55, ISW said:

Upper Baseboard - Track Layout

 

... with my layout design such that I was having all kinds of trouble designing the Upper Level baseboards such that they would support the Upper Level trackwork and be clear of the Ramp Tracks underneath.

 

Now this may not look like much progress, but it's like an iceberg. 90% of the work is underneath the Upper Level baseboards! I'll explain later.

 

 

For reference your first point above is why i kept my scenic section to one side of the garage only to avoid the low hanging clearances from an all round the room upper level.

 

Totally agree on the matter that 90% if not more of the work is underneath the top baseboards - plus when the top baseboards go down you still have to go underneath to wire up and add everything else that needs to be out of view. 

 

Keep taking your time in the planning out stage as it will come to fruition eventually - like mine now it has been 2 years after starting from the garage floor upwards.

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On 04/05/2020 at 18:39, ISW said:

Upper Baseboard - Framework

 

You can clearly:sarcastichand: see how/where the 'gaps' in the Upper Level baseboard supports provide enough clearance to the Connection 2 Ramp tracks:

1009208998_modelrailwayPlan44-LLxover1.jpg.00de3a779fc38aaa91e0df532d235140.jpg

 

 

 

Reading through the rest of the topic i assume you are not running electric trains?

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11 hours ago, TrentValleyRailway said:

 

Reading through the rest of the topic i assume you are not running electric trains?

Matt,

 

I presume by 'electric trains' you mean those with overhead line equipment (OHLE). Burton-on-Trent has never been on any Network Rail (or BR!) plans for electrification and remains diesel only to this day (and probably for the foreseeable  future as well). 

I'm modelling the mid-1970s when BR blue diesels ruled the rails, but that doesn't stop me running a few in BR green ... The newest diesel I'll run will be a class 56. Even the class 58 is too late for the era.

 

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11 hours ago, TrentValleyRailway said:

 

For reference your first point above is why i kept my scenic section to one side of the garage only to avoid the low hanging clearances from an all round the room upper level.

 

Totally agree on the matter that 90% if not more of the work is underneath the top baseboards - plus when the top baseboards go down you still have to go underneath to wire up and add everything else that needs to be out of view. 

 

Keep taking your time in the planning out stage as it will come to fruition eventually - like mine now it has been 2 years after starting from the garage floor upwards.

Matt,

 

It still might be worth looking at making the 'inner' one of your ramps, at the upper level, part of scenic section in the future. Assuming it's not 'too' steep.

 

With so little clearance under my Upper Level baseboards, there is no chance of me doing insitu installation of the wiring (not without a chiropractor, lots of yoga, and much longer arms:sarcastichand:) . That's why I've designed the Upper Level baseboards to be removable (as are the Lower Level baseboards & ramps). Yes, it does introduce a lot of 'joints' into the layout, but at least I have the comfort of knowing I can remove a baseboard for installation of the wiring, servos for turnouts, and also any future upgrades, modifications, and troubleshooting.

 

Planning:read: is about all I've done in 2020, and I'm currently preparing the Upper Level baseboards & support structure in SketchUp. Hopefully, that'll be finished in a few weeks. Then it's a case of finding somewhere to buy the timber, with all the Covid-19 restrictions in place.

The original design started in the winter of 2017 into spring 2018. I started building in the summer of 2018 with the overall baseboard support structure for all levels. The Lower Level Baseboards were done in the Autumn. Winter 2018 was track laying. Summer of 2019 was building the ramps and track laying.

 

The main thing to remember is that this is a hobby to be enjoyed:good:.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Upper Baseboards - Detailing

 

As noted in previous postings, it took a lot of work, but I finally managed to get the Upper Baseboards drawn up in the track layout software 3rdPlanIt:heat:. It's not really the best software for drawing baseboards:banghead:, but it did help me to come up with a design that gave the required clearances to the underlying Ramp Tracks.

 

In order to 'properly' design the Upper Baseboards I decided to try my hand at SketchUp, not having ever used it before:read:. I watched a YouTube video on the "Woodworking for Mere Mortals" channel that was really helpful and gave me the basic knowledge I needed to start using SketchUp.

 

I was, to a certain extent, simply duplicating the design I already had in 3rdPlanIt:unknw_mini:, but this time I was able to properly dimension each timber element, and design the joinery (and I use the word joinery loosely, as it's all butt joints and screws:rtfm:) such that it would be possible to actually build it.

 

Here is a view of the Upper Baseboards in SketchUp:

613263704_2-Baseboards.jpg.36e2570ad103c595fdd6b87391e36f8c.jpg

 

And here is the same view with the baseboards 'turned off' showing the framing:

78463739_1-Frame.jpg.5efbd480ba5daa4c7bb6d539492a5f2e.jpg

 

The colours in the above view are to differentiate:

  • Grey - Vertical supports
  • Purple - Edge perimeter frame
  • Orange - Timber framing (44x18mm)
  • Yellow - 12mm plywood framing
  • Cyan - Sliding supports

The following view shows the Upper Baseboards from a lower angle:

1042049108_4-underside.jpg.2f3824ff4a4fbcd895e31f89452bebea.jpg

 

One of the main advantages of doing the drawing this way is that I can isolate separate baseboards, producing views that I can actually use to build the baseboards:good:. Here is one of Baseboard G:

312912140_5-justG.jpg.ed7a1bbb0c747d81e54c8df277115c63.jpg

 

Now at present, the Baseboards are designed with 'upper' and 'lower' levels (as above) to accommodate the planned Upper Baseboard track levels. However, these are simply basic rectangles at present and really need to be fine tuned (aka 'tweaked') to suit the track alignment.

 

To that end, I managed to find a way to get the track layout from 3rdPlanIt into SketchUp:mail:. The track layout was exported from 3rdPlanIt as Bitmap views. These were then cropped in ACDsee to the size of the individual baseboards A through J, still as Bitmaps. These Bitmaps were then imported into Xara Designer Pro and exported as PNG files, but with the background set as transparent. Each of these PNG files were then used as 'textures' in SketchUp. If you understood that lot I'm well impressed!

 

However, the result was:

683688442_3-TrackMap.jpg.787d67a55cb0ce3141586f38ce1e6bdf.jpg

 

This will make it much easier to 'tweak' the Upper Baseboards to match the track alignment in areas like in the view below:

301213265_6-tweaking.jpg.dc7af520342bfdd71ccedc7de1d337ef.jpg 

Still plenty more to finalise, and more to learn about SketchUp to do the changes, but I'm hopeful that actual timberwork can commence in June.

 

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Upper Baseboards - Cutting Plan

 

With the design of the Upper Baseboards nearing finalisation:paint: , it was time to consider ordering the necessary plywood. But how many sheets to buy?:help:

 

So, it was back to the software:read: to see the 'best' way to fit the various baseboard plywood elements into standard 2440x1220mm sheets.

 

And here is the result, 4 sheets it just about enough; assuming I don't make any cutting mistakes or change the design too much:

 

361639401_UpperBaseboards-Cutting.jpg.83cc7877f3ae4045b6d1dc1a9308cf7a.jpg

 

I don't know how others do this, but I find this method to be reasonably quick and accurate.

 

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10 hours ago, DonB said:

Do your ply-cutting plans take account of the thickness of your saw blade and it's teeth, particularly the ply sheet top right above? (Ask me why I pose the question !! )

 

5 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Doing the sums, probably (just), but no room to trim the edges.

Paul.

(Kerf gets everywhere!)

 

Gents,

 

I agree on both counts:good:. Been-there-done-that scenario.  I did make sure there was enough left-over at the edges of the plywood sheets to allow for the cutting loss. In general, this seems to be about 2mm per cut. I know that because the offset I have to use on the circular saw for a 'guide bar' is 34mm if I have the circular saw on the piece I need or 36mm if the piece I need is not under the circular saw. I hope that makes sense.

 

However, you are quite right that the top-right sheet t a 'tad' close. I have just over 20mm to spare, but that's only got to accommodate 2 cuts. It'll be alright gov, fingers crossed:mail:.

 

My baseboard design also requires some 12mm plywood where the 44x18mm PSE timber is not tall enough. I've done the same check with the 4 offcuts I have from the Lower Baseboards, and there should be enough, I hope.

 

In either case, if I get a bit short, I'll simply have to click-and-collect:telephone: an extra sheet, although that'll have to be a much smaller sheet as I only have a small car:senile:. I can get 2400mm length to fit (that just touches the dashboard) but I'm width limited.

 

Under normal, non-Covid-19, conditions I would be getting the major cutting done by the supplier, but this time I'll be getting a home delivery (at least it's free:danced:) of complete sheets. Thankfully I have a stash of polystyrene sheets, from furniture packing, that I can put on the garage floor. Then I can put the plywood sheets on the polystyrene, set the cutting depth on the circular saw to ~10mm, and safely:rtfm: make the cuts with the blade just going into the polystyrene. I don't fancy balancing the plywood on trestles while I make the cuts. That's just too stressful:angry:. I'll be clamping a straight piece of wood to the plywood to act as my guide to get the cut in the right place.

 

The timber has been ordered, but won't be delivered until 11th June:sad_mini: so I have time to make final design tweaks / adjustments in the meantime.

 

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12 hours ago, young37215 said:

If the precision of the finished layout is anything like that used in planning for the framework and baseboards, it will be very special.

Rob,

 

Thank you for the kind words. The design may look complicated:read:, but it is only flat sheets and straight timber cut and screwed together. I don't plan any gluing (and haven't used any on the Lower Baseboards or the Ramps) as that does give me the opportunity to fix / adjust any errors I make:laugh:.

 

Below is the revised Baseboard B :paint:with 4 distinct levels. Left-to-right are the MPD (level), the 4 mainlines (sloping down towards the camera), the 2 Leicester Lines (level), and the 2 Ramp tracks (part level and part inclined). Again it's just flat timber screwed together. The SketchUp software does give me all the necessary dimensions:rtfm:, so it should be a simple case of cutting wood to the correct dimensions and maintaining 90-degree corners.

454855996_ModelRailway-UpperBaseboardsV10-SlopingBaseboards.jpg.cbadf248857f51c582685bc305aeb64d.jpg

 

The baseboard construction will be quite difficult, but I'm not too concerned about that aspect of the model railway. The part that does worry:fie: me is the scenery to be added afterwards. I've absolutely no experience of that element of the build. You, on the other hand, are a dab-hand at the scenery and making it look lifelike. If I can get to even 80% of your skills I'll be happy.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Upper Level Baseboards - Final Tweaks

 

The timber for the Upper Level baseboards is due to be delivered tomorrow:danced:, so it will soon be time to actually start some woodwork.

 

In the meantime, I've made a few tweaks to the baseboard design:paint:, all of which are related to getting the baseboard surface closer to the planned track levels and, especially, the planned gradients. Working in 3-dimensions is turning out to be harder than I imagined:banghead:but at least I'm getting there. I don't mind make some minor adjustments to the baseboard surface after construction, but if I can get it close as possible then that would be good:read:.

 

Here is the new baseboard design in SketchUp. Baseboards are numbered A to J clockwise starting top-left, so you can see the multi-level nature of A, B, E, F, G, H, I & J. You should also be able to make out the downward gradient of the Mainlines C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-A-B and the upward gradient of the Ramp Tracks on I-J-A-B.

1279294614_ModelRailway-UpperBaseboardsV14-BaseboardH.jpg.983f35e23940ecfaea1f176b2708e7f7.jpg

 

Re-designing the baseboards to accommodate the Ramp Tracks and the Leicester Line tracks on Baseboards I, J, A, & B added a bit to the real estate requirements for the 9mm plywood:rtfm:. The new cutting plan is as below and, yes, the lower-right one is a little short in the horizontal direction:angry:. No matter, Baseboard C is in a corner will be partially hidden under the station forecourt. I'll therefore have Baseboard C about 4mm shy of its planned width, which isn't a problem:boast:.

1385492273_cuttingplanv3-1.png.df422ecb8b2b3de6a125fd1069c99402.png

 

The increased amount of multi-level baseboards has also resulted in an increase in the requirement for 12mm plywood to act as bracing between the levels:cry:. Although most are quite small bits, there are some substantial pieces, so I did a check:paint: to see if the 3 offcuts I had from the Lower Level baseboards (those were done with 12mm tops) would be adequate. Yep, there is just about enough, as you can see in the cutting plan below. That saved me some pennies.

808785904_cuttingplanv3-2.png.9753f4c120a6a07bb562c88f70df2a97.png

 

I've also put away all my rolling stock to keep the Lower Level baseboards clear whilst construction is proceeding. I'll probably have to climb 'on' the Lower Level baseboards to do some of the work, so my slight over-engineering of the support framework will be useful in that respect.

 

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Upper Level Baseboards - Construction Commences

 

Yay, the timber was delivered on the due date much to my surprise:danced:. Up to the day before I was anticipating a delay ... ;)

 

So it's into the garage I go to commence woodworking of the Upper Level baseboards. The first job was to cut the baseboards tops from the 4 plywood sheets that were delivered following my cutting plans; well, mostly:angry:. Many of them were simple rectangles, but others required a bit more measuring before cutting, as shown below:

20200615_101447_resize.jpg.37c5671984ac856c8c968ed30d7c8249.jpg

 

20200615_101438_resize.jpg.86102b342480a407e80e89737cb19355.jpg

 

To make sure that the planned tracks actually fit on each of the baseboards:mail:, I printed out the Upper Level layout plan at 1:1 scale (~170 sheets of A4) and am proceeding to stick them together. Here is Baseboard D:

20200615_173930_resize.jpg.72298e7995a965690ddf6032e3bee216.jpg

 

It may seem a little 'wasteful' to print out the entire Upper Level layout:cry:, but these are invaluable for a several reasons. Firstly, I can make sure that any of the screws around the perimeter of the baseboard do not align with a rail. I plan to use the "brass screw & solder" method to align the tracks at the baseboard joins, and I don't want a screw to be in the way. Secondly, I can position the baseboard bracing to ensure it misses turnout motors and the like. Both of which are lessons I learnt from the Lower Level baseboards:banghead:. And, of course, I can use the print outs to position the tracks on the completed baseboards:read:.

 

Hopefully, my experience with the Lower Level baseboards will make these Upper Level ones a little easier and quicker to construct.

 

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Upper Level Baseboards - Construction Progress

 

It's been a week since the timber turned up from Wickes (I'd normally use B&Q but they were unbelievably out of stock of the common 44x18mm timber:unknw_mini:) and baseboard construction has been ongoing in the garage:banghead:. Out of the 10 baseboards (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, & J) 5 have been assembled, those being A, B, C, D, & E. I started with the simplest flat rectangular ones, C & D, before tackling B, then E, and finally A as that seemed to be the order of difficulty. I was wrong, B was much harder than E:sarcastichand:.

 

Baseboards A & B were hard because they do not have a 'level' underside. This makes alignment for assembly and installation of screws particularly difficult. It doesn't help that I don't have a nice large workbench to aid assembly either:wild:.

 

Baseboard A

Here is what Base Baseboard A looks like. There are a few differences between the design & the constructed. The actual baseboard has 4 separate levels corresponding to the Depot, Mainlines (4), Leicester Lines (2) and Ramp Tracks (2). In SketchUp I couldn't work out how to 'lower' the Mainlines, so that element is missing. And I didn't bother adding the bracing to the SketchUp drawing either:

 

SketchUp Drawing

1757171814_A-OppDoor.jpg.4595442a65ea053b8dfc6fc4205e2450.jpg

 

Real Life

20200619_180105_resize.jpg.4d6a4d212e3ed809c654b4c9a1d204b0.jpg

Underside

20200619_180142_resize.jpg.4c5ebc18969bbc95118e6ed610f01660.jpg

 

Baseboard B

Baseboard B was really rather wieldy during assembly. It was only after the whole thing was assembled did it have some kind of rigidity:heat:. Again, there are 4 levels for (left to right) the Depot, Mainlines, Leicester Lines, and the Ramp Tracks. I haven't yet added the raised portion for the Leicester Lines yet, but that's a relatively easy retrofit.

 

SketchUp Drawing

318949831_B-OppDoor.jpg.d811995aa6e305dfad5de55989d80bcb.jpg

 

Real Life

20200619_180240_resize.jpg.3ad2e3a848e6056f311517338ca86f20.jpg

 

Underside

20200619_180322_resize.jpg.a301a0097b8e8f3e0f2f6e83a6ae8c32.jpg

 

Yes, I did put the two baseboards A & B next to each other, just to make sure that they aligned and matched correctly. Thankfully they did:good:

 

I'm really glad I took the time to design and draw up the Baseboards. There is no way I'd be able to make these baseboards without the Drawing! :good:

 

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Upper Level Baseboards - Construction Progress

 

After yet another week of carpentry (and I use the word loosely:rtfm:) I have managed to assemble all 10 of the Upper Level baseboards. They are not 'complete' by any stretch of the imagination, but at least that's most of the work completed:good:. And I didn't run out of timber. Mind you, my stock of wood screws has taken a fair battering;).

 

Here a couple of photos of the completed baseboards. Because they will be supported on timbers at different levels, placing them on the garage floor doesn't show them being properly levelled.

 

Upper Level baseboards (top to bottom) A, J, I, & H. One of the Ramp Tracks is located on the lefthand side:

20200626_145658_resize.jpg.6f552283e37c188b0089e806d589beed.jpg

 

Upper Level baseboards (top to bottom) C, D, E, & F. The main station will be located on C-D-E. The lowered levels are for the Brewery Lines:

20200626_150106_resize.jpg.c69ea267b9fa502c4f7ee4d66bf7b6a9.jpg

 

What remains to be done is some secondary slope work (primary slope being incorporated into the baseboard top) for the Brewery Lines on Baseboards E/F, F/G and G/H/I. This entails cutting the baseboard top along 3-sides of a rectangle and 'bending' the plywood up or down to suit the gradient I'm after. That's a rather simplistic explanation as the trackwork is actually curved:read:. Keeping the plywood in its bent position necessitates adjusting the Baseboard Frame with either a shim or a slot.

 

Then I have to fit my 'usual' baseboard connection system comprising a tee-nut, an M8 bolt, an aluminium sleeve, and an oversized M8 washer. I just need to make sure these are positioned to enable assembly / disassembly without my spanner clashing with turnout servos:declare:.

 

Once all that is done I can make a start on the support framework over the Lower Level baseboards.

 

 

 

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Upper Level Baseboards - Construction Progress

 

Work continues on the Upper Level baseboards with all the M8 / sleeve / tee-nut connections now installed:danced:. Well, I say 'all' but me thinks that a few 'extra' ones might be necessary at some of the baseboard joints due to the multi-level nature of some baseboards:fie:.

 

In my last posting I said that the 'secondary' slopes needed to be installed, which they now are. Compare the following photos of Baseboard F with the last photo in my previous posting. You can now see how the Brewery Lines pass under the 4-track Mainline, ramping down to give enough clearance and back up again.

 

View of Baseboard F, with Baseboard G in the foreground:

20200701_151319_resize.jpg.d44f1d1fee80b01b972860d0309ee467.jpg

 

View of Baseboard F with Baseboard G in the background

20200701_151331_resize.jpg.4b22546cfea376e18d7e37012be95ef1.jpg

 

The other 'gap' under the Mainlines is for the Moor Street road to pass under the tracks. 

 

I've also made a start on the 2 baseboard 'connections' for the Ramp Tracks to join onto the Upper Level baseboards. These are a little 'heath robinson' in nature, using whatever plywood and timber I have spare from the Upper Baseboard constructions:paint:.

 

I'm hopeful that I can start installing the Upper Level baseboards onto the layout quite soon.

20200701_151306_resize.jpg.3e87ddfc9e1b129b0218d0b7dc1cd065.jpg

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12 hours ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

These boards are superb.

Thanks BlueMonkey. It has taken a lot of work, but I'm hopeful they will look the part once they've been painted battleship grey and installed on the layout.

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On 04/05/2020 at 18:39, ISW said:

Upper Baseboard - Framework

 

Lest there be any doubt (another good Contract Document term - usually where the text lacks all clarity!) regarding the usefulness of drawing the layout in 3D, here are two examples showing the problems I was encountering and how being able to adjust the drawing in 3D eventually provided a solution, after much head scratching and hammering on the keyboard:banghead:.

 

First, under the baseboards at the Window end. Here is a view looking to the Door side (Window on the left) with Connection 1 (down Ramp) on the left with Connection 2 (up Ramp) on the right.

You can clearly:sarcastichand: see how/where the 'gaps' in the Upper Level baseboard supports provide enough clearance to the Connection 2 Ramp tracks:

1009208998_modelrailwayPlan44-LLxover1.jpg.00de3a779fc38aaa91e0df532d235140.jpg

 

Secondly, under the baseboards opposite the Door (Window in the Distance) with Connection 1 (down Ramp) on the left with Connection 2 (up Ramp) on the right.

As in the previous example you can clearly:declare: see how/where the 'gaps' in the Upper Level baseboard supports provide enough clearance to the Connection 1 Ramp tracks. Please ignore the American locomotive in the distance:stop: - the software doesn't include any UK rolling stock:sorry::

1446855470_modelrailwayPlan44-LLxover2.jpg.924a999f8d56d38f4c989b6ab050f4c2.jpg

 

The software also enables the creation of videos:good:, for example a drivers eye view as you move around the layout, but I haven't worked out how to import them into RMWeb:wild: due to the rather enormous filesizes involved. If anyone can help in this regard it would be appreciated:help:.

 

 

Hi Ian,

Thought I'd reciprocate as it were :D.  This layout looks great, keep up the good work.  Complicated though, hope you haven't bitten off more than you can chew :o.

Regarding videos, I upload mine to YouTube and then place a link on RMWeb.  You could give that a try.  I've only semi recently been able to upload to YT following an upgrade of our home broadband to fibre, previous upload times on copper wire would have been hours not minutes.

Now following your build.

Regards,

Brian.

Brian.

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3 hours ago, Brian D said:

 

Hi Ian,

Thought I'd reciprocate as it were :D.  This layout looks great, keep up the good work.  Complicated though, hope you haven't bitten off more than you can chew :o.

Regarding videos, I upload mine to YouTube and then place a link on RMWeb.  You could give that a try.  I've only semi recently been able to upload to YT following an upgrade of our home broadband to fibre, previous upload times on copper wire would have been hours not minutes.

Now following your build.

Regards,

Brian.

Brian.

Brian,

 

Thanks for the compliments. Whether I've 'bitten off more than I can chew' will have to remain a matter of conjecture. 'Currently':music_mini:, it's generally going to plan with only minor challenges to overcome as the build progresses. My biggest fear has always been adequate vertical clearance between the baseboard levels. Having now installed a large percentage of the Upper Level baseboard support structure I can report only a single location where is was too tight. However, a quick bit of relief cutting to ~5mm depth has solved the problem.

 

At least I have plenty of time on my hands as I took early retirement ...

 

 

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Upper Level Baseboards - Support Framework Completed

 

I'm guessing it's getting a tad boring just seeing photos of baseboards under construction, for which I offer my apologies:sorry:. Sadly, it's an important step and one that has taken quite a while:heat:.

 

Thankfully, and as I intimated earlier, it's now time to install the support framework for the Upper Level baseboards:danced:. Here is what the design looked like all made out of 44x18mm timber and a lot of screws. The grey parts were already there, supporting the Lower Level baseboards, but the cyan and purple parts are new. It may 'look' simple, but the purple edging is not all at the same level, there are steps in it at most vertical supports:

676022825_7-UpperBaseboards-FrameworkComplete.jpg.14ec3aa2821a601811f2d5d185812ac1.jpg

 

And here is what it actually looks like, from roughly the same viewpoint, when installed on the layout over the existing Lower Level baseboards and Ramps:good::

1607868269_NewPanorama1a_resize.jpg.f2410b57aaddf58412f68474223d17bd.jpg

 

Fingers crossed, it should now only be a matter of sliding in each of the pre-assembled Upper Level baseboards onto the support structure and bolting them together:banghead:. I'm no illusion that it is unlikely to be that simple:sarcastichand:, but hopefully there will be only be necessary to make a few minor tweaks to get it all to fit. Just follow the design drawing ...:read:.

 

Edited by ISW
photos re-uploaded
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