Minories are made of this

[Harlequin]

I've fixed the pointwork down and I've been able to cut the rails over the baseboard joint so that the box can be folded up again. (I hadn't dared to move it since I glued the copper clad sleepers over the joint in the new year!)

 

Here's a brief catch-up:

 

I modified the turnouts and wired them using @Suzie's method.

 

Amazingly the sleeper spacing I had measured for the copper clad sleepers worked out pretty well:

 

The collected works of Charles Dickens holding the track down while the glue dries:

 

Rails soldered to copper clad sleepers (I'll tidy it up later) and cut using a diamond slitting disc:

 

And at last, I can release the catches and fold the boxes up again so that I can work on the electrics. That's the next stage.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Harlequin

[Mikkel]

9 hours ago, Harlequin said:

The collected works of Charles Dickens holding the track down

 

On 09/06/2020 at 15:16, Harlequin said:

Maybe with a horse-drawn omnibus on the road

 

Are these hints at the period I wonder? You don't seem to have mentioned that yet (unless I've missed it).

[Harlequin]

Living and working with the layout reveals some interesting things that I wonder whether CJF had considered...

 

It's a bit unwieldy to carry around - 3ft 6in is quite a spread for the arms, it's too wide to tuck under your arm comfortably and in both cases you end up with corners biting into you. It's also quite heavy and it's only going to get heavier when I add the scenics. The end frames that I made were not part of CJF's design but they do provide good hand holds and the hinge bar is particularly useful because it allows the whole unit to be carried upright.

 

With rubber feet on the underside and the outer ends, and latches to hold it tight, it can be set up and moved around in various formats. This has been very useful while I've been working on the electrics:

    

 

The upright position is really good for storage because it can stand in a corner where it's protected and doesn't get in the way. Maybe I'll put an aspidistra plant on top when it's not in use!

 

All track sections now have droppers which should be inconspicuous once everything is ballasted and weathered. I prefer to solder them after track laying so that I don't disturb the sleeper spacing. Here's a very cruel close-up:

 

I have wired up the turnouts initially so that the frogs are powered by the blades, just to be able to do a quick test run. I can easily change them later to be switched by the point motors when they are installed thanks to @Suzie's wiring technique and the use of Wago connectors.

    

 

The connectors tuck away neatly into "Wagoboxes" which are screwed to the underside of the baseboard.

 

I was hoping to be able to run a loco over the holiday weekend but I'm stymied by the lack of the special connector to plug into the back of my old Prodigy controller. And even when the part arrives from Rapid I won't be able to run anything into platform 3 for a while because I accidentally drilled through the tiebar of the last set of points! I was test-fitting one of the MTB point motors and trying to open up the hole when the drill bit caught and went straight through. Stupid! So I will have to cut that turnout out, clean up the PVA and do some careful fettling to put in a new one (which are as rare as hen's teeth at the moment) without disturbing the surrounding trackwork. Urgh!

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Harlequin

[St Enodoc]

2 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

Living and working with the layout reveals some interesting things that I wonder whether CJF had considered...

 

It's a bit unwieldy to carry around - 3ft 6in is quite a spread for the arms, it's too wide to tuck under your arm comfortably and in both cases you end up with corners biting into you. It's also quite heavy and it's only going to get heavier when I add the scenics. On the plus side the end frames that I made were not part of CJF's design but they do provide good hand holds and the hinge bar is particularly useful because it allows the whole unit to be carried upright.

 

With rubber feet on the underside and the outer ends and latches to hold it tight it can be set up and moved around in various formats. This has been very useful while I've been working the electrics:

    

 

The upright position is really good for storage because it can stand in a corner where it's protected and doesn't get in the way. Maybe I'll put an aspidistra plant on top when it's not in use!

 

All track sections now have droppers which should be inconspicuous once everything is ballasted and weathered. I prefer to solder them after track laying so that I don't disturb the sleeper spacing. Here's a very cruel close-up:

 

I have wired up the turnouts initially so that the frogs are powered by the blades, just to be able to do a quick test run. I can easily change them later to be switched by the point motors when they are installed thanks to @Suzie's wiring technique and the use of Wago connectors.

    

 

The connectors tuck away neatly into "Wagoboxes" which are screwed to the underside of the baseboard.

 

I was hoping to be able to run a loco over the holiday weekend but I'm stymied by the lack of the special connector to plug into the back of my old Prodigy controller. And even when the part arrives from Rapid I won't be able to run anything into platform 3 for a while because I accidentally drilled through the tiebar of the last set of points! I was test-fitting one of the MTB point motors and I was trying to open up the hole when the drill bit caught and went straight through. Stupid! So I will have to cut that turnout out, clean up the PVA and do some fettling to put a new one (which are as rare as hen's teeth at the moment) in without disturbing the surrounding trackwork. Urgh!

 

Phil, how about a set of castors on the outer ends so you can wheel it around when it's upright?

[Pacific231G]

7 hours ago, Harlequin said:

Living and working with the layout reveals some interesting things that I wonder whether CJF had considered...

 

It's a bit unwieldy to carry around - 3ft 6in is quite a spread for the arms, it's too wide to tuck under your arm comfortably and in both cases you end up with corners biting into you. It's also quite heavy and it's only going to get heavier when I add the scenics. The end frames that I made were not part of CJF's design but they do provide good hand holds and the hinge bar is particularly useful because it allows the whole unit to be carried upright.

 

With rubber feet on the underside and the outer ends, and latches to hold it tight, it can be set up and moved around in various formats. This has been very useful while I've been working on the electrics:

    

 

The upright position is really good for storage because it can stand in a corner where it's protected and doesn't get in the way. Maybe I'll put an aspidistra plant on top when it's not in use!

 

All track sections now have droppers which should be inconspicuous once everything is ballasted and weathered. I prefer to solder them after track laying so that I don't disturb the sleeper spacing. Here's a very cruel close-up:

 

I have wired up the turnouts initially so that the frogs are powered by the blades, just to be able to do a quick test run. I can easily change them later to be switched by the point motors when they are installed thanks to @Suzie's wiring technique and the use of Wago connectors.

    

 

The connectors tuck away neatly into "Wagoboxes" which are screwed to the underside of the baseboard.

 

I was hoping to be able to run a loco over the holiday weekend but I'm stymied by the lack of the special connector to plug into the back of my old Prodigy controller. And even when the part arrives from Rapid I won't be able to run anything into platform 3 for a while because I accidentally drilled through the tiebar of the last set of points! I was test-fitting one of the MTB point motors and trying to open up the hole when the drill bit caught and went straight through. Stupid! So I will have to cut that turnout out, clean up the PVA and do some careful fettling to put in a new one (which are as rare as hen's teeth at the moment) without disturbing the surrounding trackwork. Urgh!

 

Hi Phil.

Happy Easter

Great progress but why do things always break during bank-holiday weekends? 

Would it deviate too much from the RTR concept to simply cut-out the Peco switch locking mechanism and replace the broken tiebar rather than the whole turnout ? (I've just been reading an article in Loco-Revue about finescaling Peco code 75 turnouts in just that way)

 

On Minories' folding baseboard, I think CJF's ideas about that were very much infuenced by Peter Denny.  Until I sold it on I used to have an H0e (H0mish) layout that, having read Denny's original "how to" articles in RM on building Leighton Buzzard (Mk1),  I built  on a folding pair of three foot by one foot baseboards using his idea of heavy timber hinge towers.  My curent H0 layout is also a folder though a horizontally folding tapered affair that forms a 32x22x10 inch box when folded (both have a plug in fiddle yard).

Both layouts were and are great for storage, transport by car and fast set-ups and strike-downs  both at home and when taken out. Solidly mounted hinges also enable the tracks to line up very accurately every time. HOWEVER, even using lightweight material wherever possible, both layouts  were and are quite awkward lumps to move within the house especially up and down the fairly steep staircase. Having found even the single four foot long baseboard of my H0m layout awkward to carry upand down stairs I'd decided that any future layouts will be based on separate metre long baseboards.  I am thoughrather wondering whether the fold over idea might work with removable hinge pins (possibly bolts) to enable the two baseboards to be separated. The floodlights for the local running track use that principle. The towers are firmly bolted down to their bases but, to work on them, they insert a bar through a set of holes, undo the bolts and lower the tower to the ground.

The other catch with  a foldover baseboard is that any self-respecting cat (are there any other kind?) will certainly come to the logical conclusion that it was specifically designed for feline lurking.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Pacific231G

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I’m glad my 8ft x 15in layout is designed to create a single box, but also is carryable as two separate boards. I carried it in and out of an exhibition in its ‘crated’ form, and made great play to others of its portability, but in truth it was an awkward carry.

 

Have you thought about a carry-sling, made from two stout bands of canvas, and a length of broom-handle, to permit it to be carried like a suit-case? That’s where I’m heading.

[t-b-g]

As the custodian of the later version of Leighton Buzzard, which was also originally approx 6ft long on a folding board, it is too heavy for me to move by myself. I can just about get it off the ground by myself but I can't lift it high enough to get it into a car without risking damage to the layout or me.

 

The construction would have be much flimsier and lighter for it to be truly a task for one person.

 

So my preference is for individual boards that I can move easily by myself.

 

Tony

[Harlequin]

6 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Hi Phil.

Happy Easter

Great progress but why do things always break during bank-holiday weekends? 

Would it deviate too much from the RTR concept to simply cut-out the Peco switch locking mechanism and replace the broken tiebar rather than the whole turnout ? (I've just been reading an article in Loco-Revue about finescaling Peco code 75 turnouts in just that way)

 

On Minories' folding baseboard, I think CJF's ideas about that were very much infuenced by Peter Denny.  Until I sold it on I used to have an H0e (H0mish) layout that, having read Denny's original "how to" articles in RM on building Leighton Buzzard (Mk1),  I built  on a folding pair of three foot by one foot baseboards using his idea of heavy timber hinge towers.  My curent H0 layout is also a folder though a horizontally folding tapered affair that forms a 32x22x10 inch box when folded (both have a plug in fiddle yard).

Both layouts were and are great for storage, transport by car and fast set-ups and strike-downs  both at home and when taken out. Solidly mounted hinges also enable the tracks to line up very accurately every time. HOWEVER, even using lightweight material wherever possible, both layouts  were and are quite awkward lumps to move within the house especially up and down the fairly steep staircase. Having found even the single four foot long baseboard of my H0m layout awkward to carry upand down stairs I'd decided that any future layouts will be based on separate metre long baseboards.  I am thoughrather wondering whether the fold over idea might work with removable hinge pins (possibly bolts) to enable the two baseboards to be separated. The floodlights for the local running track use that principle. The towers are firmly bolted down to their bases but, to work on them, they insert a bar through a set of holes, undo the bolts and lower the tower to the ground.

The other catch with  a foldover baseboard is that any self-respecting cat (are there any other kind?) will certainly come to the logical conclusion that it was specifically designed for feline lurking.

Hi David, Happy Easter to you too!

 

Unfortunately the drill pushed the whole turnout up before breaking the tiebar so that it is now hump-backed and no longer glued to the cork. It's got to come out. Thankfully the copper clad sleepers and the rail soldered to them just a few mil's away don't seem to have been affected.

 

Your experiences of folding layouts are very interesting. My Minories is easy to move short distance on level floors (and castors would make that even easier, of course @St Enodoc) but if I was having to lug it up stairs or for any serious distance by myself it would need to be made easier somehow. Carrying straps are another great idea, @Nearholmer.

 

As you say, the structure has to have a certain strength to allow the hinge to work reliably and so that inevitably means that the weight increases - unless we started to get into aluminium frames and carbon fibre shells...  I tried to keep it light and strong by having the parts support each other, for instance using the side panels to brace the corner posts (see the diagonals in the front panel) and I added the bar across the hinge posts rather than just fixing hinges to the posts directly, as per CJF. I used mostly 9mm ply simply because that's what I had to hand. I think I would still use 9mm for the actual trackbed because it's good for that to be rigid and it’s very useful to have that depth to screw into from below. But I can see now that many other parts could usefully have been 6mm without sacrificing the strength or rigidity much.

 

My curious little cat has been very interested in the layout. She "helped" to find a couple of dry joints by sitting on some dropper wires when it was folded up... Actually it's good that she did!

 

By the way, there's one other thing about Minories that CJF never mentioned as far as I know: You need a lot of headroom to fold or unfold it! I can do it on my dining table but not when it's on my workshop bench, which is higher.

 

6 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Yes, I’m glad my 8ft x 15in layout is designed to create a single box, but also is carryable as two separate boards. I carried it in and out of an exhibition in its ‘crated’ form, and made great play to others of its portability, but in truth it was an awkward carry.

Having separate boards that can be connected for transport is probably a much better idea overall - like David's removable hinge pins.

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Harlequin

[Keith Addenbrooke]

9 hours ago, Harlequin said:

Living and working with the layout reveals some interesting things that I wonder whether CJF had considered...

 

It's a bit unwieldy to carry around - 3ft 6in is quite a spread for the arms, it's too wide to tuck under your arm comfortably and in both cases you end up with corners biting into you. It's also quite heavy and it's only going to get heavier when I add the scenics. The end frames that I made were not part of CJF's design but they do provide good hand holds and the hinge bar is particularly useful because it allows the whole unit to be carried upright.

Hi Phil, good to see the progress on Minories, both above and beneath the baseboards.  Thinking about the weight issue, my guess is CJF assumed there’d be a second person around when needed - his writings often reference friends or family members.  For exhibition use it’s always helpful to have someone else to ask if you’ve got the: extension lead, legs, rolling stock box, light fittings, spare controller, etc...

 

A traditional upright porter’s trolley would be an alternative to castors - again perhaps a more common sight in the 50s / 60s?  Presumably at some point you’ll have a second box for the fiddle yard too?

 

Going in another direction, I’m sure I’ve seen example of an early layout in an Edward Beal book where it folded shut but didn’t move: instead the top became a cushion-covered seat (in which case weight and solidity would be good things).

 

2 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Having found even the single four foot long baseboard of my H0m layout awkward to carry upand down stairs I'd decided that any future layouts will be based on separate metre long baseboards.

I concur - having tested the route up to my latest proposed layout space, which now involves an extra flight of stairs and another dog-leg turn, 4’ now seems too long for me but a metric metre works, so I’m working on that assumption too.

[MrWolf]

Someone mentioned hefty canvas carrying straps? When I was traveling about the globe as an engineer, we found that lengths of old car seat belt recovered from scrapyards made perfect carrying strap for just about anything that one man can lift.

 

Explain to breakers that you want any old belt and it doesn't need to function, they're cheaper!

 

Cut to length, fuse over the ends with a cigarette lighter to stop them fraying, fold the end over about 50mm and screw / bolt to your object using a flat plate or large washers.

[Pacific231G]

On 05/04/2021 at 18:33, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Hi Phil, good to see the progress on Minories, both above and beneath the baseboards.  Thinking about the weight issue, my guess is CJF assumed there’d be a second person around when needed - his writings often reference friends or family members.  For exhibition use it’s always helpful to have someone else to ask if you’ve got the: extension lead, legs, rolling stock box, light fittings, spare controller, etc...

 

A traditional upright porter’s trolley would be an alternative to castors - again perhaps a more common sight in the 50s / 60s?  Presumably at some point you’ll have a second box for the fiddle yard too?

 

Going in another direction, I’m sure I’ve seen example of an early layout in an Edward Beal book where it folded shut but didn’t move: instead the top became a cushion-covered seat (in which case weight and solidity would be good things).

 

I concur - having tested the route up to my latest proposed layout space, which now involves an extra flight of stairs and another dog-leg turn, 4’ now seems too long for me but a metric metre works, so I’m working on that assumption too.

 

Hi Keith

The layout you saw was undoubtedly the Pollards Hill Railway by a Mr. W.F. Gentry. It's in New Development in Railway Modelling and I'm looking at it now. I think it was also in one of the MRNs or MRCs from the 1940s or 50s that I've just been going through to find more of John Ahern's articles but I omitted to take a note of which one (dohh!) When closed up, the the layout formed a padded window seat 10ft x 18ins x 18 ins and opened up to 10ft x 4ft 6ins  on which was a double track main line with a reasonably well equipped through station. Wiring between boards was carried through the hinges but, apart from the station, the main line was plain track so the interboard wiring was presumably not too complicated. The three baseboard sections were made from half inch floorboards. Apart from the size and weight of the complete unit- for a house move it had to be lowered in two sections from an upstairs window- the obvious disadvantage was that the layout, when opened up would have been at floor level- I think most of us gave up operating model railways on the floor when we were very young .

 

Something that has just occured to me is that Minories was originally designed by CJF as a five foot long folding TT-3 layout. which would have been far less awkward. It actually appeared in RM immediately after the launch of Tri-ang's new range in the previous edition. I also notice in the original article that the wider version with a goods shed is shown with a tapered right hand board and no sign of hinges.

 

Leighton Buzzard (mk1) was on a pair of open plan baseboards each 2ft 9ins by 15 ins and the hinge towers were fairly low with the buildings carefully arranged to not foul one another when it was folded to form a box just eight inches high.  The articles (RM May, June, July 1960 with a separate article on the folding baseboard in June 1959)  suggest a second slightly shorter pair of hinged boards for a short section of running line and loco shed siding on one  and a traverser with a lift out tray (for turning) as off stage storage sidings on the other. I understand that Peter Denny intended to build that extra section to enable Leighton Buzzard to be exhibitable as a stand alone layout but never did. He advised 3ft by 18ins as the upper limit for each of a pair of folding baseboard using the same construction. For Leighton Buzzard this was fairly lightweight with 1 1/2 x 3/4 inch side members and 3/4 by 3 inch cross members laid flat at each end and in the middle of each board with 1/2 inch wood laid on them only where track is to be laid. I would have though that even in fifteen inches the flat cross members might have been subject to warping but presumably they didn't.

I do know of two Minories based layouts- Gavin Thrumm's Great Moor Street and the late David Curtis' EM pre-grouping Casterbridge North- that were built with a tri-fold baseboard to include the fiddle yard as well. David sadly died towards the end of last year but, though I've only seen photos of it  I was able to discuss the layout with him in 2018. He confirmed that it was three metres long by 15 inches and the "fiddle yard" board just held a two road sector that fed a couple of storage sidings behind the station. He did say that though the double fold had seemed like a good idea at the time it had proved rather cumbersome. Carrying the layout was definitely a two man  job and he certainly wouldn’t have done it that way again!

 

Edited April 6, 2021 by Pacific231G

[Nearholmer]

I think there may be two different applications, competing, in some of this:

 

- a truly portable layout; and,

 

- a layout for use at home in a small flat/house, which has to be folded when not in use, to avoid hogging precious space.

 

In the latter case, things like tri-folds can work quite well, if the layout sits in one place, but expands across or along the room during play-time.

 

(I have "form" when it comes to building ingenious, folding layouts, which turn out to be highly unwieldy, as well as a couple of truly portable ones that did actually succeed, so feel qualified to speak on this topic!)

[ianathompson]

23 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

(I have "form" when it comes to building ingenious, folding layouts, which turn out to be highly unwieldy, as well as a couple of truly portable ones that did actually succeed, so feel qualified to speak on this topic!)

 

Snap!

 

The current N gauge GNoSR terminus fits this bill entirely.

When it is opened up I have to be careful to avoid the supporting girder in the roof where the house extension was added.

 

Ian T

 

[Nearholmer]

My "best" effort was the second iteration of my H0 Maine waterfront scene.

 

The first version took years to build, masses of scratch-built buildings, but was a PITA to exhibit, because it was three boards, each 5ft x 18in, and the 5ft dimension was too big. So, I built a scene that was about 6ft x 3ft in plan, and folded to form a box 3ft x 3ft x 2ft. Quite a fancy plywood confection that I was really proud of, with a really clever folding hinge-post, with hinges in two dimensions, at centre front. That version got junked before I'd even finished scenifying it (I spent ruddy ages making a nice spindly wooden over-bridge for it!), because it was stupidly awkward and surprisingly heavy, to manhandle.

 

Some people never learn!

[Harlequin]

11 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

My "best" effort was the second iteration of my H0 Maine waterfront scene.

 

The first version took years to build, masses of scratch-built buildings, but was a PITA to exhibit, because it was three boards, each 5ft x 18in, and the 5ft dimension was too big. So, I built a scene that was about 6ft x 3ft in plan, and folded to form a box 3ft x 3ft x 2ft. Quite a fancy plywood confection that I was really proud of, with a really clever folding hinge-post, with hinges in two dimensions, at centre front. That version got junked before I'd even finished scenifying it (I spent ruddy ages making a nice spindly wooden over-bridge for it!), because it was stupidly awkward and surprisingly heavy, to manhandle.

 

Some people never learn!

 

Have you got any photos you could share with us?

 

[Nearholmer]

Of the ingenious box? No, I don't think I ever photographed it. I did photograph some of the scenic items I built for it, but where the pictures are, I'm not sure. This was c1995, so photographing things was still a bit of an expense, which I used to reserve for things I was proud of.

[Darwinian]

One of the most impressive folding layouts I have seen was Ian Hopkins' "St. George's Hill"  in 7mm that folded away into a mock grandfather clock. Featured in MRJ 100 1998. I cannot remember which exhibition I saw it at.

[woodenhead]

11 minutes ago, Darwinian said:

One of the most impressive folding layouts I have seen was Ian Hopkins' "St. George's Hill"  in 7mm that folded away into a mock grandfather clock. Featured in MRJ 100 1998. I cannot remember which exhibition I saw it at.

Wonder if he was a Dr Who fan, the Master used a Grandfather clock to disguise his Tardis.

 

It would fit the theme of something quite large fitting into a space it shouldn't

[ianathompson]

1 hour ago, Harlequin said:

Have you got any photos you could share with us?

 

I know that you were not asking me but.....

I was inspired (?) by this question to photo my unwieldy foldable plank.

As advice , warning but definitely not an incentive, here is Inverness Citadel.

 

 

 

It slumbers in its usual place at the bottom of the staris and fulfils its designated role in life as a table next to the front door.

I suspect that many Minories suffer a similar fate, although not quite so prominently displayed within the house.

 

The plan was that all the stock and ancilliary buildings that go onto the boards would be stored in the "boxes" beneath the baseboard.

Yeah. Right.

Also evident are the packing pieces retrospectively inserted to keep the boards level when they began to sag.

The only advantage from this cleverly thought out design dog's dinner is that it allows space for the semaphore operating mechanisms.

 

Sorry for the intrusion but I could not help but demonstrate how the lesser talented mortals live!

 

Ian T.

[Flying Fox 34F]

I recall Gordon Gravett had similar problems with the folding boards for Ditchling Green.  He had issues in certain venues with low ceilings.

I once constructed the tri-fold baseboards for an 0 gauge BLT back in 1996. It actually comprised of two sets of boards to create a 18’ x 2’ layout.  It was designed to fit in the back of my then car.  I completed all the timber work, then realised I couldn’t resolve issues with certain sections of the track work or where to store the backscenes.

I still design folding projects, but now I build small scale versions out of card to test the idea.  Eventually I may actually build one, when I get the time?

 

Paul

[MrWolf]

I don't want to worry you, but I have toyed with the idea of a folding layout and made the odd false start since I was at school in nineteen eighty something...

I have finally managed to get a a semi portable layout in 1200x600 sections built in what was the main bedroom here.

I found that the only solution was to stop planning, go out, buy some plywood a new fine tooth saw and throw caution to the wind before the undertaker finds a less fun use for the plywood.

 

Just my 2 cents, but I might just have a proper layout again for the first time since I was sixteen.

[Pacific231G]

5 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I think there may be two different applications, competing, in some of this:

 

- a truly portable layout; and,

 

- a layout for use at home in a small flat/house, which has to be folded when not in use, to avoid hogging precious space.

 

In the latter case, things like tri-folds can work quite well, if the layout sits in one place, but expands across or along the room during play-time.

 

(I have "form" when it comes to building ingenious, folding layouts, which turn out to be highly unwieldy, as well as a couple of truly portable ones that did actually succeed, so feel qualified to speak on this topic!)

 

My foldover H0e layout was the former and, though I did take it to the odd local 009 Society meeting It never got to an exhibitable standard. My current H0 layout started out as the latter and was designed to fit, when folded,  into a fitted wardrobe to be brought out when I wanted to operate it. I never intended to exhibit it (points and section switches are mounted along the front) but it's been out a few times so boxing it up for transport made sense and, perhaps more important, also made it tidier to store at home.  I think that's one of the virtues of a folding layout- you don't end up with several baseboards knocking about just making the place untidy.

 

Boxed (there is now an end cover as well)

Folded

Operating

Exhibited (Pratts Bottom)

 

I can also see a lot of virtues in the layout that fits into a  a sideboard or bookcase that can be opened for operating sessions. There have been several of those- the Potwell Mineral Railway was one of the neatest- though I think that was actuially built into the cabinet which might be a bit inflexible.

 

Ian Everrett also did something like that with Bradford North Western (Minimum Space Main Line RM June 1993) a version of Minories that lived in a 4ft x 18 inch bedroom chest of drawers with the folded terminus on top and the other baseboards stored on shelfs below. Ian reckoned on fifteen minutes from model railaway to bedroom.  

 

My own experince though is that my layout is either stored out of use for months at a time or set up for several weeks. My idea was to be able to bring it out, set it up for a running session then put it away again the same day but that's never really worked out in practice. I've also known several portable layouts that were supposed to be primarily home layouts that could be set up in the living room for operating sessions but ended up as exhibition layouts, only set up at home for testing and checking before a show. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by Pacific231G

[AngusDe]

I follow all the Minories theme layouts and threads on here with great interest.

 

Phil's purist approach is fascinating. I'm half hoping one of the laser cut plywood baseboard manufacturers will take the concept on board and produce a Minories in a bag, baseboard kit!

 

Angus

 

[woodenhead]

16 hours ago, AngusDe said:

I follow all the Minories theme layouts and threads on here with great interest.

 

Phil's purist approach is fascinating. I'm half hoping one of the laser cut plywood baseboard manufacturers will take the concept on board and produce a Minories in a bag, baseboard kit!

 

Angus

 

They do - two 4x2 scenic boards plus one 4 x 2 board - just supply your own metal fittings hinges for the bends as appropriate.

Edited April 7, 2021 by woodenhead
Added the word hinges - could not place the word yesterday in my mind.

[Pacific231G]

5 hours ago, woodenhead said:

They do - two 4x2 scenic boards plus one 4 x 2 board - just supply your own metal fittings for the bends as appropriate.

Do they do narrower boards 4x1 or 4x 15"? 

I actually think a folding 8 ft x 2ft is a bit large. I did once build an H0e layout adapted from one of CJF's plans (S34 in the 3rd edition of 60 plans for small railways) on a 4x2 board but it was an awkward lump in the flat I was sharing with my then girlfriend and never got beyond bare boards and track. BTW don't be fooled by that plan. It says minimum radius 9" but it's really 6" and, even with the curves eased and without the upper return loop,  my Lilliput 0-6-2Ts  struggled particularlly as the curves are on a fairly stiff gradient.  

 

This discussion has had one positive result. I've just taken my folding H0 layout  (see above) out of its cubby hole. With a lot of editorial work to do over the next few weeks, a bit of relaxing wagon bashing will definitely be required so I think I'll keep it up for a while, probably without the fiddle yard in its shunting puzzle mode where it sits on the back of the table in my studio.  I've also realised that it's been in its box ever since the last time I exhibited it three years ago! 

Edited April 6, 2021 by Pacific231G