Laser cut baseboards + elevated trackbed solutions/ideas

[maq1988]

I wasn't sure what to search for or where to post, so please move / point out any threads similar.

 

I'm not good at carpentry and I've been looking at getting some laser cut baseboards for my N gauge layout. I've already got some home-made boards but they aren't great.

 

One thing I'd like is the track work to be elevated by a decent amount (3 inches) above the natural flat top of the boards. How are people achieving this with laser cut boards and getting the trackbed joins at the right heights throughout and at joins. My current efforts is a thin ply trackbed on 3' risers but it's not quite as precise as I'd like. I've not found any 'riser kits' that are laser cut.

 

(Quick edit: my boards are likely to be 2ft 6inches x 4ft and three boards in length. It's a chaser layout with a 1ft x 4ft space at the rear for the storage lines. I did wonder if getting some 1ft x 4ft boards to go on top of the 'base' layer and then cut some of those down to make the thinner trackbed in the remaining front (scenic) area. Seemed a bit wasteful)

 

Martin

Edited September 12, 2020 by maq1988

[johndon]

It might be worth having a word with Tim Horn, see if he can do some custom boards for you that have the relevant risers built in to the cross members.

 

John

[maq1988]

45 minutes ago, johndon said:

It might be worth having a word with Tim Horn, see if he can do some custom boards for you that have the relevant risers built in to the cross members.

 

I'll send over a quick email. I've not fully decided on the positions of the trackwork just yet apart from I know I'll have the 1 foot wide storage area at the rear.

 

It's only a basic scene of trains running through countryside so a nice gentle sweep, no stations to mess with.

[ITG]

I have similar carpentry skills to how you describe yours, so when I rebuilt, I too opted for laser cut boards. For my elevated track areas, I used Woodland Scenics risers and inclines. Perfect alignment and easy to work with.

[TheQ]

Tim stopped taking new orders a while back as he had too much business to keep up with,  there's no indication of new orders being taken yet on his facebook page . Though he did guesstimate 4 months from May. 

[PMP]

54 minutes ago, ITG said:

For my elevated track areas, I used Woodland Scenics risers and inclines. Perfect alignment and easy to work with.

Another vote for these, very simple to use and consistent.

[maq1988]

For those who use Woodland Scenic risers (something I'd forgot existed as I wouldn't use the inclines), how do you go about baseboard joins? My normal method is copper clad sleepers either side of the join.

 

What do you do? If you use copper clad how do you attach it to the foam to stop it from moving? I normally pin mine.

 

Also - given Tim seems to have more than enough on his plate does anyone know of other similar baseboard manufacturers? I'd rather not go for traditional softwood runners as I've always found these to never really align neatly.

 

Martin

[johndon]

2 hours ago, maq1988 said:

 

Also - given Tim seems to have more than enough on his plate does anyone know of other similar baseboard manufacturers? I'd rather not go for traditional softwood runners as I've always found these to never really align neatly.

 

Martin

I got mine from Grange and Hodder and I’m very happy with them but I don’t know if they do custom work. 

Tim did do some work for me in custom etching the track plan in to ply sheet. I did have to wait about 4 months though and that was this time last year. 
 

John

Edited September 13, 2020 by johndon

[bgman]

11 minutes ago, johndon said:

Grange and Hodder....... if they do custom work. 

 

I have ordered from them a few times and have also asked for a specific shape which they were happy to make for me, very happy with their boards.

[maq1988]

I'll reach out to Grange and Hodder. Thankfully I think my requirements are quite simple - two boards 1200x900 and another board 800x900. Making a total run of 3200 x 900 with the smallest board in the middle.

 

I feel my current baseboards aren't good enough and it's putting a stop for me continuing.

[RANGERS]

White Rose also do excellent boards but not sure if they do custom work, worth an email though - https://www.whiterosemodelworks.co.uk/department/online-product-range/

[ITG]

Mine came from White Rose, and at the time, (about 3-4 months ago) they couldn’t entertain custom boards, but this may have been related to lockdown throughout issues. That said, they do so many standard sizes (including triangles for corners etc), worth contacting them , as they do more variety than those advertised for drop down selection on their website.

[maq1988]

Thanks for everyone's input. I've reached out to those three companies and I'll see what comes back. Hopefully the sizes I'm after are fairly standard. I've just noticed the slight difference in metric v. imperial so I may end up a 10-20mm shorter. No major issue.

 

Still - anyone using the Woodland scenics risers how do you maintain alignment across the board joins?

[Chimer]

19 hours ago, maq1988 said:

Thanks for everyone's input. I've reached out to those three companies and I'll see what comes back. Hopefully the sizes I'm after are fairly standard. I've just noticed the slight difference in metric v. imperial so I may end up a 10-20mm shorter. No major issue.

 

Still - anyone using the Woodland scenics risers how do you maintain alignment across the board joins?

 

I haven't done it, but how about ... (it should say "woodscrew" on the end of that arrow!!)

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Chimer

[maq1988]

51 minutes ago, Chimer said:

 

I haven't done it, but how about ... (it should say "woodscrew" on the end of that arrow!!)

 

 

I had considered that, but I've always found the softwood to have a slight bow to it (which is the problem with my current baseboards) so the gap between the boards ends up wider than I'd like at the rails. However if the actual boards are flat as flat can be then I should be able to do something. I did also consider insetting a bit of ply into the foam at the joins and gluing it with something like gorilla glue.

 

I could use a piece of thick ply upright - it only needs to be 1ft wide by 3 inches tall (to track base height). I'm also considering having the raised storage section built into the boards if places will take custom orders.

 

Martin

[ITG]

Although I do have modular baseboards (as from White Rose), the layout is a permanent site in a spare room. The Woodland Scenics riser and incline section joins are not joints, in that I laid the Single track climbing Branch in situ, on the riser/incline straight across a baseboard join. Whereas the twin main line and storage yard sections were laid on each board in my garage where I’d got more room to turn things upside down etc. For joints across these baseboards,  I simply trimmed the rail chairs off, and inserted a short length of track over the join, then slid the rail joiners at each end to link the tracks. The inserted section also has a power feed.

 

if I ever did need to move the boards (house move maybe in years to come), I guess I would have to cut through the riser track, and then rejoin in the above manner. Maybe that’s how you could lay it in the first place, cutting the foam riser accordingly?

[ISW]

On 12/09/2020 at 22:46, maq1988 said:

I'm not good at carpentry and I've been looking at getting some laser cut baseboards for my N gauge layout. I've already got some home-made boards but they aren't great.

Martin,

 

I think most railway modellers aren't very good at carpentry, myself included. However, I found it quite easy to build rectangular baseboards modules from 12mm ply with 44x18mm timber framing. I added a few cross-braces at ~300 to 400mm centres. No real skill required as all the joints are butt type and everything is just screwed together. You can see a photo of the underside of one of my baseboards at 

For ramps, or at least the start of each ramp up to the side of the baseboard module, I simply sawed down each side of the 'ramp' tracks. That meant 3-sides were cut (the 2 saw cuts + the baseboard edge), and I simply bent the end up/down to suit. If it was up, then I added a wedge of timber to the top of the frame. If it was down, I cut a bit of the frame away.  There is a photo of one of my 'up' ramps at 

For an 'overall' picture of my Upper Level baseboards, 10 modules bolted together with ramps and 2 levels, look at 

 

As I said at the beginning, I'm no carpenter but I started small with flat rectangular modules and gradually learnt to make more complicated multi-level baseboards after about 2-years. It also helped a lot that I drew all the designs out before I started. I really didn't want to make silly mistakes that would take ages, and money, to rectify. I hope this all helps!

 

Ian

[maq1988]

Thanks ISW, however I've ordered the boards today - your carpentry skills hugely overshadow mine. I'm modelling N and I've found the size of the track is not forgiving for bumps over joints. Stock flies everywhere! I've found the 14mm x 88mm timbers I've used for bracing and edges just aren't matching up flush enough. I know the tablesaw I've cut the ply tops on has a wobble in the blade now!

 

My railway has stalled for a year because I'm just not happy with the boards.

 

I've gone for some extra to make the main raised storage area, three reasons for this 1. They'll be level and true, 2. They are at the rear of the layout which is against the wall, making it impossible to easily reach over. This requires turning the boards (which at 4x3ft isn't easy by oneself) for work, 3. This allows me to build the storage lines on completely separate boards somewhere easy to wire. I'll then bolt those to the main baseboard

 

The rest of the loop will run on foam allowing me to create the landscape, it's a two track main line with a small branch junction so nothing complex.

 

[ISW]

13 hours ago, maq1988 said:

I'm modelling N and I've found the size of the track is not forgiving for bumps over joints. Stock flies everywhere!

Martin,

 

I can imagine that n-scale need a 'tad' more attention to detail as real-life misalignments are greatly exaggerated at such a small scale.

 

However, the same is also true at larger scales. I spent my working life on railways at 1:1 scale and even there a few millimetres misalignment, for example at tunnel mouths where there is a change in structure stiffness leading to differential settlement, can be really uncomfortable for the train and passengers - particularly when the linespeed is 300km/h (186mph)! Mind you, we didn't get any derailments; that was until a particularly large earthquake came along. Took the derailed train 3km to stop, but at least it was upright and no one was injured.

 

At least at modelling scales we have a really handy alignment tool; the 1m ruler. In the real World that would be 76m long (from 00-gauge) ...

 

Ian

[rob D2]

White rose - hope they can help you.  My boards were from them and very nice they are too.