Blog- Engine Wood - Callow Lane - work on the baseboard covers continues

RSS Fetcher · August 24, 2016

Work has continued on the construction of removable covers for the two main scenic boards, taking advantage of the sunny weather this week so far.

These covers really have to be built 'in situ' on the layout, something that I learned to my cost when my first inexpert attempts at making similar covers for Engine Wood over 20 years ago, just from measurements, ended in a rather late departure from an exhibition, as I struggled to fit the covers back on the layout.

Today I've been concentrating on the board that carries the level crossing, signal box and the site of the former passenger station.

A lot of 1" x 1" planed timber is used in this process, which as far as I am concerned, is a tried and tested method of building layout covers. I would have built that layout with the boards going 'back to back' for transport, and actually got as far as making and fitting the two large end plates. The layout was transported to CamRail in this state in 2008, with no scenery to speak of, but even with very little other than the bare boards and track, the dimensions of the whole thing resulted in it being virtually unmanageable for one person to move and load/unload from the car.

As such, each board will now have it's own removable covers, which will either be put back in the car at a show, or stored somewhere safe in the hall, at the exhibition manager's discretion.

Once the back and end pieces were in place, I could start attaching some 1" x 1" along the back and sides, for the covers to be bolted to. The frames for the covers are also 1" x 1" timber.

Once the front longitudinal timber was in place, I could start measuring, cutting and attaching the three vertical and horizontal pieces:

Once all three vertical and horizontal pieces were glued and screwed in place, the remaining bolt holes along the back and sides were drilled and bolts fitted.

It takes a few minutes only with a power screwdriver to remove all bolts and get the covers off, and despite this taking a little more time than 'Bleakhouse Road', where the two scenic boards are bolted 'back to back' for transport, this method results in a robust layout cover that will protect the scenery and track.

Here's the framework more or less completed:

The next job with this board will be to attach the clear polythene to the frame. I plan to use Velcro on the front edges at either end of the board, where there is no vertical piece to attach the Velcro to.

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