Module layout ideas

[AndrueC]

Although it's a ways off yet I'm continuing to muse about my next layout. I'm kicking around an idea that sounds good but was wondering if it was practical. My current layout is 2.1m x 1.6m and basically it's going to stand in the centre of my spare bedroom until it gets torn down. It's not portable and not even movable. It also means that all work on it has to be done in the spare bedroom and I risk disturbing areas I'm not intending to work on. Working underneath it is also a nuisance.

 

So my idea for my next layout is to make it modular. It's going to run round the sides of a room and my intention is to make it out of several 1m x 0.5m boards (or that kind of size, depending on exactly what configuration I go for). At the edge of the board I was thinking of sinking a pair of screws into the board and soldering the ends of rails to them. Underneath some form of connection block to join boards together electrically (Anderson connectors probably since they seem to work so well on my golf trolley) with an appropriate adaptor for my controller.

 

This offers a number of advantages:

• I can remove a board and take it somewhere else (the patio ) to work on.
• I can operate a board from wherever I happen to be working.
• If/when I move house I can hopefully just insert additional boards to increase the size.
• If I need to work on the underside I can just remove the board and stand it on its side.
• It's sometimes just easier to be working on one thing at a time and able to forget about the rest of the layout.

Obviously this will somewhat increase construction time but I'm fine with that. What I'm wondering about is the track joins. Would I be storing up reliability issues for the future by doing this?

[Jeff Smith]

As long as you don't intend to break it down often to exhibit you should be ok.  You need to ensure that the boards can be consistently and accurately joined ( I use two quarter inch bolts through tight holes).  Join the boards, lay track across the joint, solder the track to brass screws either side of the joint then cut with a rotary slitting cutter or razor saw.  Dropper wires and terminal blocks or audio connectors will carry current ok.

 

Assuming your boards will rest on shelves or brackets, ensure you have sufficient play to move the boards either side of the one you are removing.......  Also look into lightweight construction, it doesn't all have to be half inch ply!

[5BarVT]

4 hours ago, AndrueC said:

So my idea for my next layout is to make it modular. It's going to run round the sides of a room and my intention is to make it out of several 1m x 0.5m boards (or that kind of size, depending on exactly what configuration I go for). At the edge of the board I was thinking of sinking a pair of screws into the board and soldering the ends of rails to them. Underneath some form of connection block to join boards together electrically (Anderson connectors probably since they seem to work so well on my golf trolley) with an appropriate adaptor for my controller.

 

This offers a number of advantages:

• I can remove a board and take it somewhere else (the patio ) to work on.
• I can operate a board from wherever I happen to be working.
• If/when I move house I can hopefully just insert additional boards to increase the size.
• If I need to work on the underside I can just remove the board and stand it on its side.
• It's sometimes just easier to be working on one thing at a time and able to forget about the rest of the layout.

Obviously this will somewhat increase construction time but I'm fine with that. What I'm wondering about is the track joins. Would I be storing up reliability issues for the future by doing this?

A vote for ‘modular’ boards from me.

Biggest plus is working underneath - I haven’t done upside down soldering for years now.

Agreed you can just insert extra boards if you move, but personal experience says you will want to build back bigger.  (I am only reusing two of the 5 original boards and thetrack layout is different!)

My recommendation for board joiners is the dcc concepts dowels.  I haven’t used their power dowels, but the ordinary ones are great.

 

Agree with Jeff about brass screws and razor saw/slitting disc for cross board tracks.

Paul.

[AndrueC]

Well it's nice that no-one has suggested it's pointless and risky

 

I'm actually getting quite excited about it so maybe it'll happen sooner rather than later. I did originally think of starting to build the modules before I tear down my current layout but that would require that track be cut before installation rather than installing it across the break then cutting it. Is that a bad idea? Would it be better to install all the boards then lay track then make it modular?

[ITG]

I used a similar approach to what you’re considering, albeit in 00. I laid track and wired each board in the garage, before taking into the layout room. Actually, effectively I did this to one and a bit boards at a time, as I laid over each baseboard end as well. For the track over a baseboard join, I used a small piece of track (approx 3” minimum) but cut the chairs back to allow the rail-joiner to slide back so it didn’t protrude beyond the track end. This allowed me to place the board in its intended location next to the adjoining board, secure it with bolts (which I’d used in the garage and then unscrewed), and then drop the connecting track in place, and slide the rail joiners each end to link the track to the adjoining piece.  These connecting tracks were wired with droppers to enable non-reliance on rail joiners for conductivity.

Wago connectors were used to bridge the track bus over a baseboard end.

 

I should add, that after doing all this, and several months later, I added DC lighting circuits to the layout for buildings, street lamps etc, and forgot to build in cross-board detachable connections for this circuit. No big deal, but worth trying to think ahead to more than just track, track bus etc.

Ian

[Nearholmer]

It’s a perfectly sound idea; it works fine. 
 

If you ponder, most exhibition layouts work on this basis, even if the “modules” aren’t of standardised dimensions.

[Harlequin]

This is old ground, already covered by many books and magazine articles.

 

There are two kinds of modularity - modules that can only be joined in the originally intended way and modules that can be joined in new configurations, possibly adding in new modules.

 

You seem to be thinking about the latter but that is the more difficult option because the interfaces between modules need to be consistent in terms of numbers, positions and angles of track and the alignment has to be exactly the same for multiple boards. Achieving that consistency tends to makes the interfaces simple and that in turn can lead to dull and compromised track plans. There's also the question of how to get scenery to join in a sensible way.

 

A modular layout that fits together in one way only doesn't suffer from those problems and Iain Rice's jigsaw puzzle concept offers a very clever way to hide the joins between modules.

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by Harlequin

[regme]

When I was looking at modules I came a cross a standard that allowed different modules to be joined together that have been built by different modellers.

 

Maybe by check this out, I'm not sure if it was the same thing I came across but it may help

 

https://www.nmra.org/introduction-layout-modules

[Joseph_Pestell]

There are many such norms. As Harlequin says, the difficulty is in creating good interfaces.

 

Less of a problem for North American prototype where there is a lot of flat land. Here in the UK, not so easy.

 

The FFMF norms tend to produce rather toy-like set ups with a lack of gentle curves. But it can be a good option for a shunting layout at home which can be joined to a mainline set up with other members of a club/group.

[AndrueC]

Great input guys, thanks. Yeah I'm not thinking of being able to put modules together randomly just that it would be nice to be able to assemble each module separately and at first just stack them in a corner. The alternative is to tear down my current layout, assemble all the boards for the new one in situ and only then start laying track.

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, AndrueC said:

Great input guys, thanks. Yeah I'm not thinking of being able to put modules together randomly just that it would be nice to be able to assemble each module separately and at first just stack them in a corner. The alternative is to tear down my current layout, assemble all the boards for the new one in situ and only then start laying track.

Have you got room to work on two modules at a time? If so, I would set them up, lay the track(s) across the joint and then cut it before removing module 1 and adding module 3, if you see what I mean.

[JSModels]

One thing to bear in mind when soldering to brass screws - make sure they are actually brass screws, and not just brass- coloured steel ones!

 

The number of times I've seen people trying (and failing) to solder to yellow-passivated steel screws is quite alarming.

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, JSModels said:

One thing to bear in mind when soldering to brass screws - make sure they are actually brass screws, and not just brass- coloured steel ones!

 

The number of times I've seen people trying (and failing) to solder to yellow-passivated steel screws is quite alarming.

You'll know they're brass when the heads shear off just as you apply that final quarter-turn...

[DCB]

1. I recently acquired a layout (27 Jan 2022) made from 5 boards which can be screwed together to make around an 8 X 5 layout. Beautifully made with a 3/16th (10mm) top and 2X1 approx sides it quickly proved too  heavy and awkward for me to erect on my own. Electrical contact between boards was by brass strips and the track ends were soldered to screws screwed deep into the end framing and many of the track ends hadbecome distorted.  Plan A was to use it as a test track but unwieldyness and collapsed foam underlay and conductivity meant a rethink. Luckily the track was pinned down  rather than glued so 90% of the track is re usable.   That type of construction is definitely not something I would recommend.

I would suggest building the layout frame from second hand well seasoned lumber ideally as L or T girder with shaped track bases rather than a flat table base, or maaybe use 1 or 2M X 1/2M (or 36" if your flexi is 36")  baseboard top sections you can lift up just by sliding back fishplates  without disturbing the wiring to work underneath.    If the layout is high enough, one of mine was 60" above floor, you can work on the electrics quite easily even if you need to work on a step ladder to do the track and scenery.   

The OP original suggestion. good for exhibitions but mine was really too awkward for home / garage use.  I even had to lay it on the drive to photograph it.   See pics

 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by DCB

[AndrewC]

As @regme suggested. Take a look at either the NMRA or other modular standards. If not for the actual track plan or implementation of the module interconnectivity, but for construction and other tips around working with them. I went totally modular several years ago. It leaves me with the ability to add, subtract, and update the "layout" by swapping in and out individual boards. The first thing to remember is a module isn't just a single baseboard. It is a collection of 1 to many boards. One other place to look is Model Railroad Hobbyist and the publisher's TOMA concept. He's doing almost exactly what you described. https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/toma-bringing-it-all-together-12209553 Bsaically building a whole series of scenes together one at a time. Build one, then move to the next and bolt them together. I can promise you, once you assemble a board, lay track, and do the wiring on a table top without crawling on the floor, your life will change. I've seen some people build a construction frame for their TOMA boards. That lets them work on top or bottom just by spinning the board by 180 degrees. 

 

<shameless plug> link to one of my modules in my signature </shameless plug>