jigsaw baseboards

[mike morley]

Does anyone have any experience of building these?

 

I've read Iain Rice's thoughts on the subject in his "Finescale in Small Spaces" book, but that is more to do with selling the concept than addressing any practical issues.

I'm not planning anything exotic, just wondering if that would be the best way of dealing with a turnout that straddles a baseboard joint. My immediate concern is that it would effectively turn one baseboard joint into three (four if you include the original joint) so multiplies the usual alignment problems.

The main baseboards would be Barry Norman-style ply beams.

[Happy Hippo]

Mike,

 

I'm going to stick my neck out here and suggest it is merely a concept, and if it was really brilliant and easy to do we'd see a lot more of it around, especially on the 'finescale' style of exhibition layout.

 

Having seen a couple of Iain Rice's cameo layouts, they do not appear to use this system, just the straight across board joint that mere mortals, such as Barry Norman and Gorden Gravett seem to use for their portable layouts. I suppose this concept is just an extension of the scenic cover where a joint could be hidden by a roadbridge etc. I recall seeing this in a very old design by the late CJ Freezer. I think the scenic example in Mr Rice's book is a jetty jutting out from a riverbank.

 

Without going into the technical problems vs aestheitic merits of such a system, it does seem to overly complicate a simple flat join between two boards.

 

I've had the problem of turnouts over baseboard joints, and there are two solutions:

 

Build the turnout over the joint because if the crossing nose is on one side and the switch rails are on the other you are only aligning 4 fixed rails, which although not easy, is not impossible either: or

 

Design your baseboard and track plan using templates or a program such as Templot so that you avoid such a conflict.

 

For instance it might be easier to have four 3ft x 18 inch boards, rather than three 4ft x 18inch boards.

 

Regards

 

Richard

[mike morley]

Richard

 

Thanks for that. Every point you made rings true.

 

Another thing I've thought of since making my original posting is that while conventional baseboards can be bolted face to face in pairs for comparatively safe and easy storage, transport etc. an odd-shaped piece of layout cannot.

 

I think this idea can be allowed to die an early death.

 

Mike

[flubrush]

Another thing I've thought of since making my original posting is that while conventional baseboards can be bolted face to face in pairs for comparatively safe and easy storage, transport etc. an odd-shaped piece of layout cannot.

 

I think this idea can be allowed to die an early death.

 

I'm actually thinking of using something like Iain Rice's jigsaw method in the layout I'm just building at the moment. The basic baseboards are fairly straightforward with straight edges and in pairs which match in shape for easy protective storage.

 

But I'm looking at making most of the scenery on jigsaw type blocks for two reasons. One reason is so that the irregular scenery blocks can disguise straight line joins in the baseboards, but the main reason is that the scenery can be stripped off the boards for storage or carriage. I'm intending that my scenery will be quite high - e.g. high tenement blocks behind a station below street level. Therefore the boards could be quite difficult to store or move if the scenery was permanently attached. With removeable scenery, the boards will be much easier handled. The irrecgular shapes of the "jigsaw" scenery should disguise the joins.

 

So I think Iain's idea has some merit and I'm hoping it works out well for me.

 

Jim.

[mike morley]

Jim

 

Our club layout has a backscene that mostly comprises warehouses, factories, large hotels etc. Finding boxes big enough to store and transport some of them has proved very difficult and means some arent ageing too well. I am in the process of replacing a row of railwaymens houses that had become very battered, and what was going to be a terrace of six houses is becoming a terrace of four and a seperate corner shop/pub simply to overcome the storage problem.

 

When the time comes I would advise you to reverse the usual process and find suitable boxes before you start building scenery.

 

Mike

[flubrush]

Our club layout has a backscene that mostly comprises warehouses, factories, large hotels etc. Finding boxes big enough to store and transport some of them has proved very difficult and means some arent ageing too well. I am in the process of replacing a row of railwaymens houses that had become very battered, and what was going to be a terrace of six houses is becoming a terrace of four and a seperate corner shop/pub simply to overcome the storage problem.

 

When the time comes I would advise you to reverse the usual process and find suitable boxes before you start building scenery.

 

Mike,

 

I'm already trying to second guess the problems. But in the layout's situation I suspect that fixed scenery will get more of a bettering than removeable scenery if the layout has to be moved. And moving the layout will be a requirement at home since the room has to double as a bedroom on occasion. What I am trying to plan is scenic shapes which can be stored in as compact a manner possible and that will obviously take a lot of 3D planning. It could be interesting.

 

 

Jim.

[dseagull]

I am 'upping' this, just to see if anyone has had any more thoughts on the Jigsaw principle in the last two and a bit years!

 

It is something which appeals to me greatly, as I've never been keen on 'gaping chasms' between baseboards myself, and I am considering it for my Litlington project, as discussed in my blog (Link in sig) - I've found plenty on the theory, but little on the practicalities of it. I imagine the cutting of timber etc will need to be extremely accurate in the first instance?

[Baldwin30762]

I recently read somewhere (MRJ Perhaps?) that Iain Rice has built another layout using the Jigsaw method and he appears to think this version works, the main section on this new layout is the station approach, where there are a number of points feeding sidings and the loop etc which make it very difficult to be able to have manageable size baseboards and joints.

 

So as I understand it, what he has done is to build all the track and point work on to one lift out section of about 4ft in length which then allows him to build baseboards with other jigsaw parts being added at exhibitions etc, these scenic sections cover any baseboard joints and this also then allows for a majority of the track to be on just one lift out board which keeps wiring etc very simple..

[bgman]

 

So as I understand it, what he has done is to build all the track and point work on to one lift out section of about 4ft in length which then allows him to build baseboards with other jigsaw parts being added at exhibitions etc, these scenic sections cover any baseboard joints and this also then allows for a majority of the track to be on just one lift out board which keeps wiring etc very simple..

Having known Iain for a long time we discussed this method at one of our "get togethers" several years ago.

The main aim was to produce the track as one "unit" and then fit any scenery / bulldings etc around it. The initial idea was also for ease of transport in his car should he decide to exhibit such a layout made in this fashion.

So, the second paragraph by Baldwin30762 pretty much sums it up.

 

Iain has always been rather "out their" was his modelling innovations brought about for the most part by his own needs for which I feel the hobby owes him many thanks.

[hayfield]

There was an 0 gauge layout at St Albans CMRA show a few years back where the scenery was in sections which lifted off the base boards, not too certain about the track though

[BG John]

He describes the concept in this book:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dMhE18XH5PYC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=iain+rice+jigsaw&source=bl&ots=PuIy9JvFvd&sig=h0QcEYEzhrh-iGfrqK4nski6LkM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjkpr2YvJnPAhVqLcAKHT3WB1cQ6AEIOzAH

[Baldwin30762]

Having known Iain for a long time we discussed this method at one of our "get togethers" several years ago.

The main aim was to produce the track as one "unit" and then fit any scenery / bulldings etc around it. The initial idea was also for ease of transport in his car should he decide to exhibit such a layout made in this fashion.

So, the second paragraph by Baldwin30762 pretty much sums it up.

 

Iain has always been rather "out their" was his modelling innovations brought about for the most part by his own needs for which I feel the hobby owes him many thanks.

 

Hi bgman

 

I have to admit I am a bit of a fan of Mr Rice, since I wish I could find the time to do all that he has done so far in model railways and all those books he has written as well, just wish he would build a narrow gauge layout, as I think he will find his Ideas very well received indeed.

 

Regards

 

Colin Rainsbury