Joseph W. Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Hello Forum, I have been spending time on and off over the past year building what is now known as "The Train Room" in the spare room at my home. I have fixed units all around the room and had electricity installed and made a level surface for the baseboards to fit onto, the baseboards should be the easy part but alas im having trouble but thats for a another post. The question i have is should i make the layout modular ie in sections that are easily taken apart or do i build it fixed? If i do move i don't want to cut up the layout to get it out of the room. I don't see any foreseeable disasters unless i meet a woman, get married and have kids tomorrow which i highly doubt. Many Thanks Joseph Wright Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katier Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 In short, entirely up to you, but personally I would say YES make it modular, at least to the degree of being able to dismantle it into manageable chunks fairly easily. Just makes it easier if for any reason you move house.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheDukeOfWellingtons Posted March 17, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 17, 2011 Modular would be my choice, having had to leave behind my previous 18' square loft layout baseboards when I moved out. The downside to having a portable set-up is that 'the boss' is now wanting to re-carpet the railway room - a horrible thought. Its not so much the layout as the tonnes of books and magazines that I'm not looking forward to moving again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph W. Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks for your reply and advice. I was just thinking that it would be easier to lay track and other aspects without baseboard joints. Just had this niggling thought that if i do this something might happen. But after reading your post i thought it is better to be on safe side as this is my layout of a lifetime then i don't want to rip it apart to get it out. It is certainly the wiser choice to make it modular. Many Thanks Joseph Wright Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 You could go for somewhere between the two, build the boards modular but then scenic and track lay straight over the joins. If you do need to move it you cut the scenery/track and remove the sections. You'll have to replace some bits of track when you reassemble but as the place you move to isn't likely to be identically sized that might not be as bad an issue as you think? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted March 18, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 18, 2011 If you build it as one lump you cannot remove it without scrapping the layout. Say there was a leak in the loft broken tile or something you couldn't pull a section out to repair the ceiling or something like that. So I would go for sectional boards. You can use terminal strips to break the wires at joints. Since you won't be taking down in a hurry it won't matter if it takes a bit of time. You can as suggested just lay the track across and cut it if need be. I finished building a loft conversion with proper stairs and a 23ftx11ft train room. However family circumstances forced a move. So unless you are an unmarried orphan with a private income (no worry about job relocation) a move may be needed. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I would definitely build the baseboards modular even if the supporting framework is rigid and going nowhere. Likewise I'd try and build complex scenic bits like buildings to be removable. It all makes major engineering repair/maintenance easier, and also means if some part of the layout you eventually decide is no longer up to scratch you can swap one chunk sensibly. For the joins on a layout that will very rarely be split you can cut the track across the join with a slitting disc or similar, clean the ends if needed and slide fishplates over once joined. Aside from "I might move" there are times when the only easy way to sort something is to remove a module and work on it away from the layout proper, and there are things like some scenic work best done outdoors) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph W. Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 I hadn't even thought to make the baseboards modular and removable. So they can be moved if need be. While making the track and scenery across the joins being able to be cut at a later stage. This seems to be most appropriate option for me. Thanks for all the advice. Joseph Wright Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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