BlackRat Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Folks, can anyone remember a layout in the RM about how someone built a train set on top of a home made bookcase? Sometime in the mid 70's. I kept the article, but think it got chucked a few months ago when I was having a pre retirement massive clear out. If you,have a copy of the track plan.........that would be wonderful! Thanks....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Howsham? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I have access to Railway Modellers at the Leamington Club, so can find and copy the article, however I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks, so wouldn't be able to get it sorted until 2nd/3rd October. I will keep an eye on the thread, if you aren't sorted by the time I get back I will get it done and PM you with scan, if in the meantime you get it sorted I won't need to bother. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Hi Blackrat I've got the three articles from the May June and July 1976 Railway Modeller and I'll PM you the plan . Howley town was built by Dave Howsam and Ron Prattley as an exhibition layout to demonstrate the concept that both had used in slightly different ways in their own homes. Ron Prattley had a permanent layout built into a bookcase and a corner unit. The bookcase also stored an extension fiddle yard that was connected to the cortner unit to form an L for operating sessions. Dave Howsam used portable boards that fitted into the bookcase but could be removed for exhibitions Howley Town consisted of an eight foot by 10 1/2 inch main board that formed the top section of a bookcase with a fixed backscene. When the layout was not in use a second eight foot section upside down formed a lid covering the layout with the top of each backscene fitting into a groove at the front of the other baseboard. The "permanent" board had a terminus on it while the extension included a scenic section and the fiddle yard. In use it was connected to the main board by pin hinges and. supported by a single set of legs at the other end. The extension board looked a bit unbraced to me though the permanent backscenes would have provided some stability. I'm not sure how handling an eight foot extension board would be in the living room but I think their home layouts used shorter extensions. With the baseboard being effecitvely a plank, visible on both sides, wiring was on the top surface with points locally controlled I've always been rather intrigued by the concept as it seemed to fit the Wealden "Layouts You can Live With philosophy rather well. In the articles Dave Howsan gave fairly detailed constructional details but unless you were after a retro 70s radiogram look they'd probably not suit modern tastes. From the photos in the first article of their own home set ups the bookcases look far more conventional and a similar set up cold easily be based on standard flat pack furniture with only the "lid" needing to be constructed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Perfect and thank you very much indeed! Great site, request sorted in under 3 hours!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted September 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 15, 2014 Saves me looking through my boxfiles of cuttings from mags. I did start building a 2mm layout on an 8ftx 1ft bookcase. I would recommend the layout is seperate and sits on the bookcase. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Saves me looking through my boxfiles of cuttings from mags. I did start building a 2mm layout on an 8ftx 1ft bookcase. I would recommend the layout is seperate and sits on the bookcase. Don Hi Don That's what the late Andy Hart did originally with his well known Achaux layout. The scenic part occupied two 36x18inch boards that fitted on the sideboard in his living room and two 36x12 inch boards that fitted on an adjoinig bookcase intentionally the same height. A fiddle yard was added for operation. I don't know how much time Achaux actually spent set up in the living room but Andy did talk about the need to make the whole thing tidy enough to not be an eyesore for the rest of the family (so no bare timber!). When not erected the boards were stored in pairs. The idea of Dave Howsam and Ron Prattley was that the layout would live permanently in the living room or study but would be out of sight (and protected from dust) between operating sessions. I think that in their own layouts it was more a case of lifting a lid (or two in Ron's case) to reveal the layout and then taking the extension piece from another shelf to fit on the end. I agree with you about making the layout separable from the bookcase ,which is what Dave Howsam did so it could be exhibited, but even for a permanent layout it would still make it easier to work on. To fit a baseboard into the top of a bookcase without it being unwieldy I'm wondering how shallow you could make the bracing for a baseboard say a metre long and still achieve rigidity. It's difficult because resistance to bending is AFAIR a square and not a linear function of the depth of a girder (but a monocoque construction with the bracing sandwiched between two boards might allow for a thinner structure and an integral backscene would help. Could you also though consider something other than plywood for the main baseboard members. Aluminium angle maybe? There was a layout featured in MRN in the 1950s called the Potwell Mineral Railway. It was built into a piece of furniture with lids that opened to reveal it but it was a permanent fixture. It was based very closely on the East Kent Railway and was a 00 point to point in two halves each six feet long. It was powered by clockwork mechanisms so needed no wiring. Maybe if radio control of self powered locos is the next leap forward we'll be able to forget about under baseboard wiring too and that will open up a number of possibiities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted September 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 16, 2014 SHallow baseboards can work but need diagonal bracing This is 6mm ply on 34x14 framing I have used this for boards 4ftx2ft6. 4mm ply fascia covering the frame and shaped to a profile for the scenery would give a neat finish. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 16, 2014 I remember another layout also in RM (?) which was built into a chest of drawers, sections being slid out & attached each side of the main unit which had a living lid. Paul RHB's Lulworth Castle on here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/61841-lulworth-castle-camouflaging-the-layout-at-home/ is nicely built in this fashion too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted September 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2014 I don't have room in my bookcases for a layout, I have so many books now that I don't even have the space for them all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Build it on top, like they did and I asked Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted September 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2014 Build it on top, like they did and I asked My bookcases are 6 feet high, and even more books are piled on top. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted September 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 16, 2014 My bookcases are 6 feet high, and even more books are piled on top. A step ladder to operate the layout then Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted September 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 16, 2014 I remember a roundy roundy layout in a chest of drawers. The loop was just a single line and only half the station was sceniced, but the whole lot packed into a 4 ( or 5) drawer chest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Stilts ...........and knock a hole in the ceiling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Or a model of the Liverpool Overhead as seen from street level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted September 17, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 17, 2014 But the books on top now reach the ceiling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted September 17, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 17, 2014 But the books on top now reach the ceiling. Time to go 'Underground' ie dig a cellar. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted September 17, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 17, 2014 How about a quayside tramway with the rails buried in the top of the shelf, this way when not in use it doesn't give itself away... That gives me an idea and I'm building some shelf units soon.... Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Time to go 'Underground' ie dig a cellar. No I think you hit the nail on the head there why not do a tube train layout with all stations underground you could open the cupboard doors and Hay presto there's the layout in cut away form. Steve pictures from Kingsway models web site (no connection) http://www.kingswaymodels.com/index.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted September 18, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 18, 2014 No I think you hit the nail on the head there why not do a tube train layout with all stations underground you could open the cupboard doors and Hay presto there's the layout in cut away form. Steve pictures from Kingsway models web site (no connection) http://www.kingswaymodels.com/index.htm That layout, Aldwych, is one of our club layouts. It was built in about 4 months and the photographs were taken at its first exhibition in July 2013. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted September 18, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 18, 2014 One problem with building underground is that my house is on a concrete raft. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted September 18, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 18, 2014 One problem with building underground is that my house is on a concrete raft. You're just making excuses now Phil . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 One problem with building underground is that my house is on a concrete raft. A handful of Camborne boys will make short work of it, the way they tunnel! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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