Baseboard Construction

 

Given the priorities in the “Principles” section, we came up with scenic baseboards 4’ 6” long, 3’ high and 2’ 3” wide. This constrained the depth of track work / scenery but gave us the height we desired.

In order to minimise the number of pieces to transport we decided that the ‘legs’ should also be end protectors and that the lighting rack and pelmet should be integral.

Below is an early picture of the resulting ‘raw’ baseboard – with apologies for the use of a British ‘O’ Gauge model to give an idea of scale rather than an American one. The piece of 1” by 1” is a temporary strut to help to hold everything square.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The construction of a baseboard started with the forming of three ‘C’ shapes, one for each end and one in the middle.

 

For all but the end baseboards of the layout the ‘C’ shape consisted of a 3’ piece of nominal 3” by 1” softwood vertical. To this were screwed and glued 3” strips of ¼ “ ply (with suitable nominal 1” by 1” spacers at the ends and middle.

 

Assembly of a baseboard started with screwing and gluing its three ‘C’ shapes to a carefully cut and squared sheet of ¼” ply which formed the back scene. Accuracy is vital at this stage to ensure that the resulting baseboard is square. Even tiny inaccuracies multiply horrendously. Do not rely on the local joiners / DIY shop to cut sheet ply accurately! It was with great relief when we assembled the layout for the first time that everything lined up!

The picture below shows the first base boards joined together for the first time. In the picture there are the first four baseboards as can be seen by the changes in colour of the back scene (not to mention the odd G clamp!).

 

 

 

The assembly continued with fitting the 3” ply stringers to the lower front of the baseboard. It is vital for a square baseboard that the length is exact.

 To aid the accuracy from this part of the build onwards, the baseboard was mounted right side up on an extended workbench with a ‘jig’ made out of softwood to produce an accurate floor rectangle.

Similarly the upper lengthways stringers were added again out of 3” ply. The baseboard is now looking something like but is still fairly wobbly.

 

Time to move back to the lower part of the baseboard with the fitting of the central lengthways stringers - again 3” ply with nominal 1” by 1” spacers.

 

Finally the diagonal stringers were fitted – each end being chamfered at an angle to be a snug fit. Not as easy as it sounds here – there was much muttering both under the breath and out loud! It is vital at this stage not to force the diagonal stringers in as this immediately pushes the base out of alignment. I know because I did it and had to undo quickly before the glue set!

 

Now we have a skeletal baseboard! One last check to see that all is square and stand back in admiration – it really might work! Only five more to make!

 

Now for the legs and end protectors.

The legs were made out of nominal 2” by 1” screwed and glued to a ply sheet with a piece of nominal 2” by 1” stringer at the top to take hinges to attach to the bottom of the baseboard. To provide a measure of stability for the leg, a piece of nominal 2” by 1” was attached so it could swing vertically. This diagonal was aligned with the central stringers of the baseboard, holes drilled through both and bolts applied.

The drilling of the holes would have been far easier if they had been drilled before the diagonal stringers had been fitted to the baseboards! Still we know better for next time.

 

The non-leg end protectors were made similarly but without the 2” by 1” legs.

Care needs to be taken in fitting both leg and non-leg protectors. The hinges need to be recessed carefully so that that a leg of one baseboard does not interfere with an end protector of the next one when the layout is assembled.

 

Finally captive nuts were installed in the top ends of the baseboards to bolt the legs / end protectors for transport.

 

So there we have the skeleton of a baseboard complete with integral legs, end protectors, lighting rack and pelmet – all in one unit for transport and setting up.

 

 

Now for the track bed:

 

 

 

The track bed is again made from ¼” ply with longitudinal stringers of ply / 1” by 1” to stop it sagging. The height supports  were obtained by inserting pieces of 1” by 1” into the lower cross members and then attaching horizontal lengths of ply to the tops.

In the picture above, the ski jump is one end of where the large tresel bridge will be!

 

Boxes were made to take what will eventually be the rivers etc:

 

 

 

Here you can see the mainline level track bed in the foreground and the zig zag of the branch line and the horizontal siding for the central mine at the top. This picture also shows the lengthways supports for the track bed to prevent sagging.

 

 

The picture below is of the same area of the layout but from an angle which shows the preparation for one of the rivers – not to mention the three bridges needed to cross it!

 

 

 

Here is a shot from the back of the layout showing the nominal 3” by 1” of he ‘C’ shapes mentioned earlier. Also note that we have been able to mount the point motors and all the wiring interconnections in the recess provided by the 3” by 1”. All very accessible!