Layout Construction Updates for 2007

The Home and Design of the RGW

February 2007

Backdrop painting continued on the perimeter wall of the train room. As of this entry, we have completed as much of the backdrop painting as we feel is necessary to move to the next phase of construction. The painting is a combination of acrylic paints applied by hand using conventional brushes and an airbrush. The acrylic was thinned 50/50 with water for use in the airbrush. A small fan brush was used to dab in the tree tops after the hillsides were painted in with their base color. If you have any questions about the techniques we used, please drop us an email.

As shown in the pictures below, the backdrop covers approximately 300° of the room, with only the extreme NE wall unpainted, as it houses the workbench and cabinetry. While it is anticipated that additional painting will be necessary as we progress with scenery, it “feels” right to move back into construction at this point.

Other activities completed thus far include laying out the location of the NW and N wall table sections, as well as the NW finger table. This was accomplished using a variety of tools, most notably the Cadrail drawing of the layout which provided the coordinates for reference points in the table sections. We used those points to mark the floor and then played connect the dots with a long straight edge and a trammel where curves were required. Once the floor sections were traced on the floor, we laid down masking tape to simulate the front edges of each table. An example of that method can be seen here. By following the practice, we can determine well in advance if we have issues with such things as layout design, spacing and aisle width. Trust me, it’s far better to spend the time playing with masking tape, than to build a table section, only to find you can not maneuver around it.

We also reviewed the grades we have assigned in Cadrail and then put them on the wall to get a visual taste of the flow of the track. This gives us a sense of where table sections might need to be adjusted to compensate for risers and it also gives us a quick look at where the track is really headed and where we might want to adjust the grade to ensure track reaches its appropriate destination. In this photo, you can see the grade lines we have placed on the wall.

Finally we completed the day by determining where we will mount our hanging brackets for the NW and N wall table sections. Our goal is not to have a single table leg along both of these stretches of the layout. In our next entry, we will detail just how this will all work.

March 2007

With the backdrop set for now, we set our sights on construction of the northwest and north wall sections of the layout. As we mentioned in the February update, we determined locations of our hanging brackets for the NW and N wall table sections. Our goal is not to have a single table leg along both of these stretches of the layout. The reason for this is a combination of the depth of the table, only a maximum of 1 foot, and the width of the aisle along this section. This combination will put operators and patrons in close proximity to the table edge at all times, as such, the risk of tripping on outer edge table legs is too great.

The first concern was how to mount the wall sections without external legs. We considered moving the legs back from the table edge, but that didn’t really address the issue, given the shallow depth of the table. Brackets seemed the only real solution, but then what kind. Angle brackets were considered, but given that three separate levels of track ran through this area, angle brackets would present a visual obstruction that was not acceptable. After sitting with pencil and paper, a concept of our bracket was born. Steel plate, 3″ in width, 11″ long, 3/8″ thick and bent in the shape of an “L”. Four holes with 7/16″ diameter for mounting and one 1″ diameter hole to run conduit through. Fortunately, one of my customers is a metal fabricator and he agreed to make 20 of them for the project.

The first picture below is our first bracket. You can see the metal is bent at a right angle, giving us a wall mount surface. We used two 3-1/4″ lag screws with washers to affix each bracket to the wall, checking to make sure each was level and in those areas where more than one bracket was stacked, that each was plumb as well. The second and third pics below were more for “hamming it up” purposes, but you get the idea of how we handled the task.

These next three pics provide a bit of reference to what we will ultimately see. In the first shot, we laid 1×3 dimensional lumber on the tops of the brackets to simulate the table tops. We were looking to make sure the “flow” looked right. In this pic, you can start to see how we will rise from the lower staging yard to the main table. The third level is our highest point on the railroad, approximately 57″ off the floor. Table sections will be built in boxes that span the length between each bracket. Holes will be drilled in each box that correspond with the mounting holes on the extended leg of the bracket. We will tie all the boxes and brackets together with screws and bolts. In the second pic, we set up temporary risers at the brackets and used our dimensional lumber to simulate subroadbed ribbon so that we could check our grades. The final shot is that of our grade tool, which can be purchased through local hobby shops. It affixes to the end of a 24″ or 48″ level and has grade percentages marked on the face plate. It makes setting grades quick, easy and very reliable.

March 2007 (2)

With all do respect to our friends across the pond and our brethren due North of here, today was “Boxing Day” at the RGW. While we are not celebrating Boxing Day in the true Brit or Canuck fashion, it is in a way a day to celebrate the next phase of benchwork construction. We referred to our exploits of today as boxing day, as we built 8 boxes of varying length, each spanning a distance of 1 foot from the exterior wall. We then proceeded to hang the boxes from the brackets we installed at our last work party.

The pictures below should give you a better feel for how our brackets were intended to work. The first pic is our stand-alone bracket, while the next two pics show installed boxes. Our “bracket sandwich” includes two ends of opposing boxes with the 3/16″ bracket between them. The through holes are 7/16″ in diameter and the center hole is 1″ in diameter. Threaded bolts, washers and nuts hold the sandwich together and the center hole is for running wire when we get to that point.

The first pic in the next series shows the boxes installed along the NW wall of the train room. Those boxes that have been built were the ones that did not need any special construction technique. The boxes that still remain to be built will require special dimensioning in order to accommodate either the space they will fit in (like the corners) or that may need some contouring in order to complement the need for additional aisle space. The next pic includes a quick grade reference. We put in a temporary riser and put down a 1×4 board to represent our grade as it exits the staging area and heads up to the next table. The third pic includes the boxes on the North wall and the final pic is for your use as a reference as to what the area looked like before we installed the boxes.

In our next report, we anticipate all of the boxes will be built and installed. That then leads us to our next hurdle, the construction of the “North Blob” as we affectionately refer to it. You can see the drawing here.

April 2007

As we touched on in the March report, this work session was devoted to the construction of our “curved” boxes and the NW corner of the layout. As you can see in the three pictures below, we didn’t exactly create a curved box. That would have required us to laminate thin strips of plywood and construct a curved form to tie it all together. Way too much work for this stage of construction. Therefore, we built conventional boxes with a twist. We will ultimately use masonite to form the fascia, so we decided to let the fascia create an illusion of a curved box.

In the first view, there are three design elements I want to draw your attention to. The first is in the upper level box. You can see that the front-facing side does not run the full length of the box. Compare it to the box immediately to its right, you can see the screws holding it together. Our new box lets the side perpendicular to the wall run long. This allows us to maintain the use of the bolts that are threaded through the brackets we have outlined in our previous updates. We then can look at the second level and see how the real box has been shortened by approximately 3″. We then added a non-structural bump-out that equals the depth of the other standard boxes. The final element is that the middle shelf ends with the box shown. If we were to continue with another box, we would run into untenable separation issues with our grade and subroadbed. As such, we needed a filler strip to accommodate the bolts.

The second and third pics shown provide a clearer view of our illusion of a curved box. In the two views shown, using a scrap strip of masonite and a couple of clamps, I hopefully illustrated how the flexibility of the mason fills the void in the box and gives us a nice curved effect. Please also note how this method follows our original plan, outlined on the floor in masking tape. When the time comes, we will cut the masonite to follow the terrain of the railroad and affix the masonite to the boxes with glue and screws.

The pictures below provide other views of our finished product. The second picture needs some explanation. When we addressed the issue of constructing special boxes to fit these corner sections, we quickly decided another option was necessary. We came to the conclusion that cutting out 5/8″ plywood in the shape of the corner was more than sufficient for our needs. Why? First, the corners do not need to be structural, we could easily span the subroadbed from the NW wall to the N wall. Second, assuming we wanted to use the corner as a location for an industry that required switching, the risers for the subroadbed can be connected to the flat surface of the plywood using multiple means. And lastly, the only thing we really needed a form in the corner for was to hang fascia. The plywood can easily handle that job, but if necessary, small backer blocks can be added to give us additional area to attach the fascia. All that considered, we skipped building special boxes and went to the jigsaw. (Thanks Bob!).

It is clear from the results that we will have some unique lighting issues, but that’s a problem for another day. In our next report, we tackle the “North Blob”.