Is this just a board that you will place track on or do you plan to secure track on the board? If you are looking for a decent flat surface to set up on you could try 1/4" luan ply or masonite. If the full size is too large for storing it could be halved and hindged by duct taping both sides of the seam. This would work like a book binding. If the tape joint weakens over time, add more to reinforce the joint or replace it. I feel any hindges would only cause trouble on any thin stock.
Bob K.
How about the extruded polystyrene insulation foam boards (pink or blue) found at Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc? Lots of people use that for their layout base these days instead of plywood. They’re pretty light and reasonably sturdy (more so than cardboard, at least). I think they only come in 2’ wide sections (haven’t actually bought one yet, myself), so you might need to use 3 sections instead of 2.
If the track layout moves too much, I may glue certain parts of it, like maybe the piers to keep everything from shifting. Right now on the cardboard it, it you touch it too hard, the tracks shift and become offline and then I have to straighten them out so the train will run again.
I think the lightest construction would be 3 pieces of pink (or blue, depending on whether you’re a Dow or an Owens-Corning person) foam. They are 2 feet wide, and come 8 feet long, so you will end up with some extra once you cut off the 3 feet so you’re left with 5-foot long pieces. Get some 1x3 lumber, just a few pieces, 6 feet long. (I would think 4 of them would do it.) Use Liquid Nails for Projects and glue the wood on to the underside of the foam, across the separations, to hold it all together. This will produce a remarkably light and very solid base for your layout.
I use the same adhesive to fasten the roadbed to the foam, and the track to the roadbed.
And all that extra foam? Cut it at an angle, stack it up like blocks, and you have solid, light hills and canyon walls.
No folding is not necessary. My husband just thought they might make a folding board for people with limited room to set. This way it would be easier to carry around and move it if you had to.
It was his idea.
He now thinks maybe I should get Luan board and glue it on the bottom of the cardboard.
All the ones who are giving me ideas, please remember that I have it on my rug in a corner, so sometimes I have to kneel on it or lightly walk on it.
Once I get it set up and glued where I want it, I can move it out to get to the other 2 sides along the wall.
That’s important information. Extruded foam is definitely not something you can walk or kneel on.
I have my 5x12 foot layout on wheels. I can roll the whole thing around on the carpeted floor. If you have room to rotate the layout without tilting it, that might be an alternative to walking on it.
Okay, my husband bought 2 8x4 1/8 boards and had the lumber yard cut one 64 1/2" x 4’.
The second board he had them cut 64 1/2" x 12".
We then placed the board down and we spread this special silicone using a gun. Once all spread, we turned it over and placed it glue side down onto the original cardboard. We then took the smaller board piece and did the same thing and places heavy items on it and let it dry for 2 days. It worked perfect. I now have a board to place my trains on and the cardboad underneath gives it a very little height off the rug. I can walk and kneel on the board. When I have the tracks all set up, I will send a picture of it.
Can someone tell me how to send jpg pictures,
Thanks for all your ideas and help.
You should go to photobucket or some picture hosting site to store your pictures.
then you will be able to go to thhis site and upload the URL for the pictures you want to post.
[url][http://www.photobucket.com//url]
I’ve advocated this before and will do it again since there are people like us who have to be able to shove our pikes out of the way when not in use.
Consider an A-Frame setup - suspend your train platform between the A-Frames - when you get ready to run you pull your framework away from the wall, move the platform from vertical to horizontal. put your equipment on the track and away you go. Putting it away is just the reverse. Weight is not too much and, with proper bracing on the A-Frames, it is very sturdy.
Now, have I built one of these? No! Have I seen one? Yes! Ian Rice has a picture of one shoved into a closet for storage in one of his small layout plans books.
Just remember to remove your rolling stock from the track prior to converting from horizontal to vertical positioning; I had a layout once with a collapsible yard shelf - there is nothing more frustrating than trying to pick a couple of dozen cars up off of the floor.