Now that I have most of the WS subroadbed down on my new layout, I’ve discovered (much to my dismay) that I’ll likely need to relocate a considerable distance across country. In past moves I’ve been much more willing to dismantle or discard what I had, but not this time.
My question is this: do any of you out there have plans or suggestions for building a protective cover for a small layout (3’ x 4’) I’m thinking about using tempered hardboard with a 1 x 2 frame of some sort, but the experiences of our forum experts would be most valuable and most welcome. I need something strong enough to be stacked in a moving van without damage to the foam structure I’ve completed. (Don’t have any really delicate structures or scenery on the layout yet - that will be the first project in the new location.)
Thank you in advance for your help, and for all that I’ve learned from you already.
Sounds like you have it under control. The hardboard seems thin–across the sides may be okay, but unless you use a lot of 1 x 2’s, it will be pretty flimsy across the top. Personally I’d get a cheap 3/8" ply.
Thanks, SpaceMouse! You may be right. What I was planning is to use pieces of extruded foam to temporarily fill in low spots in the terrain, so that when packed for moving the layout will be pretty much a solid foam section covered by a hardboard (or plywood) cover. Figured the solid foam underneath would give support to the top and protect the subroadbed.
I would avoid hardboard and go with 3/8ths or 1/2 inch plywood. You might even be able to get by with 1/4 inch if you could insure that your box would be at the top of the load which you would be able to do if you were moving yourself but which, I suspect, you are not doing. Before I entrusted my layout to the vagaries of a moving company or Brown I would go to a professional crating company and fork over the few bucks to have a very sturdy (wooden) carcass constructed and pack everything in there after filling the thing up with a couple of bags of peanut filling.
I would build a frame to frame the frame…(cough)…uh, if you know what I mean, and then screw a plywood shroud around that frame. That way, you don’t have to fill or pack anything…at all…, just leave empty space for the minimum distance that it will take to clear the surface you want to protect. Any more means higher shrouding and more leverage for damage to the shroud.
In other words, frame around what constitutes your current layout frame by screwing decent wood, or even a base of 3/4" ply to the bottom of the current layout. To that, screw down a close-fitting (in all dimensions) cap of 1/2" - 3/4" ply with blocked corners for strength, and you should be able to literally toss that thing up onto the van at the last before the doors are swung shut.
Instead of attaching a cover and trying to protect side and top, just build a crate. This way the layout frame is cribbed and sitting on some 1x cross bracing. 1x2 strapping and 1/2" OSB will make a crate strong enough to protect the layout from any abuse during shipping.
Start by making a base like a mini pallet, the sides and top can be made as onr unit cover that will drop over and is DW screwed to the base. Added foam and interior bracing can be added for added protection.
Thanks, guys for the great ideas! I hadn’t thought about building a crate, but that sure would be the safest thing to do. I suppose I’m lucky in that I’m not at a point where the track or wiring is in - that would be the fragile part I think. Right now the layout is foam base on a 1/2" plywood frame, WS risers, and WS inclines, and I don’t think I’ll go much further before the move (unless, of course, I need to do a bit with the layout to preserve or restore my sanity!)
I’ll check into the cost of having a crate built versus getting the lumber myself - with the cost of plywood and dimensional lumber here in Reno, the first option may be cheaper.