I would respectfully suuggest that, in the new layout, Pell could make things easier for himself by not gluing everything down.
It’s fine for items that need to be held firmly in place on a surface, such as the switch stand in the upper left photo on page 27 in the September issue. But there’s really no need to glue the road sign.
Just drill holes large enough to take the posts and press fit the sign in place. It’s not going to go anywhere and when the time comes to remove it, it’s a simple matter of gently pulling it out of place.
In my last layout, I used this method fot signs, poles and other items that required a hole. Aside from the ease of dismantling, they were easy to remove if I wanted to get them out of the way for cleaning or other maintenance.
If you read the article I believe Pelle said that he learned some lessons along the way with this past layout of his. He may have had good reasons for securing roadside signs. Maybe he’ll address that in the subsequent articles.
Right here, and now, I can give you two good resasons for gluing signs down. They should be attached to your shirt, dangling around your arms.
I’ve pulled out more telephone poles, milemarkers, and trees with those things trying to re-rail a train. I’m all for a small bead of glue. Not much, just enough to hold it but not so much that you can’t ovrcome it.
You’re quite correct in that he does mention learning the lesson of using a glue that can be easily removed.
I’ve been guilty myself of attaching things to a layout in such a way that it was very difficult to remove them later. It’s not only frustrating, it can be tough to do without damaging them.
The point I wanted to make is to not use a glue at all if it’s not necessary.
In the case of the road sign, I’m not sure why he felt it needed to be glued. If the sign can be pressed firmly into the holes, it should stay where it’s put and can be easily removed at a later date.
Having said that, if there was some reason he felt that wasn’t enough I’d be intertested in hearing about it.
Pelle’s layout was interesting but for MR to print a story about it being dismantled I don’t understand. Most of us have all dismantled layouts, it’s not rocket science. I don’t really think it was a worth while story.