Whats the best material to make a portable layout ie: plywood, 2" foam insulation or a combination of things
Gidday, [#welcome] to the forum.
A bit more information would be handy.
HO or N ?
What size are you looking at ?
Are you following a particular modular concept or are you doing your own thing ?
How “portable” is portable ?, ie is it going to get moved on a regular basis?
What are you hoping to achieve ?
Hope this is not coming across as the “Third Degree”. [:)]
Cheers, the Bear
You want to make it sturdy BUT as light as possible. A good solid frame using 1x3 or 1x4 with a foam insulation top is the best way to go. A finished 2 foot by 4 foot module could weigh as much as 50 pounds when complete.
At our club, we use 4 inch thick styrofoam blocks. Only the edges need to be protected, so we glue masonite to them. Electrical wiring is embedded in the foam by burning a trench with a soldering gun and filling it with caulk after the wiring is installed. One person can easily carry a 2 x 8 foot module.
Either that, or using a something like this : http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/192139/2097375.aspx#2097375 1/4 inch plywood can be quite strong, when you make L and T shaped pieces and glue it all together.
Smile,
Stein
This bench is 6’ x 18’. It is 2" foam on 1" x 4" open grid benchwork. I assembled it in the garage/workshop and two of us carried it around the house and into the train room without much difficulty.
If your portable layout is to be moved a lot, I would consider using foam on steel studs as the combination of the (lightweight) steel studs and foam will help fight off the negative effects of temperature and humidity changes that may occur with changing environments.
I really like the idea of embedding wires into the foam, especially on a portable layout. The fewer things to snag, the better.
Good luck and [#welcome]
Brent[C):-)]
I’ve heard 2" foam, with sub roadbed of Luan (or other similar thin plywood) laid cookie cutter style on the foam. Cork roadbed goes on top of the Luan, the foam can be carved to simulate ground contours, or left flat. A border of Luan (or maybe something a little thicker, but not too thick…to save weight) around the perimeter. Luan is pretty cheap (quality and cost), if you can afford it (especially if it will be moved a lot), spend extra for birch plywood with many plies/layers (the more the stronger).
Of course, it depends on the size of the layout, the above idea works for small 2’-3’ x 4’-6’ layouts or modules, not sure how it will fare on a larger( 4’ x 8’ and bigger) layouts. Check modular layout groups/sites to see what others have found to be successful; Free-Mo (and Free-Mo 2) are great sources and don’t forget our friends in Europe are ingenious as well.