I ordered 3 4 ft. sections of Sievers benchwork and I am exceedingly impressed. The whole thing went together with a screwdriver and a wrench. Compared to the pine available at Lowes and HD the wood in these kits is amazingly good. I have decided to complete the entire layout using these modules. My questions are: What type and thickness of material did you put on top these modules : plywood, foam, MDF? 1/4, 1/2, 3/4? I would like to build a light weight valence with lighting for each module. I am thinking about attaching two vertical 1X2 to the back of each module and then using shelf supports attached to the 1x2 to hold up some like of light weight material like foam or masonite to attach the lights to. Thoughts? How did you do it? - Nevin
I dont know about valences. But would think your lights will need some place safe to dump heat. I prefer track lighting from the ceiling.
1x2’s are commonly firring strips and not made very well. They will probably warp if you hang any weight from them. I would use something a little more substantial. (1x3, 1x4) Metal building studs might even work.
Loathar, you beat me to it! Steel studs are the lightest-weight really stiff choice.
If you use high-efficiency bulbs (aka twistybulbs) there will be very little heat to disperse, so white foam (for reflectivity) would be a reasonable valence material. (It’s what I expect to use, except that the fanfold underlayment I already have has shiny aluminum foil on one side for even greater reflectivity.)
I have been building my railroad with plywood subgrade under foam roadbed, with flex track and hand-laid specialwork on top. The subgrade is screwed “up” from below (Westcott L-girder fashion) and the other layers are attached with latex caulk. So far, I am very satisfied with my results.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I’ve seen some pretty good modular lighting using those adjustable gooseneck lamps clamped to the back of the module.
Two steel studs about 2.25 feet long vertically attached to the back of each module frame. It would be used to attach the 2’x4’ masonite backdrop (or other material, thoughts?) to the steel studs woth screws. Small steel shelf supports will be attached to the steel studs and masonite. A lightweight material (foam, masonite?) will be used as a shelf on the shelf support to hold the lighting (tube lights) A valence will be attached to the shelf to prevent glare and concentrate light on the models. I am thinking that the height above the layout would be 2 feet. Thoughts and opinions? - Nevin
By George, 'e’s got it!
Since steel stud can be had in 10 foot length, you can get four supports out of a single stud.
The “standard” screw for steel stud assembly has a button head. If you predrill both the masonite and the stud (3/32") and countersink the Masonite, you can use short #6 flat head screws to secure backdrop material to the vertical studs. (I use the same technique to secure masonite fascias to my steel stud benchwork.)
For a “roof” I intend to laminate thin plywood to a layer of foam (mine has a layer of foil which will help to get the light where I want it.) The plywood will provide something to hold the screws, and is somewhat lighter than equivalent Masonite.
Since your layout is high to begin with, you might consider a lower “roof” level. (If you went with the 60" height you discussed earlier, 2 feet would put you above the height of a standard door. With 54" height, two more feet would put you right at it.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I have a bunch of photos on my website at http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html of my layout’s construction, which I’ve used Sievers benchwork for.
Chatanuga: What type and brand of adhesive did you use to glue the foam to the Siever’s benchwork? I wamt to glue it down but be able to pull it off and preserve the benchwork. - Nevin
chatanuga.
I just took a look at your Web Site and I am amazed by your work. It looks great.
I have a couple of concerns in regards to your basement location though. The block walls appear to have a lot of dampness indications in several places and underneath the window. If this is correct, you may have problems with high humidity in the future. A good idea to help alleviate this would be to make sure that the ground around the outside of your house slopes well away from the house so that any rain or snow does not accumulate against the house and wick through those VERY POROUS cement blocks. Another thing would have been to coat all the walls with a cement sealer. Some that I have seen in the past just paint on like a thick paint.
Also, with that unfinished ceiling above your Layout, you are going to have a lot of dust & dirt coming down from the floor above. These two things I would have completed before building the benchwork.
One other thing that may or may not be a problem, (I just could not tell from the pictures). It appears that the furnace is in very close proximity to the woodwork. This could be a safety code violation depending on your local Energy Branch code requirements. Also, is there proper access to service the furnace and change parts WHEN needed. I say WHEN by way of 41 years experience as a Serviceman & Service Supervisor. Sooner or lat
I believe it was foamboard caulking adhesive from Lowe’s.
The walls are dry. They were like that when I moved into my townhouse back in 2002.
I can’t do anything with the ceiling other than the shop lights I put up since I’m renting. Haven’t had any real issue with dust. I did put down a roll of cheap carpet on the concrete floor to make it a bit better down there.
[quote user=“Blue Flamer”]
One other thing that may or may not be a problem, (I just could not tell from the pictures). It appears that the furnace is in very close proximity to the woodwork. This could be a safety code violation depending on your local Energy Branch code requirements. Also, is there proper access to service the furnace and change parts WHEN needed. I say WHEN by way of 41 years experience as a Serviceman & Service Supervisor. Sooner or later, that furnac
chatanuga.
It sounds like you should have no problems, but you should still check the clearance to combustibles on the rating plate. There is usually no problem when the Furnace is operating as designed. The problems arise when something goes wrong such as a cracked heat exchanger, (a rarity, but it happens more often than people think). As I said, in 41 years as a Serviceman and Service Supervisor in the field working on all kinds of gas equipment, I saw these problems arise on numerous occasions and a few times with disastrous results.
As for the ceiling, some cheap plastic sheeting stapled to the joists would suffice.
Please do not take any offence at my concern re. your gas equipment, it is just that even after being retired for over 10 years, I still have potential hazards jump out at me and I feel that it is my responsibility to make people aware of them.
All the best on your Model Railroad Empire. [bow]
Blue Flamer.
Every time I see a question like this I am reminded of the joke about the one farmer who called another and said, “Jack down at the lumber yard told me that you put an Acme roof on your house. How’d you attach it?”
“Used inch and a half Steven’s Brothers’ nails,” the second farmer replied.
“Thanks,” said the first farmer and promptly hung up.
About two weeks later the first farmer called back to the second just livid. “I used them inch and a half Steven’s Brothers’ nails on my roof like you did and last night during that wind storm my roof blew off!”
“Mine did too,” replied the second farmer. “Second time around I used two and a half inch long nails.”
If the blind shall lead the blind they both shall fall in the ditch.- Matthew 15:14
Let me ask you a question there Nevin: if Chatanuga told you that he had glued his foam to his benchwork with whale dung would you blindly do likewise?
I dont get why people are putting foam over the benchwork. On the seivers website, descriptions & accessories imply that it should be used like this. (Not sievers, but still open grid benchwork.) Is there something I’m not getting?
"If the blind shall lead the blind they both shall fall in the ditch.
Let me ask you a question there Nevin: if Chatanuga told you that he had glued his foam to his benchwork with whale dung would you blindly do likewise?"
I guess I am not exactly sure what your point is.
Chatanuga is using the same brand of benchwork and the same technique of attaching foam sheets to it. It would be very helpful to know if the adhesive he used was successful and whether it is possible to remove the foam later on. His response of latex foamboard adhesive from Lowes is certainly more helpful than whale dung. Ultimately I made the decision for my railroad. I used that adhesive and so far it has worked well. This was hardly the blind leading the blind. - Nevin
The foamboard is my scenery base. Ohio is relatively flat, but in one part of the layout, I’m going to be cutting in a street underpass, which is why there are two 2-inch layers of foamboard to ensure the tracks are high enough above street level for the underpass. The scrap foamboard will be used to build up scenery where needed for hills, overpasses, etc. I went with Sievers benchwork because it was pre-cut, pre-drilled, and included all the parts I needed, making it so I didn’t have to go out and buy new power tools and raw lumber and then try measuring, marking, cutting, and drilling the pieces and trying to make sure all the parts matched up. With Sievers, everything was done already, and all I had to do was assemble. Besides, I don’t think my neighbors in the other townhouses (4 units per building) would like hearing a saw running in my basement in the evenings. As far as the edges of the foamboard showing, I’m planning on putting a fascia on the layout that will cover that.
tTT:
I have found that CFL ballasts can run fairly warm, however, and they can fail and get very hot, so foam wouldn’t be a good idea. I think fluorescent striplights would be cheaper and distribute light
better. The valance could be white-painted Masonite, supported from a lumber framework, with the lights screwed through the Masonite, into the lumber. I’d be inclined to use cheap loss-leader 2x3s as the vertical and horizontal members, which are almost as economical as 1x2s, and much stronger.
Why not hang the valance from the ceiling?
Whatever!!!