I am curious as to the experiences of anyone who has built a layout using the rigid 2" (or greater) home insulation board. I have a mountain of the bead type styrofoam to use as terrain and I want to build the lightest possible second level. Handling a bunch of 3/4 " plywood is not my idea of fun.
The stuff you want is extruded foam. I think it’s urethane, not polystyrene. Comes in blue for boys or pink for girls. (No, it’s blue for Lowe’s and pink for Home Depot, actually.) I built my 5x12 foot layout with it. It’s a great material to work with, and I wouldn’t do it any other way. You should have a rigid frame of 1x4 and / or 1x3 lumber. I use Liquid Nails for Projects to glue the foam to the frame, the roadbed to the foam and the track to the roadbed.
Thanks for the Info Mister Beasley. Did you use 2" or something else? I’d heard of the Liquid Nails for Projects and am glad to hear from someone who actually did it. Do you think that a 1 x 6 cut like a delta wing tapering to 1 to 2 inches at the very outside end would be strong enough to support a 4’ x 8’ piece of the stuff? I was thinking of using the Bruce Chubb idea of using some threaded rod disguised as trees to suspend the upper level from the ceiling, thus the lightness being a factor. I’ve been saving every piece of the bead type stuff i find to use as terrain in order to have everything as light as possible. Did you keep yours flat or have you got much terrain? bob
Yes, I used 2-inch foam. Here’s a shot of my benchwork platform. It’s a free-standing 5x12 foot table. The outer frame is 1x4 with 1x3 rafters. The legs are 2x3, and the cross bracing is 1x2. After I took the legs off, I could carry the rest of the frame upstairs with one hand. The legs have casters on the bottom so I can roll the whole thing around easily, even now with the layout and trains on it.
I did a lot of level changes, and I’m not done yet. The base level rests directly on the 1x3 rafters. All elevated levels are up on short trestles made of 1x2’s and screwed to the rafters. You can see a bit of the trestles in this shot:
My 1x3 rafters span the entire 5 feet, and are supported only at the ends. I suspect your delta wing design would work, too.
Wish I could see the pics, MisterBeasley, but they don’t appear to be accessable. I’m extremely curious about the 5’ span. Is it all one piece of foam, using 3 5’ x 4’ sections? Or does it come wider than 4’? Are the 1x4’s under the foam at the edge or glued to the side of the foam? I thought the delta wing design would allow me to eliminate legs at the outside edge of the layout and the possibility of snagging the table support and damaging something. It would also make storing stuff under the layout simpler. Most of it will be around the wall and, as I am getting up in years, the ease of getting under things becomes more important. Since I can’t see the pics and the different levels I really can’t tell how you did the contouring. Do you think a hot wire cutter would be a good investment? Thanks, bob
bob@osd,
You can use the white beaded foam you have if you limit it’s use to scenery. It isn’t dense enough to adequately support roadbed and track. It will work fine to build up layers of scenery, but it is awfully messy to cut. Cut it with a sharp knife or hobby knife. I wouldn’t use a hot wire cutter with the white foam as it produces noxious and toxic fumes. The pink or blue foam does not produce toxic fumes.
If you are going to suspend you layout, or part of it, make sure the framework is solidly constructed. Pink and blue foam is fairly ridgid, but it will flex and bend to a degree. If your frame is solid, the foam will stay in place without warping.
Darrell, quiet…for now
The pink foam only comes in 2x8 foot sheets. I hope the photo problem is just intermittent, because I usually do it this way and most people can see them.
My outer frame is a rectangular box made from 1x4 pine, 5 feet wide by 12 feet long. Inside that, I put the 5-foot rafters made from 1x3’s, spaced every 16 inches. The base level of the foam rests on the rafters, inside the outer frame. The rafters line up with the bottom of the frame, which lets the foam sit about an inch down inside the frame, providing some protection. The foam is only glued to the rafters. That techinique is strong enough that it doesn’t need to be glued to the side walls.
I put the subway train tracks on the base level of foam. Above that, I built up trestle supports for the next level 3 inches higher, allowing the “ground level” tracks to pass over the subways where necessary. I use scrap pieces of foam for adding additional terrain.
MisterBeasley, when I submitted and the page reverted from acknowledging to the topic, I was able to see your pics. Why, who knows. They make it apparent that you were thinking far ahead of what you were actually doing. Haste will make waste. I was thinking that if I have the 2" end of the delta wing shaped rafter ending at the edge of the foam and a 4" edge board glued to the edge of the foam and screwed to the rafter end or a 2x nailer (screwer?) that I could protect the edge of the foam, give myself something solid to be able to grab to move the layout sections as well as a place to mount things and keep the entire structure as thin as possible. If I end the rafter at 3" I could use a 1x6 and the entire structure would only be 5 1/2" high. Thoughts? Bob
That sounds like a good plan. The 1x6 will be heavier than a 1x4, but if it comes right to the top of the foam then you won’t need to add any fascia later on, so you’ll save yourself some effort there.
One thing to be aware of is reach distance. The general rule is that you can’t work more than 30 inches from the edge of your layout. Since my layout is 5 feet wide, the center is just 30 inches from the edge, and I think that 30 inch number is very accurate. My layout is lower than most, because it is under a 45-degree roof, but that actually makes it easier to get to the 30-inch point without getting up on a step-stool. One limitation of a foam layout is that you can’t climb on it like you can with plywood.
Again, Mister Beasley, thanks for the info. Most of my current plan is either around the wall and 26.5 inches or accessable from 2’ diameter access holes where I have room for a more substantial piece of real estate. I’ll also have a removable lake. Bob T