At lot of folks when talking about their upcoming layout are saying thing like, “I’m building my layout to be modular, so I can take it with me when I move.”
What exactly does that mean? Surely it is not like the N scale 2x4 modules. or is it.
I can see seting up the bench work so that it can be unscrewed and moved in sections. But anything other than flat trackwork seems like it would be a real nightmare to breakdown. Mountains and forests would have to be all re-done anyway unless you built a seam into them. And what are the chances that the new place will have the same shape of space availible.
Are “modules” possible or in terms of a basement layout, a [i]pipedream?[/]
Typically that really means ‘sectional’. Modular generally refers to segments that can be arranged in any order - the interfaces on the ends of each module are identical. Think NTrak. Sectional refers to a layout that comes apart in pieces, but there’s usually only 1 way to put it all back together again, without modifying things.
It is entirely possibe to build a home layout to either one group’s modular standards, or to make a home layout sectional. I guess in a way you could say mine is, since I built it up from a series of 2x8 sections. But I have no breaks inthe track at the joint - if I DID have to haul it out, it would be easy enough to do with rail nippers or a cutoff wheel.
Chip:
The idea of a sectional or modular is to move it !So you do your scenery to handle it,make sure tables mate up good,masking tape on the seams,sections bolt togethor,no switches across joints ECT,ECT!It can be done and none the wiser![:D][2c]
You could build the scenery so it’s not permanently attached to the tabletop. In other words, it lifts off before the sections come apart. The local science center uses this method on their semi-permanent O scale layout here in Pittsburgh.
Sure, why wouldn’t it be repairable? Cut through the whole thing, and when reassembling it, patch the split with more plaster or Sculptamold or similar material, good as new, not IDENTICAL to before, but still good as new. That’s int he case like mine where I COULD ake it apart if I decided to - depends on when such a move may take place, I may prefer to just strip off all the reusable parts and trash it.
What you could do, Chip, is put a split, one-layer base of foam down for mountains. The split would be at the join or seam. Those two pieces are glued to their sub-strata, whether more foam, or homasote, whatever. Then, you place a whole mountain over those two split pieces so that the mountain straddles the join, but looks like it belongs there; the contours would all match. The split could be hidden with tape, paint, heavy brush, whatever. If you have to relocate the layout, lift moountain, unbolt frames, and hoist everything out of the (name of room).
There are several ways to disguise joints between module sections. Here is my joint (heh heh heh) between my yard and industry modules–it’s not exactly hidden, but I made an effort to reduce its impact by putting the edge of my “berm” hill along the edge of the module, and was careful to match coloring of dirt on both sides of the split.
It’s held together with C-clamps right now, but a more permanent quick-release method would work too. The other side of the industry section will have its joint hidden (huh huh huh, stoner humor) by a street/sidewalk junction. Of course, having an urban layout I kind of have an advantage in that there are lots of straight lines and flat surfaces I can co-opt into section ends.
If you want to move your layout frequently, then it’s harder to create a totally hidden joint–but if your objective is to make provision to move SOMEDAY, rather than moving it around a lot, the breaks really only need to be obvious at the framework and foam levels–the top layer of plaster/paint/dirt/hardshell can be contiguous, and when it comes time to move you just use a hobby knife to cut the shells apart, then patch 'em together after the move as rrinker suggests. Not an instant fix–but easy compared to the guys who say they’ll have to take their layouts apart with a chainsaw. If you’re only going to move a couple of years, then it’s probably easier to move a layout than rebuild from scratch.
And if the spaces don’t match, at least with sections you have the nucleus of your new layout–you can build new sections to fit in between the old ones and expand from there.
My own design is going to be semi-modular–there are several places where standards will match inter-module, so I can set up the layout in one of several ways while I am still building it, but technically there will only be one way to set up the whole thing.
Chip
How a bout a big canyon with the seam at the bottom,bridge across the top,I’ve seen this done before,IE remove tape in the canyon,remove bridge,unplug wireing under the layout and WOLAW!!
JIM
I’m thinking about this right now, as I want to build a sectional layout. But I want to dismantle it more often: it is around a study at over 50" off the floor so i want to remove sections to work on them, especially careful tracklaying and messy scenery work. SO I need to have more reusable joins. I love the point about urban scenery giving more lines to work with (mine will be mostly urban), but nevertheless I think I’m going to have to live with some of the cracks showing…
Well, crack is a part of urban life these days (bad joke, I know.) As I mentioned in another thread, a short “gapper” section between modules makes for smoother running and easier positioning than having track sections butt up against each other, which requires very precise alignment. Being able to take down sections to work on them is a BIG plus.
This is exactly how my layout was planned. I will have to do some scenery destruction,
but I will be able to move the layout and rebuild it with minor repairs(minor compared
to completely starting over). Dave
