Baseboard Basics

Just a quick post showing the baseboard under construction. I've built 2 frames - one 1200 x 600 and the other 800 x 1400. It's basic 19mmx75mm timber construction with a few reinforcements here and there. Some  nice cutting and chisel work too!

The plywood sheets are 3mm thick and come standard in 800 x 1200 which is convenient. Note that they are not always square though! I could not be bothered straightening them - most likely I'd make them worse anyway.

I've joined the 2 parts of the L together so that they can be separated easily enough later for transport. I plan on investing heavily here and want to hang onto this if we move again.

I'll be putting some coach bolts in here tomorrow with wing nuts. These sections are screwed together for now.

Just added a little 200 x 800 plywood piece to the larger baseboard as a separate item to allow both boards to be separable (above).

And below is a picture of my desk with various bits of train and electronic detritus liberally polluting it. All the Arduino software is working, of coures, and the test layout is running smoothly.

Layout Option 1

Here's a new layout idea based  roughly on my previous one but extended quite a bit.

I contemplated building a helix to raise my track but did not have to - I got land, baby. I've rversed a few things - note that the inner track now goes up instead of the previous case where the outer track descended.

That inner track will now mostly be exposed and is also double height at 12cm above the deck - I'm planning a lovely viaduct for almost half the length of the layout.

The green section will be raised and all the track will actually run under it except for the tram (blue track).

The tram will be built using Tomix tram track which I will coat with textured cobblestone paper.

The town will be built along the tram line on the green section.

Would love your views, folks.

Here's a track manifest, for the record:

The Hobby Room Takes Shape

So we've moved in and got most of the immediate home maintenance done - painting and, of course, a CAT-6 network to all main rooms of the house.

The media centre is in, but no projector yet. Still, it can wait. I'm feeling pretty gun shy with my wallet now. Just had to lash out on a new 4-stroke engine of death to control the back garden...

Anyway, I have found some time to set up my new layout in my new hobby room!!

Here's an image for you all...

I'm standing right near my work table in a corner. You can just see the top of my monitor in the foreground. In the far corner is the layout - just a table for now. It's an L shaped layout. The long edge is 2m and the return is 1.2m long and 0.6m wide. The main part of the L is 0.8m wide.

I've been sent a lovely gift by Markus - a track planning book - just what the doctor ordered. I'll be taking tips from there and enhancing the ideas I've already published as I now have roughly double the area available.

I've also discovered that Tomix makes beautiful snap together tram tracks with a minimum 150mm radius curve - also just what I need.

Oh well, I guess it has begun at last!!