Let's talk about baseboards

I said earlier that the layout subject was a blank slate. Despite me posting those pictures of the Vitacress line in Dorset, things could take any track yet. 

Some things though, are certain. This is one of them. The track will be laid on this material. Elmers cork faced foamcore board. It has a foam centre, faced on one side with a sheet of paper, and the other side by 1/32" cork sheet. It is advertised as useful for cork noticeboard projects. Approx. 10mm or  7/16" thick, it comes in a 20" x 30" sheet from hobby stores such as Michaels here in the US. 

Elmers Cork Sheet (picture from the Elmers website)

I have used the material before on my Underground Armaments layout. A model that sadly had to be disposed of in our house move. The cork does help to deaden the sound even in that small a thickness.

The underground armaments layout was something of a personal loss. But as I'd been working on the layout for about 10 years and it would stall at frequent intervals. I didn't feel too pained at its demise.

It is, I think, fairly well known that as a woodworker. I'm pretty incompetent. As a result, over the years, I've experimented with many different materials for baseboard construction. The flatpack Ikea APA box was my discovery. That discovery turned the small model railway baseboard world on its head. I'd also constructed baseboards from expanded polystyrene sheet too. Just to see if I could get away from wood.

The Cwm Lwch baseboard, made from expanded polystyrene. This baseboard survived multiple Minnesotan winters and summers in my garage and never warped or fell apart.

Never be afraid to challenge the accepted norms. In my teens, I once started a 009 layout in an Airfix model kit box and stiffened the thin card of the box with corrugated cardboard. Overall, the project failed but it didn't stop me experimenting.
Foamcore is a material I like. It's light, dimensionally stable, and easy to work with. No saws are needed, just a sharp craft knife and some strong glue.
My good friend, Tom Conboy. Has described in detail working with foamcore on his Wetterau Food Services Layout Blog. A useful resource. If you're considering working in foamcore take a peek.
I shall be taking a look myself.

Inspiration Album No.1. Vitacress/Sylvaspring, Bere Regis, Dorset.

An infrequent series of posts of inspirational images of scenes that may, or may not, find themselves incorporated onto the layout.

Once upon a time, I built a pretty well known Gn15 layout called Purespring Watercress based on the Vitacress line in Bere Regis. It featured in NGIRM Review about 10 years ago and was seen at major train shows in the Midwest up until a few years ago.
About 4 years ago Michael Crofts (of Perrygrove) and I corresponded about the line, and as a result when I was in the UK visiting we, and our tolerant wives, walked the entire length of the line, on a beautiful summers day.
We had found a member of staff and asked if it was OK. The line wasn't working and there was no-one else about so it was fine. I have many, many pictures of this trip. The line is very dear to me.

A bridge like this would be fun to model.

A second view of the bridge. It must be pretty scary to ride the train over that the first few times you do it.

Some very overgrown track.

I can easily visualize this building being a centrepoint of a layout. I'm not sure if the Bedford and Jesty loco could be re-created in OO6.5

What a gorgeous scene

Show and tell

A particular fascination of mine is the Minimum Gauge Railway as developed by Sir Arthur Heywood and his 15" gauge lines at Duffield Bank and Eaton Hall. The Sand Hutton Light Railway at 18" gauge also falls into this class as does the Vitacress or Sylvaspring railway in Bere Regis, Dorset.

In the past, I've modelled these lines in Gn15 (1/2" scale an 16.5mm track) with a fair amount of success, and when I recently found some of my books on the works of Sir Arthur, the desire to model his works again was still there. But our recent house move left me with less space for a layout than before. It was then I discovered 6.5 minimum gauge or 006.5. This uses 4mm scale and Z scale track (6.5mm gauge) to model 18" gauge railways. 

A special range of locomotives, stock and track work is made by Busch under the HOf designation, f standing for Feldbahn, the German field railway system of approximately two foot gauge. 

6.5 Minimum Gauge is the name of a range of kits designed by James Hilton using these Busch mechanisms for locomotives as well as a range of kits for a varied range of rolling stock.

I have some of these kits and I'm really impressed with the way they look and I can't wait to assemble them. 

I've just placed an order for this type of Busch Feldbahn set. I look forward to receiving it, getting a feel for the size, and more importantly seeing how well it fits into the drawer!

This is what started it.

I've no idea what to do with it yet.

Perhaps it's a sign as to how my wife has got used to me. I hadn't even so much as looked at this drawer when she suggested building a layout to fit in it.
It's 20" x 19" (or 582 x 508mm in metric). It's a quality drawer, nice solid wood with well dovetailed corners and a solid plywood base. The base might not even need too much bracing to support a layout in there.
Right now I don't have much idea of what to do with it. I have some ideas and I'll share those later. But right now this empty drawer is a blank slate.

Introduction

I like a good Model Railway based challenge.
Many of you will be familiar with the seven day model railroad project in which I challenged myself to build a layout in less than seven days for an exhibition. The blog was very popular and the layout was too. The layout did sterling service at train shows in the Midwest.
Then there was More T Please where the challenge was to test my skills and abilities in the smallest model railway scale - T. That too was very popular and the Gonou layout equally so.
Finally there was my discovery of the Ikea APA box and my desire to build a interesting operating layout in one of them. Perhaps the APA challenge was the most successful of the lot. The layout had two incarnations, running in both US and UK outline. The layout is 6 years old and is taking a well earned rest.
So to a new challenge, and a new blog. I've decided to blog this project instead of Facebooking it with all the Facebook fuss going on right now, plus I was never totally happy with blogging a layout build in Facebook for reasons which I could divulge over a pint or two.
My wife and I have recently moved house. Our new house is a extensive renovation of an 1895 small house. I think the builders must've left in a hurry because they've left ladders, tiles and decking around the house and garage. We could probably re-tile the bathroom floor if we wanted and we might be able to build a deck with the decking we have.
Hidden away in a corner of the basement my wife found a drawer. No handle, just a drawer. inside dimensions 19" x 20" 482mm x 508mm.
"I bet you could fit a layout in that." She said.
Is that a challenge? I do believe it is.
Here we go then.