While plywood seems to be the standard for benchwork, I saw sheets of 5mm backer board that were 50% less cost for a 4'x8' sheet and lighter weight. Yes, it was a little flimsier, but I'm thinking with the right support underneath, it should work just fine for an N-scale layout. The backer board is also humidity resistant, so I'm thinking less warping would take place. Does anyone have any experience with this material? The scraps would also be more flexible to provide grading, and the 5mm thickness is really 5mm.
The "backer board" I'm familiar with is fiber reinforced gypsum or cement-based sheets over which to lay tile. Neither seems like a good choice for model railroad subroadbed.
So...you're gonna build a "table" and put track on it? I know lots of model railroaders who do that, but for my portable modules, I build 'em like a permanent layout, using clear pine 1x4's to make L-girder benchwork, with 3/4" sanded-one-side plywood for the module ends, and splined Masonite subroadbed to support my roadbed and track...except I make legs that fold instead of legs that just stay there...out of 2x2 redwood Balusters, with adjustable "glides" on the bottoms to adjust my height and get them exactly level. After I've built my benchwork (including skyboards, fascia and folding legs, splined Masonite subroadbed and all of the risers and supports for that) and when I've sanded the tops of my splined Masonite subroadbed and glued my Midwest Cork roadbed down and sanded it...and glued my Micro Engineering code 55 or code 40 track to it...then dropped my feeders and wired the module and tested it all out...(whew!)...THEN I fill in all that empty space between the edges of my module and the edges of my subroadbed with mostly 2" extruded Styrofoam insulation...and carve it to the shape I want for my topography. If I'm building a big yard, I'll substitute 3/4" sanded-one-side CDX plywood for the splined Masonite subroadbed. Yup, it sounds like a lot of work, and it is...but since I'm going to be working on my modules (which comprise my home layout) for years...and running detailed engines and trains on top that cost thousands of dollars in total...why not spend a little extra time and effort to make benchwork and subroadbed that is quality?...and sturdy?...and easy to work on? I figure about 100 bucks per 6' module using prime, clear pine dimensional lumber, redwood 2x2 Balusters for the folding legs and skyboard supports and the 1/8" Masonite for the fascia and skyboards. My splined Masonite subroadbed, made from five 1" strips of 1/4" tempered Masonite glued together (per track) is MUCH cheaper than plywood subroadbed, and sturdier, quieter and dimensionally much stronger. The main problem with it is cutting all those 1" strips out of a 4x8 sheet! I just have it done at my local cabinet shop for about 20 bucks a sheet. That gives me enough for several 6' modules and I don't have to breathe in all that Masonite dust and cough it up for a week afterwards! When I've got five Big Boys, four Challengers, Six F'3 lashups, four GTEL Big Blow Turbines and several hundred cars and a dozen or more brass cabooses all sitting on top of my benchwork at Echo Yard...I'm happy that I've spent a few hundred bucks on quality wood and components to support those thousands of dollars worth of motive power and rolling stock! Cheers! Bob Gilmore
Definitely benchwork is not something where we should cut corners. Do the best as is possible with your budget. To save weight, look closely at using 2" foamboard, as can be see in that underside of what Bob has built.
Wow, Bob! Yeah I suppose it is a table I planned on building. I'm really not versed on the terminology for benchwork. Is splined masonite the "backer board" material I was talking about? I do plan on making my layout transportable with the folding legs and all. However, it seems like no matter where I try to put a clean cut, there's a switch or elevation change taking place, preventing me from reducing the layout into smaller parts. I guess I'm a bit anxious to head to the hardware store and get something going. I like your reasoning (and benchwork) and will focus on working out the benchwork in CAD first, before putting glue to wood. Looking at your pictures, I see now that a "table" isn't what I want. It will be too much cutting and drilling after the fact. The interlocking for Ogilvie Center I'm going to be modeling will include 23 double-slips, 3 triple switches and 19 regular switches (forming 4 double crossovers in the process) all elevated about 50mm off the table surface. That whole portion of the table would just be in the way if I built it like I was going to. I could isolate it on an elevated portion with open space under it like I see you have done on one of your modules. That would sure help the wiring nightmare that I know will be inevitable. I'll put another month of design time into benchwork. I really want to do this just once. A "safe" module size for Chicago North and Ogilvie will be about 5'x11' as far as I can tell, but hardly transportable. I could actually split the two areas apart from each other though, but I'm still looking at a 2'-6"x11' section. See the drawing below and thank you for your insight. The thick white line down the middle is free from any switches, and follows a road. Please ignore the craziness on the southern side. I'm still working out the hidden loop that connects Chicago North and Ogilvie.
I am happy to be of assistance! Working it out using CAD is great! It's what I do, and I just use the latest iteration of Cadrail, which has been worth many times its purchase price to me. It appears you are building LDE's (Layout Design Elements) that are close to the prototype's track plan (?). That's a great idea, and it's what I do, and it saves me the headache of attempting to figure out if I'm building trackwork like the UP would. WOW! 23 double slips!! This is an ambitious project indeed! I hand lay all of my turnouts and I have a single three-way, but I've never attempted a puzzle switch. Unless I decide to model Green River sometime in the future, I will probably never have to figure a double-slip out. Complicated trackwork demands a stable platform to put it on. Since your main project right now is a big yard, I wouldn't consider splined Masonite for it, but use the old standby of 3/4" sanded-one-side CDX plywood as your subroadbed, with cork on top to mount your trackwork to. I believe Midwest Cork makes sheets that are the same thickness as their N-scale cork roadbed. Some modelers are using commercially available cork that has an adhesive back, but I would rather use contact cement since it's tried and true. One of the things you'll notice in most prototype yards is that the mainlines are elevated above the rest of the trackage by a foot or so (depends on the railroad's trackage specifications). This, for the prototype is so that no cars will roll on to the mainline, since they don't roll uphill. Some of the local Utah modelers are laying their mainlines on Midwest HO scale cork (one half of a strip), their sidings on N-scale cork, and lightly used not-well-maintained sidings on just subroadbed without any cork. I am laying my UP center sidings (as well as the rest of my sidings) on sanded N-scale cork roadbed using ME code 40, so there is both a differentiation between height of the railheads and rail size...just like the prototype. I am also cutting the spacer between ties and spreading the ties out like real railroads do for lightly used trackage. Something to think about. Since we live in a mobile society, making your layout in removable sections with their own folding legs is a great idea. In my own case, there are certain scenes that demand a longer "module" than 6', but 8' is as long as I'll go. I will move trackwork, switches, prominent scenic landmarks...whatever to keep my modules to a maximum of 8' in length. Anything longer than that might be impossible to get out the door and up the stairs if you have to move one day. One thing that I have discovered is that there is absolutely no need for "connector tracks". All of my trackage matches up because I lay it over the module ends, then cut it after it's laid in with at least four PCB ties soldered to the underside of the rails on each side of the module seam. I use gap-filling CA to glue the PCB ties to the cork (because PCB ties are thinner than plastic ties). I cut the rails progressively as they are laid with an ultra-fine jeweler's saw blade and brace after the gap-filling CA has cured. The first time I take the modules apart, I soak the cork under the PCB ties with runny CA and sand away any little bumps that may appear on the plywood so that the module ends are as flat as possible. One fellow either here or on The Railwire, inserts pieces of paper between his modules before he cuts his rails that when combined, are the thickness of the saw blade he's using. When he takes his FreeMo-N modules apart and removes the paper spacers after his tracks are laid in and when he puts them back together, there is NO GAP in his rails that way. I'm going to give his technique a try on a couple of modules I'm working on. If you were going to use "Backer Board" for subroadbed, then yes, the splined Masonite subroadbed would serve the same purpose but be exponentially better. However, now...with this project on your layout being a big yard, the 3/4" plywood is the subroadbed. If anybody reading this is not familiar with benchwork terminology, "subroadbed" is what you lay the "roadbed" on. I use cork for the roadbed (and highly recommend it because of its' stability, low cost, durability and easy sanding qualities). After the cork "roadbed" has been glued down and the glue is dry, I sand it using 220 grit sandpaper on a broad 8" sanding block I've made from a piece of scrap pine lumber to get it FLAT, or, to sand in superelevation on curves. Your flextrack and turnouts are glued to the cork using a good-grade of gray caulk, or Eileen's Tacky Glue...or even CA (I use CA and accelerator). Your track is really not "socked down" until it's been ballasted, and in your yard, that means that in some places, you'll be barely able to see the tops of the ties. If you would like, I have Cadrail files that I would be willing to send you that may get you started on your own L-girder benchwork and folding legs. It has taken me several years to work out the details, and you could easily modify the width and length of my "standard" module benchwork to suit your own needs. If anybody is curious as to how to do splined Masonite roadbed, I will be happy to post instructions. Time for bed! Cheers! Bob Gilmore
