The biggest reason I see to have that Masonite end piece it to cut the land form profile into it. This profile would match the adjoining module.
Chris, thanks for answering. I thought about that. However, the two adjoining ends will have the proper contours in the foam "uppers", so the two pieces of foam ought to match up. As a matter of fact, what prompted me to ask the question, was: the two Masonite pieces will create a small gap between the two foam pieces. I was thinking that eliminating the Masonite end caps will allow the two foam pieces to butt up against each other closely.
Masonite would allow protection of the ends during transport. Foam is damaged easily, and with the masonite end cap you can cut it to the profile of the foam, scenery right up to the edge, and have a clean interface between modules without denting or breaking of the foam scenery.
William/all, With the few brief comments posted, you've probably collectively put more thought into the pros/cons of the masonite end caps than I did when I developed my design. My thoughts were to "force" each module end to a standard, rigid geometry in order to ensure seamless mating and, as has been suggested, provide a strong surface that could withstand the occasional bumps during movement. In both of the modules covered in this thread, the scenery is relatively flat and the flat interface doesn't seem to attract attention. Both the highway and the tracks rise above the masonite top due to the foam roadbed and the strips of balsa I used under the vinyl roadway material. Jack
As I said, I'm inclined to do without. Ironically, I have access to aluminum scrap of various thicknesses for free, and a CNC router to do anything with it so, if there was a good reason I couldn't think of, I could use that. I think I'm going to give it a go without the end caps and see how it works.
Here you can see how the module edges will look. There will still be significant foam added (this is a mountain module, sort of)
Thanks for posting that William. I'm looking forward to see how you proceed, including any refinements to my original approach. Are those tracks all going to be at the same elevation?
Jack, I don't want to hijack your thread with my project. Why spoil something good? For the moment, I'll post progress shots in the Winter Layout Party thread. If there is real progress, I'll consolidate the pics into a separate thread. In the meantime, a question: what glue do you use to glue the foam to the MDF, and any layers of foam to each other?
Liquid Nails panel adhesive works well for glueing foam to MDF. I think that has been my most common adhesive for glueing extruded foam to anything.
It appears that you do very good work. More people in model railroading should follow your example. It is amazing how most people in this hobby do a crappy job on the foundation of their layout, but will spend weeks hand-laying the track or scratch building a structure. A model railroad is only as good as its foundation. If you have a crappy foundation, you have a crappy layout.
Ever have that feeling of being watched in the first pic? I've never been a big fan of this type of bracket/wall shelving.But seeing what you've done & the benefits from the way you have done it really appeals to me now!!Its very inspiring. In fact the whole thread has been a big inspiration for me,so "thank you"!Keep up the great work. Btw,whats the tiddlywinks name (meow)
Thanks Hans. I think you make a very good point. My weakness is the artistic side of the hobby (scenery, scratch building, etc.). I'll spend weeks (or more) trying to figure out how to accomplish the most basic scenery effects, but when it comes to "benchwork," (or in my case the module construction and mounting), things seem to go quick and smooth. It's funny how OCD can help with some things and really interfere with others...
Thanks for the kind comments Jason. That guy's name is "Leo," and I've found that he has snuck into several layout pictures over the years. Fortunately, his interest in my train room seems to be limited to what I'm doing and not what those neat looking, mice sized objects are running around the shelves.
Impressive! Would love to see more pics. Thanks for sharing. You have given me plenty of guidance on how to do my layout.
Good Grief!!! I just saw the recent bump of this and, upon checking, realized that I hadn't posted a progress photo for over a year. :membarrassed: I would like to report that tons of progress have happened but, as Dr. Evil would say, "I just can't back that up." The L-shaped latest module, shown in the last progress photos, is sitting behind me on a table as I type in the "black box phase" (see earlier posts). The roadbed and roadway bases are in place, the profile boards and foam scenery base/spackle is done and the entire module has a flat black paint job top and bottom. I purchased a DCC system late last year (NCE PowerPro-R) and have learned the basics of that. Next step for the module is to install track and turnouts, followed by wiring. Fortunately, I have a lot of vacation to use up for work, plus the Christmas shutdown, so hopefully I'll have more progress to share before too long. I appreciate your guys' support! Jack
Jack This is incredible... I noticed no updates since... Anything new?? I am planning to build a module style layout... well we'll start with one simple module and see where it leads. This thread has been very informative and will be one of my sources for info. Thanks for putting this "how to" thread up.
Hi Tyler. I haven't spent much time on trains for awhile, other than occasionally powering up the layout and running some trains around. That's a nice feature of a modular layout; that you can be working on a new module while still running trains. I tried to get to the layout over Christmas, but by the time I had all of the major "to-do" items around the house, etc. completed it was time to go back to work. :thumbs_down: Hopefully I'll get going on installing the track and wiring on the latest module sometime soon.
So -- I built a few light-weight modules in a similar fashion -- 1x4 on the sides, 1x3 for the cross braces, and 1/4 ply for the top... very sturdy! I do have a miter saw, so I was able to cut everything but the 1/4 ply myself -- lowes did a great job on that for me. My question is this: What type of woodworking tool do you use to cut the straight angles for the curved section? I'm not a woodwork person by any stretch, but would love to know how you did that. Thanks!
