Howdy Folks, The Flat Creek Northern Railroad trackplan has been selected, as with most others I have seen, due to space concerns it will be a Hollow Core Door layout, 30 X 80+. Now my plan has a scenery divider included. the question is: What should it be constructed of? and also, how does one go about attaching said divider to the table top. My current plan is to have 2" pink foam glued down to the door as the base of the scenery. Thanks, Mark+
I have built background boards out of thin Masonite(r). I once used a type of composition board that was relatively smooth on both sides as a divider on a 24" x 48" layout built about 1974. Featured as “Norton Bros. Connecting RR,” Model RRer Sept81 p.94. If I could find Masonite(r) smooth on both sides, I would use it, but most Masonite(r) I see has a kind of bumpy texture on one side... I am using mostly-free-standing styrene sheet for a one-sided background on a nearly 8-foot long rollaway section of layout, but it will not normally be lifted or carried sideways so may not need to be as stable as one on a small layout that IS moved in a non-level manner. My styrene sheet will have some thin lath sticks glued/gooed to the back side for stability, and would not work so well for a double-sided background. I would not attempt to attach the divider to a 2" foam table top. I would attach the divider directly to whatever is more solid UNDER the foam. I have used box frame on most of my layouts and have used an existing lengthwise member or added one to attach the BG. For a hollow core door layout, you might attach a masonite BG to the door surface with some of those L-shaped brackets from the hardware store-- little aluminum Ls about an inch and a half each direction. Would want to attach to hollow-core door either with Moly-bolt or go all the way through, or make sure you hit a place where there is framing inside. The Masonite(r) BG would stand up most strongly if it is not a straight line but has a curve. Principle of the Roman arch, or something like that. AFTER the background is in place, THEN cut the 2" foam to fit on each side of the background, so that foam is not used for support of BG at all. Cannot find Masonite(r) smooth on both sides? Maybe a DOUBLE layer of styrene sheet with thin stick upright supports sandwiched between the surfaces. Anyway, that's what I would do. I have not built exactly this layout-- 2" foam on door, but I have built 2 "2-sided" layouts with scenic dividers and was very satisfied with that concept-- as long as I could get around and run on both sides. Major problem I had was curves sharper/ tighter than I would have liked when I wanted to run long trains or passengers cars. But that is a problem with any layout that is only a smidgen wider than minimum radius circle of track. For my 36" x 86" East Texas piney woods layout, I did not use a sky scenic divider but a tall tree-line scenic divider. http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/554/johnston.jpg Layout plan was featured in the article “Lost River District of the Santa Vaca & Santa Fe,” Model Railroader Feb85 p.106, reprinted in , Top Notch Railroad Plans[.i], (Kalmbach). Flat tree cutouts covered with foam and stick trunks were attached to a plywood table top by screwing them to little wood blocks. Some years after I started the layout, I disguised the little wood blocks with minimal structure-ettes built to fit. I do not have those pictures currently on railimages and don't know if I should fill up my railimages space just to comment on this question. I can post them if readers express an interest, or email them to you if your member profile allows email with attachments.
The Frisco ArkLaTex Sub (another N scale HCD layout) will have a low divider to partially hide the staging track. Your idea of the trees looks good- by all means, post the pics. The area I model is heavily wooded with hardwoods & some pines, so any ideas I can come up with will be most helpful. BTW, the only area on my layout that will get a backdrop will be the back end of the layout by the staging tracks- a blue sky looks better than a wall painted beige any day.
Frisco Bob, That is the intent of my scenery divider, to hide my staging yard, so I am also figuring out how high I want this to be also. Your Thoughts?? N scale HCD Layout Society - Hmmm, guess this is making me a member of the same society as well... LOL!!
Mark: Consider low hills, buildings and trees to hide the staging...as opposed to a divider. If you have access to both sides of the layout, it would be possible to add some scenery to the Staging area...making it visible staging with structures or details suggesting it is part of a larger yard. Making the view blocks tall enough to hide trains on the far side but not the tops of structures and higher terrain or trees on the other side of the layout would make both sides of the layout appear larger/deeper than 12 to 18 inches. Depending on how high the layout is set and the height of the typical viewers, you could potentially prevent viewing the far side of the layout with hills, trees, or structures that are only 2 or 3 inches tall. Experiment with setting the layout's zero elevation at various heights and see how tall the trees/hills/structures need to be to create the view block. If your typical viewing audience includes younger children, then 4 feet might be too tall for them but way too low for low viewblocks to work for adults (necessitating construction of a center divider). Hmmm....I wonder if a HCD layout could be build with removable legs like on modular layouts. Then one set of legs could be cut to a length conducive to munchkin viewing or operating from a wheeled chair and another set of legs cut for giants or for putting the layout at a comfortable working height when standing.
Dave: Essentially that's how I did my HCD. I built a 1x4 frame around the door and the legs are 1x4's glued and screwed on edge to form an L shape. The legs are then attached to the frame with carriage bolts. All I would have to do is make another set of legs (longer or shorter) and swap out.
Bump! Any opportunity in the last couple weeks to do a little experimenting to find what shelf elevation you like best for viewing, what works best for hiding the staging, yet also will permit you to conveniently complete initial construction, subsequent maintenance, and future repair or modifications? After seeing a few more options, what are your thoughts about a taller divider versus a shorter viewblock?
John Armstrong analyzed this somewhat in his original bible "Track Planning for Realistic Operations", and more extensively in his later publications. I've just done 16" high backdrops for a friend, out of .060 styrene. His application is a bit different--edge of the layout, mounted on thin foam board. If you have a curved divider, I would think that a slot in the 2" thick foam would hold the bottom in place quite well. That slot would have to be tight, which is not a problem if you think of it not as a slot, but two pieces of terrain cut apart on a single line, and then really forced together with the divider in the middle. White glue will work very well, as it will not attack the foam, but penetrate its spaces. You're just building an in situ linear bending mechanism. That would leave the top a little floppy. Easily fixed with a number of 1/4" wide strips of .060 styrene glued along the edge of the top in three or four layers each side, until the desired top stiffness is reached. I've done this, and it worked very well.
I should add: It doesn't take that much to "fix" the bottom edge of a curving sheet. But the less fix on the bottom, the more fix you'll need on the top. Depending on the material chosen, you may want some flexibility "in the middle," in case someone pokes an elbow into a back drop, for example. Be glad to give some specific recommendations if you give me some requirements. I built museum exhibits, but it's been a while, although I think modeler materials haven't changed much in terms of flat sheets.
What Is A Divider . Now my plan has a scenery divider included. the question is: What should it be constructed of? and also, how does one go about attaching said divider to the table top. My current plan is to have 2" pink foam glued down to the door as the base of the scenery. Thanks, Mark+[/quote] I'm not sure what this thread is about. Could someone post a photo of a divider or dividers. Personal opinion--I think homosote is much to be preferred to foam. It cuts easily--for cutting out creeks, ponds, whatever but also is firm enough to hold trees and other details pressed into it. eagle37
A small 2x4 layout I built years ago had a large stand of trees and barely any hills or anything. You will be surprised how much even a low division such as a stand of trees or row of structures does to separate scenes. If your layout is like mine and it generally has only one operator, it's nice to be able to see what's going on on the other side of the layout. Nothing like accidentally crossing one train onto the wrong main and not knowing about it till >CRUNCH< LOL I am finding that the real critical scenic dividers are the ones that break up the curves on my HCD layout. Tall structures in an industrial area and a long viaduct I am building to hide one end of the layout. Just make sure to make everything either bomb proof or removable for storage or moving.
Eagle: GTMark has a door-sized layout that he would like to divide down the (approximate) center so trains on the far side of the layout cannot be easily seen from the near side. There are 2 methods being considered: 1. a divider that is a foot or 2 high (essentially a backdrop down the center of the door that prevents seeing the far side of the layout), and 2. low view blocks made of short hills, trees, or buildings that are positioned down the middle of the layout in such a way that--although you know there is a train on the other side, and you may be able to see the tops of buildings or trees at the farthest edge of the layout--you are unable to see the trains moving on the far side of the layout unless you lean over the layout a little bit because the low view block is in the way. The view block(s) can vary considerably in height but will, most likely, be at least 2 inches tall and probably not much more than 8 inches tall. These 2 pics show some view blocks made of ground foam and lichen glued to foamboard. The first, with view blocks in place and hiding a pair of staging tracks: The second, with view blocks removed and set on the front of the shelf so maintenance or repairs can be completed on the normally hidden staging tracks: At another spot on my layout, I've used low hills and trees down the center of a peninsula to prevent operators working the yard on one side of the peninsula from seeing the trains that another operator is moving in and out of industries on the other side of the peninsula. Although the trains are not visible, it is still possible to see some of the taller features beyond the view block. This gives viewers the impression that the layout is immense because standing by the yard I can see parts of the layout 15 feet away, but I can't see the trains on the other side of the 5 or 6 foot wide peninsula. A divider might look very much like the backdrop shown in the first two pictures above...a surface that rises high above the layout and prevents seeing anything beyond it. In the first two pictures above, the backdrop is at the back of the shelf and it prevents viewers from seeing the wall behind it. On a door-sized layout like GTMark is designing, it could be positioned down the middle of the door to divide the layout in half and prevent viewers from seeing the trains on the other side of the layout. I prefer view blocks to dividers because, if I placed a divider down the middle of the peninsula instead of a view block, my layout would only appear to be 2.5 to 3 foot deep instead of looking 15 feet deep. If GTMark uses a divider, he will have about a 12 to 15 inch deep layout...and if he uses low view blocks, he will have about a 24 to 30 inch deep layout, depending on the width of the door he is using.
Eagle: I prefer Homasote, too. It does a great job of holding track nails, toothpicks for trees, and all kinds of scenery and can be cut with a utility knife. The downside for some modelers, is that it is expensive, hard to find in certain climates (it is, after all, just a variation on insulation), cutting it with a saw creates lots of dust, and it is much heavier than foam (so folks building modules or door layouts might prefer the lighter weight foam).
