Update - No.4 - 15.03.11

Originally sent to friends and family only in Feb 2011
 
Hi Guys,

It's that time again....another update.  How have you been able to contain yourselves whilst waiting......ha!

Last time I concluded by saying I had a few weeks of baseboard building ahead of me and that's exactly what has happened.  I decided to start in a corner of the room and produce a single free-standing section with all 4 levels to provide a final indicator of how the system would work and crucially, if there would actually be enough room on the decks or levels.  The conclusion - complete success!  The structure is solid, strong, lightweight and comparatively easy to assemble.  Although there is some movement to the sides this will be cured once further sections are attached.  I also have the option of adding additional bracing sections if they are required.

2 completed 3ft x 4ft baseboards

End frame piece with captive nut holders fabricated from plywood

Adjustable foot using tee-nut so height adjustable foot-bolt can be screwed in

As you will know from speaking to me, or will have already deduced from the updates so far, this is not a portable layout by any stretch of the imagination.  However, it has to be constructed with the thought that a future move of house will not result in it's inevitable destruction as would often be the case.  Therefore I have striven to devise a compromise system for construction which will allow an entire section to be taken down to it's constituent parts in roughly an hour using bolts rather than screws.  An added bonus of this is any individual level section can be removed and worked on away from the layout taking only a few minutes to remove.  So far then - so good.

This shows how end frames and additional baseboard sections will let the layout expand

Completed layout section standing rigid and strong

2ft baseboards bolted into place

This first section inevitably took longer than will hopefully be the case with the rest whilst I work through various options and techniques to get around problems.  An example is how to level the sections on uneven floors (in this house and possibly a future one).  I have decided upon pronged tee nuts and M8 bolts with feet.  I've included a shot of the solution I've settled on using a section of timber and yet more bolts.  Another issue with the first section was it's need for   captive nuts as it will be positioned in the corner.  Again, I've included a shot of my preferred solution.

Now I have a system I am happy with then the whole process of creating further sections will speed up.  I am already managing to construct a baseboard grid section in about an hour and a half from the first cut in the wood.  That means only a couple of hours work a few times a week will see me rapidly working my way around the room.  The final major headache re' the construction of the baseboards and levels will be the helix.  I've been weighing up my options and think I've settled on it's location in the room and also a preferred means of construction....more of that in a future update.

I'm going to add a new heading to the updates....

New Arrivals on the Corkscrew 

This will be any new items I've purchased for the layout and will normally be exciting things like rolling stock or scenic items.  However, I'm kicking off with ironmongery....sorry!  You'll see a shot of the collection of items I purchased to get the project started.  This included....

M8x80 Bolts x 100
M8x65 Bolts x 30
M8 Nuts x 1000 - that's an awful lot of nuts!
M8 Washers x 200
Wood screws (various sizes) x 2000
Jig-Saw blades x 30
M8 Tee Nuts x 100
M8x28 Leveller feet x 40

I love ironmongery - Don't you?

All of these were purchased from Screwfix, Toolstation and BP Fittings with a total cost of around £75.00.  One thing I learnt from building the house was buy direct from the manufacturer or the wholesaler and buy in bulk.  The equivalent cost from the likes of Homebase or B&Q would have been £300.00.  Despite making such a huge saving Mrs Corky was unconvinced and unimpressed - typical eh - ha-ha!


Until next time my friends, Corky!