Calculating possible weight for the baseboards

I wanted to calculate the weight of my baseboards using insulation and plywood. This was after reading about the weight of another modeller's baseboards made totalling from plywood.

Googling the weight of different thicknesses of plywood, I came up with the following rough calculations for one of the 5ft x 2 ft boards.

• The top of 3mm plywood & insulation - 2.1kg
• The 2 ends of 9mm play (1kg each) -2kg
• The front Facia - 0.3kg
• Back screen (inc. insulation at bottom) - 1.6kg
• Internal sections of insulation - 0.5kg
• Track approximately - 0.5kg

So my best guess at the weight of one of the 5ft x 2ft baseboards without scenery, track etc. will be approximately 7kg (15.5lbs). I've tried to make an allowance in the figures for glue and baseboard dowels. So the 5ft x 2ft baseboards might only weigh the equivalent of 7 bags of sugar or a little more. Size wise still too cumbersome for one person to carry but two people should easily be able to manhandle them. 

One problem rearing its head is the size or rather shape of the final scenic baseboard at the Bodmin, Wenford bridge end of the layout. Question being will it go through a standard door width in the configuration I'm planning? The creation of an 8th scale model of the layout should help me answer this question.

Thoughts on Baseboard Construction

I have mumbled a little, on a couple of blogs, about my thoughts for baseboard construction. The baseboards for Boscarne Junction are going to be relatively large. If I used the plywood and softwood sandwich technique they’d require two people to move them. The basic idea is to build baseboards that I’ll be able to lift and move around when I’m in my 7^th decade.

When visiting York Model Railway show in 2019 I became intrigued with Gordon Gravett’s baseboards for Arran Quay and way he’d sandwiched insulation board between thin plywood. I was not sure about using the same insulation board for the baseboard tops but he had made it work. This method of construction must have created a very light baseboard easy to lift and move/transport.

Many years ago I purchased a number of 2ft x 4ft x 1 inch sheets of insulation board for creating hex terrain for wargaming. There are still eleven sheets left from that project which are taking up space in my shed. My intention is to rather than dispose of these sheets is to make good use of them for Boscarne Junction’s baseboards.

As my insulation board is only 1 inch thick I’ll not be follow Gordon’s methods fully but to borrow his general idea. Hopefully the drawings below will help to explain my intentions better than words.

Version 9

Just when I thought version 8 was the final track plan, I’ve now produced a version 9.

When starting to consider how the layout was going to be operated, my thoughts went to the enjoyment I gained when invited to operate other layouts. Especially those where a signalman controls a signal box and the train driver has to obey the signals. The use of bell codes, interlocking lever frames, and train driving to signals fascinated me. It all added to the operating experience and is something I'd like to pursue for Boscarne Junction.I questioned how I going to include this feature into my model?

If I'm going to create off scene signal boxes in the Fiddle Yards, which use bell codes to communicate with Boscarne Junction signal box, I have a problem with the Wenford branch. There was no signal box at Dunmere or on the Wenford branch. I believe the Guard of the Wenford train walked to Boscarne signal box to retrieve/return the key for the Dunmere Ground Frame. Then the train crew operated the two ground frames. I thought this is something I’d like to include in the model.

In an attempt to include this type of operation, I’ve decided to separate the layout into three operating areas

1. Boscarne Signal box & Wadebridge Fiddle Yard (There would be the possibility to split Wadebridge Fiddle Yard away from the Boscarne Box).
2. The Bodmin North, Bodmin General & Wenford Fiddle Yard.
3. Train Driver who’ll also control both Boscarne and Dunmere ground frames as the train crew would have done.

In doing the above, should give a reasonably authentic operating experience to this layout.

At this point I’d like to thank David Woodcock again. I’ve only been able to consider doing this due to his contribution with the signal diagrams and locking tables. Many thanks David.

I started mess around with the plan to see if I could squeeze in Dunmere Ground Frame and the junction turnout into the track plan. The only way I found was to move the whole of version 8 track plan back to the left. This dramatically reduced the scenic area before the level crossing which I’d created in version 8. I felt this compromise for home use was well worth taking as it will increase operational interest. There were always thoughts with version 8 I’d add a further scenic board at the Wadebridge end for exhibitions, version 9 will be no different. Still a bit left to do as there are still a few scenic items to identify and mark on the plan along with checking on edge profiles and land contours.

 

Above is how the layout will look when at home. I briefly mentioned that the track plan is now drawn to fit the baseboards. This is due to the comment about knowing angles for baseboard construction. I will construct the three baseboards making the curved scenic section with the same diverging angle (23 degrees). They will either be stackable on each other when boxed or I should be able to construct a rack into which they will all slide.

Below is my cursory thoughts for exhibitions.

Further thoughts on the track plan (v.8)

 I wasn’t going to revisit the track plan until the man cave was empty so its internal dimensions could be confirmed. That was until I was able to squeeze in a day’s visit to Boscarne Junction after being in Torquay for a wedding. The visit was to take photos of the wider surrounding area. The site is now dramatically over grown compared to the photographs I have which were taken in the early 1960s. That said the embankments, paths, field boundaries seem to not have altered. Plenty of photographs were taken which I hope will enable me to replicate the topography around the junction.

While at Boscarne then subsequently looking at my track plan I began to feel I’d drawn it a little out of proportion. Siding 2 (along the back towards Bodmin North) looked too long. In reducing its length  has made it feel more in proportion. In doing so I’ve been able to move the whole track plan to the right a little which has slightly increased the visible track left to the level crossing.  In my attempt to balance the space available between scenic and fiddle yards I’ve had to reduce the overall length of the junction and sidings. There is approximately 13.5ft between the two quarter mile posts as opposed to 17.3ft for a scale quarter mile. Even so, the hope is this will still create a recognisable layout with the ability to operate as near as possible realistic train movements to a replica BR timetable.

Boscarne Junction v.8

To give me the possibility to add a further board at the Wadebridge end I’ve also twisted the track plan slightly. In doing so means the track beyond the level crossing (towards Wadebridge) now runs parallel to the baseboards sides. This will allow the fiddle board that I’ll be using at home to be connected to the extra scenic baseboard if it ever is invited to a show.

Next thoughts:

1. How to build the baseboard supports and at what height should the layout be?
2. How to integrate lighting on the model as well as prevent other external lighting to affect the visual effect. 
3. Need to think about the overall operation of the layout (my initial thought may need to produce v.9 of the track plan)

Could I have planned the layout better?

The new "Man Cave" is an extended Dunster log cabin and in part of its construction there are two walls that protrude into the internal space of the room.

Initially I was thinking about turning Rospeath Lane into a "roundy roundy" but these two walls hindered this to some degree. Many plans were drawn but I began to realise that it would become a very ambitious layout. One that may require more time than I have left to bring to a reasonable state of completion. Also I started to have thoughts about how I was going to continue with exhibiting a layout along with improving and learning more about the hobby. That the main reason why Boscarne Junction has been born.

So could I have designed it any better?

I've tried a few different ways of fitting the plan into the space but didn't want to compromise too much on the track plan. My main though was to keep the integrity of the track layout with the only compromise being taken on the siding length. The result being the track plan below.

After posting my thoughts and ideas on a couple of forums I received a good few replies with excellent suggestions. The major problem I had with the track plan above was transferring cassettes between Bodmin North/Wenford and the Bodmin General cassette boards. One suggestion was to curve the Bodmin North line so that the Bodmin North/Wenford and Bodmin General cassette boards could be combined.

I was not sure about curving the Bodmin North line as I felt it would deviate too much from the original and therefore loose some of the genuine feel of the junction. Even so, I played around a little and finished up with the plan below.

I must admit it solves the problem very well with transferring full and empty clay wagons between the Bodmin North/Wenford and Bodmin General Lines. The other bonuses this plan gives are; 

• It will allow me to include the Southern Railway bridge over the River Camel. 
• With enough trees this compromise of curving the Bodmin North line could be masked quite well.
• The trees will also be a natural break between the bridge and junction to give a tantalising glimpse of trains running over the bridge to/from Boscarne to Bodmin North/Wenford before they appear at the junction or disappear into the cassette board.
• By extending the Bodmin North line will allow any shunting of Siding 2 from this end to be contained within the scenic section of the layout.

As this curve brings the two lines closer together I need to work out the land contours leading up to the Southern Railway Bridge. Also the new baseboard is going to complicate storage and transportation. 

One of the many decisions I need to make is whether to include a track around the back of the layout.  This would be used to exchange clay wagons between the Wadebridge and Bodmin cassette boards rather than carry a cassette the length of the layout. I need to discover how regular clay traffic travelled via Wadebridge and along the North Cornwall Line. Then decide if this is a movement I'd include in the timetable.

My version of Boscarne Junction

Blimey it was way back in 2008 when I was first contemplating building a layout of Boscarne Junction. That one was going to be a fictional take on the junction using some what might have beens. Why fictional? Well it was going to be my first foray into P4 and I wasn't confident about building a model of a real location to an acceptable standard. Tredethy Wharf has given me some confidence that I could achieve a reasonable model of Boscarne and if I don't give it a go I'll never know.

So after much thought and a few plans drawn I think the plan below is the best I can do to represent Boscarne Junction in my new 'Man Cave'.

I've used an old OS map of the junction for scale. A few compromises have been made so it fits in the room and be functional. These are:

1. Shortened Siding 1 (the exchange siding) by approximately a scale 152 feet
2. The curve of the line to Bodmin General has been increased
3. The river and therefore the bridge over the river on the line to Bodmin General has been moved closer to the junction.

There are a few quirks with the track plan that I only noticed when looking through photographs of the junction.

1. There is a very slight curved running through the first turnout just after the level crossing.
2. The first turnout from Bodmin General is curved towards the GWR line but straight towards Siding 1.
3. It looks like the catch point at the Bodmin end of Siding 1 is part of the turnout. I'll try and post a photo to confirm this in a follow up blog.

There are a few niceties that I need to think about:

• How to transfer clay wagons between the hidden sidings a little more securely than on Tredethy Wharf.
• Will it be DC or DCC or even have the ability to to run both.
• How to build very lightweight baseboards so that in 10 years time, when I'm a little frailer, I'll still be able to exhibit the layout.
• What support structure should I build for the layout? The supports for Tredethy Wharf are now more stable but they take a lot of time to erect and dismantle.
• Should there two control panels, one for Boscarne Signal Box the second for the Ground Frame, or just one control panel.
• Where and how to install the Control panels.
• The cassettes on Tredethy Wharf need improving so need to look for better designs.

More thoughts and problems to solve will no doubt come to light as this project progresses.

It's a shame that I couldn't include the SR bridge over the river Camel but even so I'm hoping the layout still captures the feel of the junction. 

This blog might be about to get a new lease of life

Though Tredethy Wharf has been a good introduction to Scalefour modelling it has not been a layout that I’ve been tempted to operate at home. When set up at home it’s normally just there as a static diorama collecting dust. That said I have enjoyed taking it to shows along with helping out on other layouts at shows. I’ve become to realise making an exhibition of myself in front of a layout is a rewarding experience. Meeting up with friends who help, the meeting of fellow modellers along with the public who ask questions, or just seeing peoples/children’s facial expressions makes the whole event worthwhile.

I feel all that remains for me to do with Tredethy Wharf, apart from a little bit more titivation, is to build more stock for different era’s. These might be late 1960s Blue class 08s with clay hoods, even possibly consider 1930s stock. I’ve had many complementary comments along with much encouragement to keep Tredethy Wharf available for exhibitions. But I know I have much more to learn, more skills to conquer along with some mental barriers to cross

Rospeath Lane was been design to give me these challenges but it is a layout that has not really been designed as an exhibition layout. With two main baseboards being 4’6”x3’ it will be difficult to handle and transport by myself. By the time it’s in a state to exhibit I’ll probably be to infirm to manage it. Even though progress has stagnated during the last 18 months I’m still very committed to continuing with Rospeath Lane but only as a home based layout.

So what can I build to continue and expanding by exhibiting experience?

Back in April 2020 I posted a blog titled ‘Deciding on the next project’. At that time all five were designed to fit in the ‘Man Cave’ at the previous house. In revisiting these ideas one stands out more than the others as a possible exhibition layout. Then to add further incentive to this idea I had the opportunity to purchase, from the late Jon Lord’s collection of rolling stock, an Adams O2 converted to P4. A very nice model indeed.

I took this as a sign that the project to look at in more detail as a successor to Tredethy Wharf is Boscarne Junction. It will follow on nicely from Tredethy Wharf, keeping in the family so to speak. All the rolling stock I have build and likely to build for Tredethy Wharf will potentially be used on Boscarne Junction. More importantly it will give me many new challenges to overcome especially represent a real location.

Planning and ideas are continuing to develop so more posts will follow shortly.