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25 Posts
HI ALL
. i have recently started to build and fit the 12 basebords for my 30' x 8' layout of crewe (roughly
) in my loft i have built "knee walls" (open, not boarded) along the length of my loft either side which obviously go ceiling joists upto rafters. these walls are basically a wooden frame screwed at every joist/rafter along the full length of the loft. these do not run into the end walls. the floor joists are supported by many internal solid walls.
i have then ran a 2x2 half way up the knee wall the full length. (my baseboards sit on this with legs every 4' at the front)
my baseboards are each 2x2 framework with 9mm ply on top (21" x 8', i will need 9 of these 1 cut in 2 to fill odd sized gap at end to make 30' long) and 2 baseboards (11"x 8') for widening 16' of layout on 1 side.
there is going to be 1 baseboard across each end of the loft with another 3 and a bit down the length, each side. i will be coming off 2 of these 8' boards again on 1 side of the loft with 11" x 8' framed baseboards for the bit of extra width req'd for the station itself and approaches.
what worries me is.... the boards are spread over solid internal walls and over many joists and thats great, but by sitting all these quite heavy baseboards on the knee wall, is all the weight adding up on the knee wall making 1 big weight that is spread over a number of joists but my be pulling down too hard on the roof and pearling or somthing that could end in a disaster
there were actually cracks in the blocks under my pearlings before i started and they havn't got any bigger and no cracks in ceiling plaster ect whatsoever, but it has got me worried about weight majorly after fitting just 4 baseboards. i am a bit worried that this is going to be too heavy to do it.
i have a traditional roof with a massive pearling each side that runs into the wall from 1 end to the other, it is joined by what i call "z" overlaps, (overhead view of pearling join would look like a z) , i have screw plated over these joints to sturdy them up and i have braced the rafters together over my head and braced all the joists together before boarding the floor, havn't put bigger joists in because its well supported by breezeblock walls throughout the length. i have 4 v's from the pearlings to the top of internal walls along the 30' length that i havn't moved and all does seem really sturdy when i'm up there, no flexing etc in the floor at all. do i carry on haha??
i work with brickies and joiners as i am an electrician and have consulted a few, they say it will be fine but they havn't picked up 1 of my baseboards
plus what happens when all the wood expands in summer??
i have 64 sets of points, 100 lengths of bachmann flexi 00 (which is great n/silver track for the money may i add, rails of sheffield is the cheapest by far at £157 for 100) and 150 4mm cork tiles raring to go.
i have had 2 previous layouts (not of this grand scale) and had to throw the lot away when i've moved and it no longer fit anywhere so this time i'm not ballasting track and i'm corking the whole of the baseboards (more weight)
so if i move ever, i can just modify some of my boards to suit the space and relay the track as a whole new layout without having the expence of wood. i will mount the track on the cork and all scenery will be by removable self mounted dioramas as far as posible, tacked down on top of corked base. some pva and powders will be used to blend it all in, but as little as possible so it is all reusable if req'd in the future.
this layout itself is semi permanent as it will come apart in baseboard sections by simply cutting the 5" track sections spanning joints with a dremel and unplugging the boards from each other. chose to span baseboard joints with short track so theres no alignment hassle as its hot then cold in the loft causing some warping which is unavoidable, also 4 or 5 lenghts of flexi would repair it if i then sold it to a club.
the layout has 2 running lines (north and south) and a branch line (chester) which will run at a hight of 3" after out of crewe going to a terminus. the crewe side of the layout is finalised but i have numerous ideas for the other side still. e.g. all storage both sides of chimney or goods yard 1 side and storage the other. also where to put small terminus station (chester) mmmm?.
my version of crewe has a 5 line 20 loco capacity diesel depot to the south of the station and a 3 line 9 loco capacity heritage centre to the north. may add siding for an apt display???. i need at least 6 storage sidings per main line to feed the layout. if you know crewe as i do (15 mins away) then you'll understand i'm hardly being exact really in this layout. ive lost platform 2 bay and the through line and siding between platform 11 and 12 due to width to include them, but the rest is basicall there including 2 running lines through between platform 5 and 6. it will give me the feel of crewe at least and will have canpies/road over station etcm n. and plenty of monuvers i can make when running it. it will be based around 1990/91 to suit my 30 odd lima loco's and trains i have collected over the years. all of which i know ran though crewe at some point. i just need to know i'm not going to pull the roof in and i'm away. the only thing i havn't got is enough seep point motors and signals haha.
it will be in isolated sections round the layout.
the station side of the layout will be off 1 controller that i control along crewe side of layout, the other half of the layout will be set at a speed off another control making it basically automatic for that half with manual switched isolating sections to stop trains/start other trains from the storage sidings by flick of a switch. this makes me send a train out of crewe down the right lines (no cheating, and also makes it easier to control alone). the branch line will be via a manual controller from platform 9 crewe to platform 1 of small terminus for my running control, but if i'm busy elsewhere on the layout platform 10 crewe will run to platform 2 of small terminus as a shuttle unit automatic back and to. i will make the automatic trains stop in the headshunt of platform 2 terminus i.e. put the diode just past the run round points. making me able to still manually run round trains at that terminus end from the manual control or run alternate trains up and down manually by simply turning off the shuttle timer and control by a switch.
hope this makes some sense haha. wish i could post actual layout my plans here to show you all my ideas properly. it all comes down to making it safe as well as amazing in the end.
any ideas over my layout are welcome.
thanks.


i have then ran a 2x2 half way up the knee wall the full length. (my baseboards sit on this with legs every 4' at the front)
my baseboards are each 2x2 framework with 9mm ply on top (21" x 8', i will need 9 of these 1 cut in 2 to fill odd sized gap at end to make 30' long) and 2 baseboards (11"x 8') for widening 16' of layout on 1 side.
there is going to be 1 baseboard across each end of the loft with another 3 and a bit down the length, each side. i will be coming off 2 of these 8' boards again on 1 side of the loft with 11" x 8' framed baseboards for the bit of extra width req'd for the station itself and approaches.
what worries me is.... the boards are spread over solid internal walls and over many joists and thats great, but by sitting all these quite heavy baseboards on the knee wall, is all the weight adding up on the knee wall making 1 big weight that is spread over a number of joists but my be pulling down too hard on the roof and pearling or somthing that could end in a disaster

i have a traditional roof with a massive pearling each side that runs into the wall from 1 end to the other, it is joined by what i call "z" overlaps, (overhead view of pearling join would look like a z) , i have screw plated over these joints to sturdy them up and i have braced the rafters together over my head and braced all the joists together before boarding the floor, havn't put bigger joists in because its well supported by breezeblock walls throughout the length. i have 4 v's from the pearlings to the top of internal walls along the 30' length that i havn't moved and all does seem really sturdy when i'm up there, no flexing etc in the floor at all. do i carry on haha??
i work with brickies and joiners as i am an electrician and have consulted a few, they say it will be fine but they havn't picked up 1 of my baseboards

i have 64 sets of points, 100 lengths of bachmann flexi 00 (which is great n/silver track for the money may i add, rails of sheffield is the cheapest by far at £157 for 100) and 150 4mm cork tiles raring to go.
i have had 2 previous layouts (not of this grand scale) and had to throw the lot away when i've moved and it no longer fit anywhere so this time i'm not ballasting track and i'm corking the whole of the baseboards (more weight)

this layout itself is semi permanent as it will come apart in baseboard sections by simply cutting the 5" track sections spanning joints with a dremel and unplugging the boards from each other. chose to span baseboard joints with short track so theres no alignment hassle as its hot then cold in the loft causing some warping which is unavoidable, also 4 or 5 lenghts of flexi would repair it if i then sold it to a club.
the layout has 2 running lines (north and south) and a branch line (chester) which will run at a hight of 3" after out of crewe going to a terminus. the crewe side of the layout is finalised but i have numerous ideas for the other side still. e.g. all storage both sides of chimney or goods yard 1 side and storage the other. also where to put small terminus station (chester) mmmm?.
my version of crewe has a 5 line 20 loco capacity diesel depot to the south of the station and a 3 line 9 loco capacity heritage centre to the north. may add siding for an apt display???. i need at least 6 storage sidings per main line to feed the layout. if you know crewe as i do (15 mins away) then you'll understand i'm hardly being exact really in this layout. ive lost platform 2 bay and the through line and siding between platform 11 and 12 due to width to include them, but the rest is basicall there including 2 running lines through between platform 5 and 6. it will give me the feel of crewe at least and will have canpies/road over station etcm n. and plenty of monuvers i can make when running it. it will be based around 1990/91 to suit my 30 odd lima loco's and trains i have collected over the years. all of which i know ran though crewe at some point. i just need to know i'm not going to pull the roof in and i'm away. the only thing i havn't got is enough seep point motors and signals haha.
it will be in isolated sections round the layout.
the station side of the layout will be off 1 controller that i control along crewe side of layout, the other half of the layout will be set at a speed off another control making it basically automatic for that half with manual switched isolating sections to stop trains/start other trains from the storage sidings by flick of a switch. this makes me send a train out of crewe down the right lines (no cheating, and also makes it easier to control alone). the branch line will be via a manual controller from platform 9 crewe to platform 1 of small terminus for my running control, but if i'm busy elsewhere on the layout platform 10 crewe will run to platform 2 of small terminus as a shuttle unit automatic back and to. i will make the automatic trains stop in the headshunt of platform 2 terminus i.e. put the diode just past the run round points. making me able to still manually run round trains at that terminus end from the manual control or run alternate trains up and down manually by simply turning off the shuttle timer and control by a switch.
hope this makes some sense haha. wish i could post actual layout my plans here to show you all my ideas properly. it all comes down to making it safe as well as amazing in the end.


any ideas over my layout are welcome.
thanks.