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Using hinges
You can combine the alignment and joining functions by using brass hinges as shown in 16. The boards are separated by removing the right-angled rod from the hinge on the board sides.
The hinges used should be high-quality cast brass ones. The pivot pin is removed using a hammer and a drift to get it out. The components of the hinge with the straight pin removed are shown on the top of the board in 16 with the replacement right-angled rod alongside.
It is sensible to bend the top of the replacement rod as shown to form a handle. The rod should be a very close fit in the hinge but not so tight that you can’t remove it by hand. You may have to ream out the holes to achieve this. If you don’t have a suitably sized reamer you may be able to enlarge the hole slightly by drilling or filing with a round needle file, but be very careful. It is very easy to make the hole too big.
The two boards are aligned accurately and tightly clamped together. It is worth taking time over this - it’s the only chance you’ll get! The modified hinge is then screwed into place so that the pivot pin is in line with the joint between the two boards as shown in 16. The boards can then be separated by removing the pin. When they are brought together again, the fingers of the hinge, plus the pin ensure perfect alignment.
Height adjustment
For portable layouts it is essential to provide some sort of height adjustment to compensate for uneven floors. 17 Shows three different types of adjustable feet .
For a discussion of similar modules for N scale, see Part 3 of these guides in the April 2015 Roundhouse.
Backdrops
For a permanent layout, a backdrop can be either fixed to the wall or to the layout benchwork. The most popular material for this is thin hardboard, braced using a softwood frame. The hardboard can be curved around corners avoiding unrealistic right-angle corners in the “sky”! Very thin 1 mm or 2 mm plywood is even more flexible but the grain might be disconcerting and need to be filled. Thin MDF is also a possibility. More recently, modellers in the USA have used styrene sheets and, in some cases, long continuous sheets of thin aluminium, which is available in rolls.
For portable layouts, the backdrop can be screwed to the rear face of the boards . Removable backdrops can be bolted in place. It is a good idea to make the backdrops on portable layouts from thicker material, such as 6 or 9 mm plywood. Apart from surviving the rigours of transport better you will find they have a secondary function. Their tops will most likely be at just the right height for weary operators behind the layout to lean their elbows.
HO “Freemo” modules are not normally fitted with backdrops as they must be capable of operation from either side.
Resources
Publications
“Basic Model Railroad Benchwork” by Jeff Wilson (ISBN:978-0-89024-836- 2) is part of the Model Railroader “Essentials” series and is available in the UK. It has over 100 pages and covers tools and woodworking in addition to the technicalities of benchwork.
Most American and British magazines often carry articles about baseboard construction.
Roundhouse had a series on building a simple module. This started in the April 2012 issue. Back issues of Roundhouse are on the Region website.
Video
Model Railroader Video Plus on-line video magazine has many videos of MR’s project railroads. These usually have step-by-step video of the benchwork part of the project. Details of these project railroads are also usually described in Model Railroader.
There is also a lot of free benchwork information on the web. Try searching on “model railroad benchwork” for articles and (you guessed it!) “model railroad benchwork videos” for “how to” videos.
Module Specifications
NMRA (BR) HO module specification is at http://www.nmrabr.org.uk/nmra-ho-modules-spec
RS Tower specification is at https://rstowerfreemo.wordpress.com/module-info/module- specifications/
Ntrak and Onetrak
http://www.ntrak.org/publications/default.html
Baseboard hardware
Most of the commercial baseboard companies shown in Section 1 can also provide dowels and other hardware. An additional supplier is Station Road Baseboards http://www.stationroadbaseboards.co.uk/
... and don’t forget, NMRA British Region’s greatest asset is its members. Ask around for help and guidance -most people are happy to share their know-how
Next time
This completes the benchwork part of “Back2Basics”. The next topic will be “Track”.
16
17
On the left example, a “hand wheel bolt” passes into a T-nut embedded in the bottom of the leg. Because the prongs of the T-nut pass into the end-grain of the leg, it is a good idea to epoxy it in place. Otherwise the leverage on an extended bolt can prise it out. The two right-hand examples work in a similar way to each other. Their bolts can be turned either by hand or by a screwdriver in a slot at the top of the bolt. The version on the right has an additional lock-nut to lock everything absolutely rigidly.
HO “Freemo” modules
The NMRA(BR) and RS Tower module specifications for HO are compatible and have become known jointly as “Freemo” modules. The specification allows you almost a free hand as to how you design and build your boards and legs. If you have a module built from several boards you may use dowels to align them. However, you may not use dowels on the outer ends of the multi-board module, or on the ends of a single-board module.
This lack of dowels hasn’t proved a problem. Adjacent modules can be aligned by eye, held in position and clamped. This is really a three-person job but there are always people around at module meets willing to help.