I have dabbled in model railroading for a great many years, mostly scratch-building structures, detailing rolling stock, but never had space for a descent layout. I remodelled the second floor of my story-and-a-half over the last few years and now I have space so I have started planning a layout. It will be a U shape, 15 feet wide, 5 foot wide 'legs', and 16 feet long. One leg of the U will be a mountain logging railroad with an interchange to a 'main line' railroad and the other leg will be more "developed" and include a lumber mill.
I am planning to use a lattice-work bench with risers and a plywood sub-roadbed with wire/plaster landscaping for the mountain section (so I can easily access the underside of the layout). There will be an 18" rise on the mountain lines and I would like to use a "bendable" material for the sub-roadbed to make smooth elevation changes and was wondering is 1/4" plywood would be sufficiently strong with 16" riser spacing?
I figured on using cork for the roadbed but would like to blend it with the scenery structure so it doesn't show - it is a logging road after all and they were usually laid directly on the ground. On the other hand, I want to be running trains long before the scenery is done! (I am old and don't know how many years I will have to work on this LOL!) Any suggestions?
Thanks gang! I look forward to replies.
I am planning to use a lattice-work bench with risers and a plywood sub-roadbed with wire/plaster landscaping for the mountain section (so I can easily access the underside of the layout). There will be an 18" rise on the mountain lines and I would like to use a "bendable" material for the sub-roadbed to make smooth elevation changes and was wondering is 1/4" plywood would be sufficiently strong with 16" riser spacing?
I figured on using cork for the roadbed but would like to blend it with the scenery structure so it doesn't show - it is a logging road after all and they were usually laid directly on the ground. On the other hand, I want to be running trains long before the scenery is done! (I am old and don't know how many years I will have to work on this LOL!) Any suggestions?
Thanks gang! I look forward to replies.