I'd definitely like to see more. You're using spline and that is what I want to do. The benefits you mentioned are exactly what motivates me to use it.
Thank you Jim, I made a second video but the audio was terrible, hopefully I will have an update posted soon. I was planning on posting every 2 weeks but sometimes making a living gets in the way.
Thank you! I've done a lot of research and chose this style of benchwork and roadbed because it allows the railroad and scenery to "flow" without having to break away from the flat, square form that plywood/foam provide.
Hi Daryl, that is actually Clear Aspen, not pine. It’s a little more expensive than pine, but very fine grained and no knots which makes it much easier to work with. It takes screws well without splitting and cuts nicely. I bought it at Menard’s which is similar to Home Depot or Lowe’s. The pieces come individually wrapped in cellophane. Using this bench work method is very efficient and uses minimal wood so I probably have the same or less money invested compared to using pine for the traditional “table top on boxes” method.
Those L girder splice plates are brilliant! I know that your videos have not gotten to wiring yet, but I wanted to ask, or suggest if not, if wiring will be color coded identical to a decoder? That is to say, red/black for track power, gray/orange for turnout motors or waterwheels etc, yellow/blue/white for lighting, green/purple for "accessories" like rolling creek water sounds or something? This would vastly help in troubleshooting and identifying which wires go where during maintenance... although it does take some dedication in "sticking to the code" when putting it all together. Any left over wire would be usable as feeder wires for the appropriate items (structure lighting, etc) in case things have to be removed for some reason.
SaiaArt that’s a great idea! I planned on following a color code but haven’t gone as far as settling upon what the color code will be. I might follow your suggestion!
Good question James! I’ve used MicroMark’s SwitchTender machines with mixed results, they would probably work better with purchased turnouts vs the hand laid CVT ones I use. The issue is that the throw rid has a lot of flex being roughly 2” long. Ground throws would work well. I should make a video on various methods and the pros and cons of each.
@@drithen I think I could have gotten away with 1”thick splines easily with HO, they are very rigid once installed. With N scale you could go 3/4” even.
Very nice , professional-like work Greg. I wonder about 1 thing. If that is carpet on floor, it might it start to lower under the legs. If so, you could cut it all away out from under legs (keeping it in the aisleway) and make shims to make up for it and simply glue them in without actually removing or replacing the legs. Hope I'm wrong...Of course Vid is now 17 Mo. old so......
Michael McFadden, I believe the 16" is adequate support. Homasote is very rigid when standing on its edge. I've had these up over a year now with no sag. It is worth pointing out though that my layout is not in a basement and is temperature controlled year round so humidity is not a factor.
I’m really new to modeling and was intrigued by your video. I understand using splines to build the road bed but with the open bench work how do you add the buildings and other scenery? Great job on the videos . Thanks. George
Thank you George Brill, that is a great question! I hope to be able to post more videos soon answering that question and many more. The plan is to support structures on bases made of plywood or homasote. The scenery will be a thin shell of hydrocal plaster soaked paper towel over a support structure of cardboard strips and/or screen. I chose this method to avoid having to make flat surfaces look like hills, instead it gives me freedom to let the scenery flow, as does the track. My next video is going to be on installing the fascia boards which define the front edge of the scenery, then I plan I doing some scenery 'practice' in the reverse loop area that will eventually be hidden. Thank you for watching!
nice bench!
Thanks!
Very clean, thanks for the tutorial. It was very helpful. - Steve
You have a well planned table and I like your choice of materials for the spline roadbed.
Richard Bedard Thank you!
I'd definitely like to see more. You're using spline and that is what I want to do. The benefits you mentioned are exactly what motivates me to use it.
Thank you Jim, I made a second video but the audio was terrible, hopefully I will have an update posted soon. I was planning on posting every 2 weeks but sometimes making a living gets in the way.
Great video!!! Bench work is well thought out. I'm starting to like the spline roadbed.
Thank you! I've done a lot of research and chose this style of benchwork and roadbed because it allows the railroad and scenery to "flow" without having to break away from the flat, square form that plywood/foam provide.
The benchwork looks like cabinetry. Where did you get the clear pine?
Hi Daryl, that is actually Clear Aspen, not pine. It’s a little more expensive than pine, but very fine grained and no knots which makes it much easier to work with. It takes screws well without splitting and cuts nicely. I bought it at Menard’s which is similar to Home Depot or Lowe’s. The pieces come individually wrapped in cellophane. Using this bench work method is very efficient and uses minimal wood so I probably have the same or less money invested compared to using pine for the traditional “table top on boxes” method.
Those L girder splice plates are brilliant! I know that your videos have not gotten to wiring yet, but I wanted to ask, or suggest if not, if wiring will be color coded identical to a decoder? That is to say, red/black for track power, gray/orange for turnout motors or waterwheels etc, yellow/blue/white for lighting, green/purple for "accessories" like rolling creek water sounds or something? This would vastly help in troubleshooting and identifying which wires go where during maintenance... although it does take some dedication in "sticking to the code" when putting it all together. Any left over wire would be usable as feeder wires for the appropriate items (structure lighting, etc) in case things have to be removed for some reason.
SaiaArt that’s a great idea! I planned on following a color code but haven’t gone as far as settling upon what the color code will be. I might follow your suggestion!
How do you mount switchmachines with roadbed so thick?
Good question James!
I’ve used MicroMark’s SwitchTender machines with mixed results, they would probably work better with purchased turnouts vs the hand laid CVT ones I use. The issue is that the throw rid has a lot of flex being roughly 2” long. Ground throws would work well.
I should make a video on various methods and the pros and cons of each.
@@gregstyczynski3473 I’ve been flirting with splines for my new layout, but in N the throw from so far down would be enormous.
@@drithen I think I could have gotten away with 1”thick splines easily with HO, they are very rigid once installed. With N scale you could go 3/4” even.
Very nice , professional-like work Greg. I wonder about 1 thing. If that is carpet on floor, it might it start to lower under the legs. If so, you could cut it all away out from under legs (keeping it in the aisleway) and make shims to make up for it and simply glue them in without actually removing or replacing the legs. Hope I'm wrong...Of course Vid is now 17 Mo. old so......
Mark Harris great observation! It is carpet, however it is very thin with no padding so hopefully it won’t be an issue.
btw Mark Harris, thank you for the compliment and I subscribed to you so that I wont miss your first video!
Over time, will the splines (on end) sag over time or is the 16" support good enough to prevent that from happening?
Michael McFadden, I believe the 16" is adequate support. Homasote is very rigid when standing on its edge. I've had these up over a year now with no sag. It is worth pointing out though that my layout is not in a basement and is temperature controlled year round so humidity is not a factor.
I’m really new to modeling and was intrigued by your video. I understand using splines to build the road bed but with the open bench work how do you add the buildings and other scenery? Great job on the videos . Thanks. George
Thank you George Brill, that is a great question! I hope to be able to post more videos soon answering that question and many more. The plan is to support structures on bases made of plywood or homasote. The scenery will be a thin shell of hydrocal plaster soaked paper towel over a support structure of cardboard strips and/or screen. I chose this method to avoid having to make flat surfaces look like hills, instead it gives me freedom to let the scenery flow, as does the track. My next video is going to be on installing the fascia boards which define the front edge of the scenery, then I plan I doing some scenery 'practice' in the reverse loop area that will eventually be hidden. Thank you for watching!
Thanks