Portable raised track - need help with framework ideas!

[scaleandy]

Hi all,

I would like to build a small raised, portable track that could be easily put together and packed up and loaded into the back of a station wagon. Shape would be a simple loop of maybe 8m long, 1.2m radius curves at either end and framework feet would require good adjustment for rough surfaces (such as being outdoors).

Am I attempting the impossible here? Look forward to your thoughts.

 

[Zerogee]

If you only wanted it to set up indoors or on good flat surfaces, then I'd think the simplest ready-made option would be to use a number of the inexpensive wallpapering tables from a DIY store; but the requirement for adjustable legs/feet makes it much more complicated, lining everything up to keep the benchwork flat and level will require some fiddly stuff. My first thought is how about the sort of screw-in feet that you get to level up some desks or domestic appliances? Would that give you enough adjustment (probably no more than an inch or so at each leg), or do you need to cope with rougher ground than that?
I suppose that if you make sure the tabletops bolt or otherwise fix together fairly strongly to ensure good alignment, then you MAY be able to get away with not every leg touching the ground all the time.....?

 

[Gizzy]

Not a loop as you would like, but here is a portable layout bulit by Beancounter and finished off by myself.

Two parts, that fit into a VW Golf hatchback, a Ford Mondeo, or in my case a trailer....

 

[ntpntpntp]

Over the past 30 years building layouts for exhibiting, I've used two methods of support: separate trestles and legs which fold up and store under the layout baseboard. Trestles are easy to make and use, integral folding legs are neater and not likely to be forgotten (yes, I did once forget a trestle!)

Here's an example trestle - one of 6 made in the early 1980's and still going strong: in fact about to be used by my young lad with his small portable G layout that's currently under construction! Using chain and a hook across the bottom struts gives a height-adjustable trestle that fold nice and flat for transportation.

To give some vertical adjustment on the legs, I've used these adjustable feet which are readily available in the UK. Drill a hole in the bottom of the leg, knock in the spiked nut and screw in the foot. These give me about 3cm of adjustment.

I've also seen an alternative design of foot that mounts on the side of the leg and gives longer adjustment.

I'm not a fan of using pasting tables - they're poorly made with just a sheet of hardboard over a thin frame. All the ones I've seen sag in the middle.

Make yourself a framework strong enough to support the weight of our large scale models. My lad's layout that I mentioned above is using a baseboard from an old N gauge layout, again built in the 1980's. It uses 2" x 1" timber for the frame which seems sufficient now it's got the trackbed attached.

 

[Marc]

Some pictures of my tables. We put all our scenery loose on the tables. this way we can change the layout
at every event we visit.

11 cm for 5 tables.

 

[scaleandy]

Dear Gentlemen,

Thank you for your detailed photos and examples! I'm going to the drawing board much more equiped than before. Will keep you posted on the outcome!

 

[MR SPOCK]

[align=center]Have you thought about using foam insulation, the four inch thick stuff is light and rigid and can be carved, look like a standard method of baseboard construction in Th USA
[/align]

 

[simon@mgr]

I am seriously considering using internal doors for an indoor/exhibition layout.
Still working out details but they are 2040mm long and come in varying widths up to 840mm.

 

[vsmith]

http://deloropacific.org/index.htm

Check out the Del Oro Pacific, they use a modified version of Ntrack Modular Layout Standards which are nominaly 2'x4' with larger modules for curves. The whole shibang can be set up and taken down in a very short time.