BASEBOARDS
Having decided that I wanted to exhibit the layout I realised that I needed strong but portable baseboards. I thought about using internal doors fixed end to end but abandoned the idea when I realised they would not fit into my estate car. I then remembered that IKEA sold a range of table tops, one of which conveniently measured 4ft. x 2ft.6ins. These would provide the area I needed and would fit into my car.
Three table tops, placed end to end, form the front baseboard and two more carry the outer ends of the fiddle yard. All baseboard sections are linked together with good quality brass hinges with removable hinge pins. I decided to make the layout 4ft. high in order to provide a good viewing height and to avoid having to bend down too far to work on it.
I have no skill as a carpenter, so to avoid having to make trestles I designed the baseboard supports as vertical wooden legs. These are held apart by sheets of MDF, some of which are nailed and glued to the legs and others are secured by captive bolts and nuts. Each leg has a simple leg leveller let into the bottom and the male half of a pattern-makers dowel fixed to the top. These locate into the female halves that are accurately positioned on the undersides of the table tops which simply drop onto the leg units, the whole forming a very rigid structure.
Two short suspended boards link the front baseboard to the rear and a long suspended board, carrying eight tracks, connects the two rear table tops. The long rear baseboard spans over my settee and, fortunately, when the layout is erected at home, because of the height of the layout and the location of the legs, I can still sit on the settee and watch television. The whole structure takes about an hour to erect or dismantle.
The arrangement of the baseboards as depicted in "Railway Modeller" magazine Courtesy Railway Modeller
The front baseboard made up of three IKEA table tops
The rear baseboards spanning over my settee, with Alan Gray looking apprehensive!
The view of my television from the settee