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Bill Uffelman
Crew Chief
USA
900 Posts |
 Posted - 01/04/2009 : 1:48:06 PM
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Used to live in the midwest and DC area so could go to the EBT on a fairly regular basis. Helped organize the On3 modular at the second NNGC in Valley Forge PA years ago -- one side of the RR became the start of the modules that now make the EBT set up at the annual eastern PA NG meet.
Relate well to the Pittsburgh area -- half of wife's family is from Butler PA (and buried there),her uncle owned the Horn of Plenty buffet on Route 8.
Bill Uffelman
In sunny Las Vegas NV |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4600 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2009 : 6:57:02 PM
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Hi, Bill --
If you're ever headed out this way, let me know. We'll give you the Model Railroaders VIP treatment. Backstage tours, etc. 
Don
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4600 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2009 : 7:06:32 PM
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High speed benchwork construction.
Vagel and I agreed that I could go ahead and build "Phase 1A" of the benchwork in the shop, to speed things up.
10:00 AM - make a cutting list from Vagel's drawing. For a big job, I have a spreadsheet program to do some of the calculations - but for this job, pencil and paper works fine. The cut list is essential to efficiency.
11:00 AM - back from Home Depot with the wood.
Another big help is that Vagel designed the benchwork so that the basic building blocks are all 24" wide. Deducting the thickness of the laterals, that means I need a bunch of 22-1/2" pieces - 10 of them in this case. So I set a stop block on the crosscut box on the table saw and cut them all quickly.
Then I cut all the other pieces to length, also using the crosscut box and stop block.
Next, I need to drill a bunch of holes for screws, with a countersink for the screw heads. Since I'm working in the shop, I set up a fence on the drill press and put tick marks on the fence to get the hole spacing nice and tidy:
Quick lunch break and by about 1 or so, I'm gluing up the basic boxes:
I was also working with my wood-working student at the same time, which slowed me down a bit.
Then I mark the locations for the rest of the 22-1/2" pieces, and glue and screw them in place. I drill the screw countersinks with one cordless drill and drive the screws with another. As Nahm would say, "why change bits when you can just change drills?"
Then I clamped the three subassemblies together and screwed them together with reinforcing blocks. Finally, I marked out the diagonal pieces - fussing with them was a bit time-consuming. The steeper angles were cut on the table saw; the long shallow cuts were made on a bandsaw and finished on the stationary belt sander.
4:00 PM - Ta-dahhhhh! Ready to ship:
I'll run it over to Vagel's on Monday and we can set it up on Wednesday.
Don |
Edited by - AVRR-PA on 01/04/2009 7:20:30 PM |
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jatravia
Fireman
USA
2519 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2009 : 9:27:48 PM
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Hey, I just caught up on this thread and I have to say I'm impressed. That is to say I am impressed with the idea of using 1 of 3 apartment units for a layout space! Nice. Honestly though the benchwork looks really clean. I look forward to watching your progress.
Joe <>< |
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George D
Moderator
USA
9910 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2009 : 08:26:28 AM
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Nice neat benchwork, Don.[:-thumbu]
Bill, Don is a great host – I received the VIP tour of his club last month.
George
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Frederic Testard
Engineer
France
16455 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2009 : 4:53:13 PM
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| Very nice and inspiring benchwork, Don. I'm thinking of working in a more modular way for the rebuilding of my Sn3 layout and should use some modules (but probably more simply shaped than yours). |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2009 : 5:18:53 PM
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Don's voicemail message says he's dropping off the benchwork, which, of course, I take to mean the pieces he'd pre-cut in the shop. So I come back from errands to find the completed section on my doorstep. Wow!
Vagel |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4600 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2009 : 5:55:48 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Frederic Testard
Very nice and inspiring benchwork, Don. I'm thinking of working in a more modular way for the rebuilding of my Sn3 layout and should use some modules (but probably more simply shaped than yours).
Hi, Frederic --
This benchwork really is pretty simple - the diagonals make it look more complicated than it is. Basically, this section is three boxes (modules) joined together. Then we add the diagonals, mostly so people won't bruise themselves on sharp corners.
Don |
Edited by - AVRR-PA on 01/09/2009 11:23:27 AM |
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Bill Uffelman
Crew Chief
USA
900 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2009 : 11:08:04 PM
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When you get the RR a little further along I'll drop by!
Bill Uffelman
Las Vegas NV |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2009 : 12:14:57 AM
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Don and I spent most of this Wednesday's work session (Jan. 8 for those keeping score) working out sketching out various design options for add-ons to our HOn3 modules for the up-coming Midwest Narrow Gauge Show, for which Don has started a thread in Craftsman's Corner at http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24352.
But we did manage to install the nice pre-fabricated section that Don built in his shop and work out the design for the remainder of the open grid benchwork for the layout. I had to "edit" a few inches out here and there to maintain my minimum 24" aisle clearance (so many of us violate Plate C, don't we!?).
Don suggested we go ahead and complete the benchwork now and tack some plywood sheets to it for use as a a work bench rather than continue to rely on the sawhorse-and-slabtop surface we've been working with so far. He is going to pre-fab the remaining three or four sections in his shop, and we will install them in the layout room in two weeks' time. Hooray!
Here's a couple shots of the new addition in place. Those bridges will find a home somewhere ... I don't know exactly where, yet, though.
Meanwhile, I'm working on a structure project that has LONG been on the backburner ... I'll post some on that at the new thread started by Don (see URL above).
Vagel
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4600 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2009 : 11:22:13 AM
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Hi, everyone --
Here's a scan of the sketch of Phase 2 of Vagel's layout. He originally planned to build a supporting wall down the center with 2x3's but our experience so far indicates that we can build very sturdy benchwork - the kind we can stand on if necessary - just by putting in plenty of legs and screwing them to the wooden floor. So we changed the plan to eliminate the wall.
We broke the project up into 7 modules, D through I. I'll built all of them in the shop over the next couple of weeks. (Vagel and I won't get together next week as that his monthly operating session on Bob Prehoda's layout.) I'm doing the cutting list right now. I'll post some pictures of the completed modules just before I move them over the Vagel's.
Don
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4600 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2009 : 10:41:36 PM
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Although Vagel and I didn't get together this Wednesday, work continues at a good pace. I've completed almost all of the modules that will assemble into Phase II. I'll haul everything over to Vagel's this Saturday, when some of us are getting together at his place for a Quilting Bee on weathering. Next Wednesday we'll put all the sections together and post some photographs.
Don |
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WVM_Nut
Engine Wiper
218 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2009 : 12:54:50 PM
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| I will admit I'm curious as to why you chose not to go L-girder? I converted some of my dominos TO L-girder to get a more free flowing benchwork. |
I either build 'em, or I blow 'em up. Depends on me mood, I guess. |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4600 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2009 : 2:48:26 PM
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I know Vagel had some reasons for not using L-girder construction but I'll leave answering the question to him.
For my point of view, the advantages of building it in modules is that I can do all the work in the shop, which is easier and produces neater work. It also cuts down on the amount of wood dust generated in Vagel's layout room. (We do generate a fair amount from cutting out the subroadbed with a saber saw.)
I'll ping Vagel with an e-mail and let him know about your question.
Don
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2009 : 6:19:22 PM
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Ed,
Actually, I'm somewhat surprised that this question hasn't been asked before, as L-girder has long been considered the state-of-the-art method. My understanding of the major relative advantages of L-girder are that it uses less lumber and more readily supports the construction of vertical scenery without having to use long risers. On my layout, the verticality is all above the track (except where the iron ore branch climbs about 7 inches above the valley floor). There are going to be no grades on either the narrow gauge or the standard gauge mainlines, although the two lines will be separated by about 3 vertical inches and they will rarely be in the same scene; the terrain through which they run will range from gently rolling valley floor to steep mountainsides.
Moreover, the modular approach to benchwork that Don and I adopted lends itself to the grid (and vice versa). A third factor in going with the older method is that it lends itself more readily to changes in track plan as I find things don't fit quite as I intended (or at least that was what I thought going into the project and it has held true so far). Using L-girder to splice "dominoes" together is a good example of why one would select that over the grid. Our "modules" are not modules in the model RR sense, but in the construction sense; they do not connote transitions between the final scenes.
I guess at the end of the day it all comes down to what you're comfortable with. I've used L-girder for small projects and they worked out well. For this one, I just felt the grid would be the better approach, and I was influenced in that decision by the fact that some large layouts in our area with which I'm familiar (one under construction now in a very large basement) employ the open grid to good effect.
Vagel
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New Home for the Blacklog & Shade Gap Eastern
