New baseboards
A busy session, with all three focused on the new baseboards. Laurence continued with the final, rectangular board, while Stephen and Geoff took a more overall view of the new boards. The trestles were set out and re-levelled following adjustment at the Burton show. The trestles are generally in the same position except they move further out, to increase the space inside the layout. The new positions were marked on the floor.
The centre line of the track was pencilled and cork underlay strips prepared and glued down with contact adhesive.
Laurence's board was completed and the hinge joiners fitted.
The elongated cut-out (to allow the board to be offered-up to the locator pins) had an accurate check for track clearance and passed comfortably. It is a non-scenic area, but the excess hole might be filled in, in due course.
Attention moved to the new boards down the racking wall and the support structure in particular. This now had to be finalised as it was the last opportunity to agree the spacing off the racking before the final locator pins were fitted between the rectangular board and the adjacent adaptor board. Work benches with packing on top were positioned to support a couple of boards. Numerous ideas for support were discussed. Intrusion into the room, ease of assembly, storage, stability, were all factors. A possible gap at the back to gain access to the hidden tunnel track became more important when the temporary boards in position allowed us to test the access. A larger gap than planned for was agreed. Laurence conformed that once Geoff had lost a bit of weight, two operators could pass each other in the reduced space.
The problem of storing legs tended to obviate sturdy, 'H' leg panels. Removable rods pushed through the racking holes supporting one side with single legs bolted to the outer side of the boards were discussed. Brackets on the face of the racking could be tolerated if removable. The final suggestion before the end of the day had some merit. Permanent, shallow timbers bolted to the racking where possible, with flush mount plates (as we'd used on the original control panel). Then a fold-up cross-brace with the second flush mount on the end, bolted to a simple timber leg. The frames could be set up in the order of assembly i.e. away from the end shelf unit, without needing to be held in place (hopefully). Successive layout boards could be easily fitted to previous boards and dropped onto the frame. Timber would be purchased and the old flush mounts located for a trial next week.
