All
baseboards have been built using standard
2" x 1" dressed softwood
half-lapped and screwed to form frames in
the required sizes. Trackbed, Road, River
and Village areas are surfaced with 9mm
exterior plywood
The
baseboards forming the rear scenic
section of the layout are all 6' x 3'
with contoured plywood formers set at
18" centers. The landscaping was
formed using chicken wire mesh stapled to
the formers and coated with GRP resin and
chopped strand matting as used in boat
building.
This
unusual approach to landscaping has
produced baseboards which are extremely
light but very strong and robust. All
baseboards are jointed with 2"
backflap hinges with removable pins and
all cross-board track joints are on small
"lift-out" sections thus
preventing track end damage during
transportation
The
layout is supported on purpose built
folding trestles which have a single
splay on the 3" x 2" top rail
to provide a flat surface when the
trestle is in the open position.
To
improve the visual appearance of the
layout, particularly at exhibition, it is
fitted with a 9" deep lighting
pelmet which is supported on 1"
square steel tubular supports. These
supports are attached to the baseboards
with M10 set screws which bolt on to
small tapped steel plates. The layout
name is carried on the pelmets and is in
white computer cut lettering in the
Scotrail typeface of Helvetica Medium
The
layout is illuminated by 24 R80
spotlights rated at 60 watts and fitted
with Ashley "Click" plugs which
allow their removal prior to
transportation.
All
baseboard edges are painted in black
satin finish and a black cloth skirt
screens the trestle supports. The
fiddleyard boards are fitted with plywood
screens upon which additional information
about the layout is mounted to provide
the viewer at exhibition a true all-round
experience.
