You would be forgiven for thinking I fell off the planet. It has been a whopping eight months since the last post. This summer was a whirlwind with a project list a mile long culminating in a major driveway realignment and paving job that stretched deep into fall. Boy oh boy, I burned a lot of diesel this year moving dirt. Finally the 2024 list is complete so I am back working on the railroad building backdrops for the lower deck.
One inherent problem of a multi-deck layout is access to the underside of the upper deck(s). It is trouble enough having a lower deck in the way but I further compounded the problem by making the lower deck benchwork shallower than the upper. This places the lower backdrop away from the wall resulting in the back 8″ of the upper deck underside being, for all practical purposes, inaccessible. That won’t do. My solution for the problem is removable backdrops. They are 3mm hardboard on 1×2 frames each ±8′ long fastened to the rear of the lower deck. Each backdrop section is screwed to the one next to it to maintain joint alignment. Cutouts in the hardboard facilitate the upper deck brackets. The general arrangement looks like this:
I started off by ripping several sheets of hardboard into 17″ wide strips. 1-1/2″ of that lay against the back of the benchwork yielding an effective backdrop height of 15-1/2″. That brings the top to within 1″ of the upper benchwork. Sufficiently close that the top cannot be seen from any realistic viewing angle.
Next I used a thin strip of hardboard clamped in place and my trusty plumb bob to locate the points where the upper brackets cross the backdrop. I also measured the height from benchwork to bracket at these same points. On the curved sections I let the hardboard strip form its natural curve by clamping it only at the ends. A temporary center support was clamped in after the curve had been set.
Backdrop end points and “no-fastener-here” locations were also marked.
The marks on the strip were then transferred to a 17″ panel.
The bracket clearance slots were located using the height from benchwork measurement made earlier.
Jigsaw work cut the panels to length and cut the slots.
The panel was then flipped over and 19″ 1×2 uprights were added. The uprights extend from the bottom of the benchwork to the top of the backdrop. 2″ hardboard spacers were glued to the bottom of the uprights to bring them flush with the backdrop face. The straight panels also received horizontal 1×2 spars to prevent potential warping in the future. The curved panels did not get spars since they will hold their shape just fine because of the curve. This image shows a panel that has both a curved section (no spar) and a straight section (spar).
The panel was put into place and the build process repeated for each panel. To keep everything aligned properly I fastened each panel to the adjacent panel with #10 x 1-1/2 screws as I went along.
Getting the panels to sit flat against the benchwork, tight against each other, level at the top, and with a smooth, flush seam took some creative clamping in tight quarters.
The hardboard is affixed to the uprights and spars with 3/4″ drywall screws. The tempered side of hardboard tends to dull tooling fairly fast. Knowing that I had many screws to countersink I decided to buy a cheapo set of countersinks and then just chuck them when they dull. Instead of traditional countersinks I found these metric deburring bits on eBay.
They work great. Better than a standard countersink at least when used with hardboard. The 12mm bit is the perfect size for drywall screws. A hundred screws later it is still holding its edge. I’m impressed especially given the low price. Here you can see the nice chamfer it leaves around the screw head. This will work well for mudding the screws.
Once all of the panels were in place I cut and installed benchwork extensions in the corner sections. They are affixed with my usual method of right angle nailing plates. Only the center extension supports the backdrop. The extensions are there to support the foam scenery base to come later. There will also eventually be a vertical support from the back of the center extension up to the upper benchwork so the curved backdrop is really well supported.
Here is a close up of the extension end. The notch catches the hardboard backdrop when installing yet doesn’t fit so tight as to distort the natural shape of the curve. Basically an installation aid.
For documentation purposes here is each panel:
Panel 1
Panel 2
Panel 3
Panel 4
Panel 5
Panel 6
Panel 7
Panel 8
Panel 9
Panel 10
Panel 11
I’ll pull these down, clean up the slots, mud, and paint sky blue. Be back after I get them reinstalled.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Hi Alan. Happy New Year. Thanks for the update.
Impeccable work, as always.
And not just on the layout, but also on the blog updates … highly commendable in terms of clear explanations, relevant supporting pics, and all ‘round lucidity.
If I had one wish, it would be “more updates, more often”!
Great stuff Alan.
Happy New Year. Thanks for the layout update. Your work on the system always inspires me.
The usual superb attention to detail and well thought out construction process. I look forward to the continuing journey. Be well and have a prosperous new year!
Alan, Happy New Year to you too. Also great to see you are still there after you 8 month detour to other projects. These look great.
Keep posting away so we can all come along for the ride with you.
George
Thanks for the compliments guys. It’s good to be back working on the railroad.