"BelmontBahn" - an Exhibition Layout.
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 4:48 pm
Some time ago we had an Exhibition Layout "St.Laurant en Ardennes". A 16 x 10' model of the Belgian Ardennes originally built by Bill Roberts & re-furbished by Brian & Dave. We had a lot of fun & gained a lot of experience with this layout. Some years ago it was retired & after much planning & false starts work started on a new layout.
However, some testing & trials were carried out first. What track to use ? We set up a test track with Fleischmann Profi & Peco both code 100 with some Roco & Tillig code 83. All the track performed well & surprisingly, the Tillig point accepted various wheel standards including the pizzs cutter/steam roller wheels on an old Lima Class 33. We left trains running 24/7.
We really did like the look of the Tillig when ballasted and it was only the fact that we thought it would be a little delicate took it off the short list.
In the end, we settled on using Fleischmann Profi - it looks pretty good with additional ballasting and weathering. Also, from past experience we know that the Fleischmann points lend themselves well to automation.
We settled on a board size of 8 x 2'6" using 8mm plywood sides, 20mm MDF ends, softwood frame and "Kingspan" for the board itself. All in all the construction, even with the built in legs resulted in a strong, rigid and lightweight base.
We had a plan, sort of, a schematic for the track plan and that was it really - trackwork, roads buildings were laid out "by mkI eyeball".
The track was set out, adjusted to our liking and then glued down with "Instant Grab".
However, some testing & trials were carried out first. What track to use ? We set up a test track with Fleischmann Profi & Peco both code 100 with some Roco & Tillig code 83. All the track performed well & surprisingly, the Tillig point accepted various wheel standards including the pizzs cutter/steam roller wheels on an old Lima Class 33. We left trains running 24/7.
We really did like the look of the Tillig when ballasted and it was only the fact that we thought it would be a little delicate took it off the short list.
In the end, we settled on using Fleischmann Profi - it looks pretty good with additional ballasting and weathering. Also, from past experience we know that the Fleischmann points lend themselves well to automation.
We settled on a board size of 8 x 2'6" using 8mm plywood sides, 20mm MDF ends, softwood frame and "Kingspan" for the board itself. All in all the construction, even with the built in legs resulted in a strong, rigid and lightweight base.
We had a plan, sort of, a schematic for the track plan and that was it really - trackwork, roads buildings were laid out "by mkI eyeball".
The track was set out, adjusted to our liking and then glued down with "Instant Grab".