Laundry Lane in OO

[stevegant]

Time off over Christmas so what should I do ?......................

Well, having previously been a fan of 'N Gauge' I thought it was time for a change and a move to OO Gauge. One of our bedrooms had previously been used as a place to dry laundry which seemed a waste so work began on 'Laundry Lane' !

The room had been painted brown by the previous owner and needed a 100 watt bulb on the brightest day . Layer upon layer of self adhesive borders had been stuck onto the plasterboard - oh Joy !!!!

A quick lick of paint and several hours removing the border and ready to start.

The blank canvas with battons fitted around the walls:

[stevegant]

Next it was time to construct some baseboards so it was out into the garage armed with my trusty jigsaw and some marine ply. Several hours.... well actually a few days later it was back inside for a test fit. (Additional bracing was added to each board once I was happy with the fit).

[stevegant]

Now the exciting part began. The first baseboard was installed. Each board has been made with a lip at the back that will rest on the battons that were screwed to the wall. The baseboard frame was then screwed into the battons allowing for a little packing where necessary to account for the fact that the walls and floor were of course not quite tue. Metal legs with adjustable feet have been used to make sure that all is nice and level.

The first board :

[upnick]

Hi Stevegant.

You've made a good start there how big is the room overall ? the board you have in at the door is narrow how wide are the boards going to be ?

[NSE DAZ]

Hi Stevegant,

The baseboards are looking good keep up the hard work and updates.
All the best Darren

[stevegant]

Hi Stevegant.

You've made a good start there how big is the room overall ? the board you have in at the door is narrow how wide are the boards going to be ?

The boards range in size. Basically the main board is approx 2 ft deep which will house my Depot area. The other boards are about 15 inches wide which will run around the room to complete the loop. The way the boards are joined allows me to use the equivalent of 3rd and 4th radius curves.

Overall room size is quite small - 10ft x 7ft. I have to keep the space in the middle of the room for occassional storage purposes.

[stevegant]

Next 2 boards in place ....

[stevegant]

And the start of the lifting section - a test fit before further bracing added.



Fortuntately my measurements were OK and the door can still be opened when the section is lowered !



A quick mock-up of the main board :

[iankemp]

looking good!! will watch this with interest! i know i have proberly missed it, what guage you modeling???

[beerandpies]

Some excellent quality boards there. I'm looking forward to seeing this develop.

[SouthernBoy]

Looking very sleek and professional there
Any ideas on track plan / type of trains you'll run / scenics etc ? Or are you going the spontaneous route?

[lozstlouis]

Impressive timberwork. Are they painted grey or is it some sort of covering. My screen doesn't give me enough resolution to see...!

[bsa77]

Fantastic, what a space for a N gauge layout!

Something I've read about N gauge and hinges sections is they can be a tad unreliable - apparently a lift out section is more reliable in this scale because of the track size. Make what you will of that but good luck - very keen to see this progress and would like to know how much it cost to let you have that size room to play in?

[haeckmaen]

Regarding to the OP I guess it's 00 gauge... but it would have been a fantastic space for any N gauge layout!(I'm envious). Anyway, It'll be a fantastic space for an 00 gauge layout, too. Is this going to be layout all around a modern MPD?

[stevegant]

Thanks for all the encouragement !

To answer the questions -

1. The boards are just painted with a light grey primer so that things look more presentable during construction.
2. Yes, this is a round-the-room layout in OO Gauge.
3. In terms of era I am settling on late 70's / early 80's which will of course give me some flexibility for some 'BR Blue' and the start of sectorisation plus modellers licence
4. The main focus of the layout will be a small depot with carriage wash, 2 road shed and a handful of stabling sidings
5. I may be mad - but I intend to build a small island platform on my lifting section to provide a stopping point for a couple of class 108 DMU's and to convery the impression of a larger though station.
6. Control will be DCC as I already have the kit available.