DairyStateDad
Mumbling in the corner
Got really lucky last night (no, it's not what you think, not even with the CL reference !)
I found a big supply of 4x8 x 2-inch thick DOW XPS Styrofoam (blue board) for my subroadbed -- brought home 4 slabs of it. Should be all I need for a long time -- about half of it will go toward the layout now, and the rest for the future as scenery support, elevation risers, etc. Cost about half what it would in the store. I already have a few large scraps of 1-inch that a buddy had stored in his garage and didn't need, so at most I might need another 2x8 or 4x8 1-inch or 1/2-inch board.
The lovely DairyStateMom agreed to help haul it home in her Vibe, and when we couldn't fit the full sheets in (duh!), the seller kindly sliced it up with his circular saw in accordance with my instructions. In return, I suggested to him that he post signs to sell more of his stock in local train stores. (He had it leftover from a siding project on his home.)
I'm still refining my final track plan, which I hope to post sometime. I know that building benchwork first and then doing the plan is B@$$-@ckwards, but it's a long story: I built the benchwork originally with another plan in mind, then decided that plan wouldn't work for me for a number of reasons. So I came up with new ways to configure the existing benchwork that work much better, both for the space I am in and for my ultimate desires for the layout. That tends to be my style, for better or worse: trial and error.
Thinking ahead, I have so much blue board now that I will be able to use it to make risers for grades and elevated track. The trickiest part there will be getting the angles right for the percentage of grades. Based on my rough calculations, I should be able to hold grades to no more than 2.5 or 2.75% -- and less if possible. The angles of inclination for even those are very, very slight, less than 2 degrees. So how to cut those angles into the risers I make with appropriate precision might be a bit of a challenge. As far as I can tell, even pretty pricey chop saws don't get much more precise than about 1 or 2 degrees of angle, whereas I'm looking to cut something to, say, a 1.4-degree angle... Any thoughts about how to get that fine a cut would be welcome!
I found a big supply of 4x8 x 2-inch thick DOW XPS Styrofoam (blue board) for my subroadbed -- brought home 4 slabs of it. Should be all I need for a long time -- about half of it will go toward the layout now, and the rest for the future as scenery support, elevation risers, etc. Cost about half what it would in the store. I already have a few large scraps of 1-inch that a buddy had stored in his garage and didn't need, so at most I might need another 2x8 or 4x8 1-inch or 1/2-inch board.
The lovely DairyStateMom agreed to help haul it home in her Vibe, and when we couldn't fit the full sheets in (duh!), the seller kindly sliced it up with his circular saw in accordance with my instructions. In return, I suggested to him that he post signs to sell more of his stock in local train stores. (He had it leftover from a siding project on his home.)
I'm still refining my final track plan, which I hope to post sometime. I know that building benchwork first and then doing the plan is B@$$-@ckwards, but it's a long story: I built the benchwork originally with another plan in mind, then decided that plan wouldn't work for me for a number of reasons. So I came up with new ways to configure the existing benchwork that work much better, both for the space I am in and for my ultimate desires for the layout. That tends to be my style, for better or worse: trial and error.
Thinking ahead, I have so much blue board now that I will be able to use it to make risers for grades and elevated track. The trickiest part there will be getting the angles right for the percentage of grades. Based on my rough calculations, I should be able to hold grades to no more than 2.5 or 2.75% -- and less if possible. The angles of inclination for even those are very, very slight, less than 2 degrees. So how to cut those angles into the risers I make with appropriate precision might be a bit of a challenge. As far as I can tell, even pretty pricey chop saws don't get much more precise than about 1 or 2 degrees of angle, whereas I'm looking to cut something to, say, a 1.4-degree angle... Any thoughts about how to get that fine a cut would be welcome!