After reading a lot of differing opinions on backdrop materials, I decided to try 0.060″ sheet styrene. The best reference on sheet styrene backdrops is Marty McGuirk’s Back to Basics column in the April 2000 Model Railroader.

I had some difficulty locating a company that would cut a 4’x8′ sheet of styrene into 3 16″x8′ sheets. I finally found Commercial Plastics here in Calgary who did the cuts for no additional charge.

I decided on 12″ radius corners at each of the three corners of the module. In order to line things up easily, I marked the wooden module structure at key places. I then calculated the linear distance of backdrop need to match up with this point (using the rule that the circumference of a circle = 2*pi*radius; therefore the length of a 90 degree curve is pi*radius/2). Then I just put the styrene in place, matching up the marks as I went.

I used latex contact cement to glue the styrene to the wooden module structure which worked very well. Because a single 8′ section was not long enough to fit the module, I spliced two sheets together with an 8″ splice plate between them. I used styrene putty to fill the small gaps at the splice. Here’s a photo of the backdrop while the cement was drying:

At the left side exit of the module, I built a little flap of styrene to cover a very unattractive view of the benchwork which can be seen here:

One thing I would do different on the next module is to give the styrene a light sanding with a fine grit sandpaper before installing in the module. It is relatively easy to chip the paint on the unroughed sheet styrene. Touch wood; I have not scratched anything yet but the potential is there. Roughing up the surface would give the paint something to adhere to.

I’m using Boone Morrison’s turnout throw system as described in the November / December 1997 issue of the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. It is a simple mechanical system to swing the turnout points as well as route the power to the frog. I looked at electric switches but decided that a simple mechanical approach would fit the 1920’s layout better. I built my first one in an afternoon after gathering all the parts together. It works very nicely and keeps good pressure on the points in both directions.

I followed Bill Darnaby’s approach of marking the turnout control in a white/red colour code to denote the main and branch routing through turnouts. Rather than using a round knob, I chose a 3/8″ diameter dowel cut about 1″ long. A hole drilled in the one end was force-fit over the wire coming from the turnout control. Works very well.

I built the module out of 3/8″ plywood; Iain Rice suggests that 1/4″ plywood is sufficient; however I had a few sheets of 3/8″ lying around.

I constructed four L-girders using 3″ and 1 1/2″ strips of plywood. Cross pieces were 3″ strips of plywood and use an overlapping joint system with the L-girders. The subroadbed is 3/8″ plywood with 1/2″ Homasote on top. All joints are glued together with white glue; no nails or other fasteners were used.

The benchwork is supported by a robust two-track shelving system that I purchased at Lee Valley Tools. The shelving standards are lag-bolted to the wall studs using 1/4″ by 2 1/2″ lag bolts. The brackets come in different lengths; I’m using the 11″ and 14″ brackets. I’ve installed the brackets on 16″ intervals using an electronic water level to get them all at the same height.

The track is 54″ inches from the floor. It’s a nice height for viewing; I have a footstool available to work on the layout. I’ve also added some shelving under the module for magazines, etc.

I used an utility knife to bevel the sides the Homasote to a 1:1.5 angle. I then painted all the cut edges of Homasote with a ground coloured flat paint to seal it.

Finally, I added the side and back pieces of plywood to the module. This creates the display box look for each module and will support the backdrop.