A base for the Mt. Lowe layout

The layout on the base mock-up.

Before starting on shooting layout glamour photos I thought I'd finish building the mockup for the base. Who knows, maybe this will become more than a mockup and be the actual base.

Trefoil base plates are rough cut with a Japanese handsaw.

When I set aside base construction last year I had the three tubes cut out and covered with that wood grain contact paper for a 70s Radio Shack look. The trefoil tube arrangement supported the layout quite well.

Marking the location of the bearing on a foam plate.

Sometime last year Galen suggested mounting the layout on some sort of bearing so it could be turned around for better viewing. I was intrigued by that idea, but I had to resolve a few problems before it became viable. First was the layout had a power cord sticking out of it for plugging into a controller. If it were to rotate, the layout couldn't have any external power or control cables coming out of it. In keeping with the 70s vibe I decided to build in a battery powered controller to solve that problem. With the benefit of hindsight I'd probably make use of an external wireless controller in future projects. 

Plate edges were shaped with a rasp and smoothed with a sanding block

Then there was finding a suitable turntable bearing. The one I eventually settled on is a bit of overkill as it's rated to support a 750 lb load (!), but it cost less than $30 and had the diameter I was looking for, so the decision was easy.

Exposed portions of the base plates are painted with black acrylic.

For awhile I thought I'd use plywood or chipboard for the base's trefoils, but 1" thick foam sheets that are used for house insulation won out. The load to be supported is minimal (I should weigh the layout, but I'll simply comment that it is "quite light" ) and this material is good enough for supporting light loads like those often encountered with micro-layouts. It's easy to work with too. All I ever use is a small handsaw for rough cutting, a rasp for final shaping, and a small sponge sanding block for smoothing edges.

Transfer tape was used to bond the turntable bearing to the foam plates.

Finally, in the mockup spirit, I decided to bond the bearing to the foam trefoils with transfer tape. The tape provides a surprisingly strong bond. I've used it extensively in layout construction, so I thought I'd use it here too to make construction quick and easy.

Top and bottom plates have been bonded to the turntable bearing.

The bottom of the base panel that rests on the floor has a some anti-slip material bonded to it. Again, I used transfer tape for this. The part I haven't figured out is how to attach the layout to the tubes. If someone bumps the layout, it could take a heartbreaking tumble. Of course, if the layout were attached to the tubes the whole thing could still be tipped over because it's rather top heavy. I might need to add some weight inside those tubes to try to make that harder to do. Well, that's what experiments and mockups are for: finding out this sort of stuff. 

Anti-slip material is bonded to the bottom of the base

Well, that's basically it for construction. The tubes were stood on the base and temporarily held in place with good, old duct tape. Here's a video of me 'taking the base out for a spin':

I see a few things that need to be fixed, so it's back to the workshop for me.