Highly Unusual Trains

Ok. I figured out how to do embedded YouTube video. This is the full promo for last night's episode of Top Gear on BBC Canada. Even more train goodness.

Jag on Rails

Well, if it's possible to put an El Camino on rails, this Jaguar XJS makes perfect sense - a great segment of Top Gear I saw on BBC Canada last night.

Update 30 Sept: Since I figured out how to do embedded video yesterday I went ahead and added one here.

Marples saw

These days when I’m buying stuff I try and make a point of finding what I’m looking for from Canadian or US manufacturers first, and if I can’t find anything suitable, then I’ll buy from other sources. So, it was quite an education when I went looking for a small handsaw with a thin, flexible blade that I could use to cut the buildings in Scarborough Square from their Plexiglas base.

{An aside: I stupidly thought when attaching the various buildings to Scarborough Square that I’d never again need to remove them, so I attached them with dots of superglue. Now that I’m building a new layout, I want the buildings, but have no need for the Square. I had read that acetone was a superglue solvent, but I was concerned that it might also eat away at the styrene used for the building bases. I figured if I had a saw with a very thin blade I could just cut the building bases free. It turned out to be true, and the bases survived virtually undamaged.}

The lowest price saws of this type were manufactured in China by major brand names. There was a very beautiful saw I came across at Lee Valley Tools that was made in Japan, but the price was a bit high for me, and I thought I’d damage it since it wasn’t really meant to saw through plastic. The Marples saw shown in the picture seemed to fit the bill: made in the US and reasonably priced at around $13 or $14.

It’s an excellent saw and I highly recommend it. I had no problem cutting the buildings free from the Plexiglas base (its very thin, sharp blade made this relatively easy), it was then used to cut the curved perimeter support pieces on the new layout board (it was quite impressive at this job as the blade had enough flex to not bind during cutting and overall it had that ‘knife going through butter’ feel), and has been used to cut the layout board’s foam upper surface (an admittedly easy task for any saw). It turns out from my unscientific searching for a saw made in North America it was the only one I found that was made here, so I’m glad it turned out to be a good buy.

Table for the new train board

I was talking on the phone to vp last night about this and that. He mentioned that he saw some of the photos of the new layout and thought the workmate shown supporting the board in yesterday's post were its legs. No. Debra bought a nice little mid-50's end table at a thrift store a few months ago, and its been sitting in the basement ever since. It will be the stand when the layout's on display upstairs. Otherwise it'll be on shelf supports in the basement.

That little table looks like its had some rough handling from its previous owners. Its had paint dripped on it, someone signed their name on the top, there's a few gashes, and it's all loose and wobbly. In a few weeks I plan to fix it up a bit and hopefully return it to some of its former glory.

Foam top added

[I used some interlocking paving stones for applying pressure while the glue was drying. I miscalculated on the number of clamps I needed for clamping down the foam at the perimeter - I could have used half-a-dozen more.]

Over the weekend I glued a sheet of 2-inch thick high density foam to the top of the train board. Last week I finished stiffening the 1/4-inch hardboard substrate with 1x3 pine perimeter pieces in preparation for attaching the foam. Although the hardboard is rather thin, once the perimeter pieces are added, the whole surface loses its flexibility. The glued foam / hardboard structure is very solid and doesn't exhibit any flex. Once the board is ready for track installation I'll post more photos showing more construction details. The board is back in the basement awaiting final trimming of the foam to the hardboard perimeter. From there it's painting and then track installation.

[This view shows some of the perimeter supports on the straight side of the board. They had to be installed at a higher density on the curved edge.]