Raising A Layout |
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2002
A few days ago, I tackled a challenging task with the help of several other fellows, namely raising the level of my HO scale layout’s benchwork by eight inches. If you have read my feature article in the 2002 edition of Model Railroad Planning, you will have an idea of what we were up against. This month, I will describe the procedure we followed to raise all the benchwork occupying a 350 square foot room. Should you ever find yourself pondering such a task, our experience may be of benefit to you.To begin, why raise the layout? My track elevation was originally between 48 and 49 inches, a perfect compromise between accessibility underneath, and providing comfortable reaching distance above. Two factors caused me to change this situation. Firstly, I had noticed on any number of occasions from sitting in a chair, which put my eyes at track height, that the scenes looked a lot more realistic from that position. In fact, while viewing the layout at eye level, I was unable to see around the scenery from one town to another. Suddenly, that timber overpass and bank of trees, which I installed this summer, separated Bradford from Allandale!
Secondly, with our second child due just before Christmas, the proportion of our three-bedroom house occupied by the layout and writing activities is too large. By elevating the benchwork, I will have the option of moving my desk and computer into the layout room. Seeing as though I am immersed in the work on the London book now, and not due to surface until February, I was prompted to carry out the operation sooner rather than later.
Last Thursday, I made the decision to proceed with the lift on Labour Day Weekend, without any solid idea of the means. However, I consulted the members of my regular construction gang (the "usual suspects"), namely my Dad, Greg Stubbings, Pierre Oliver and Roger Winchester. Greg was visiting anyway on the weekend (which hastened the decision, as I figured the poor guy may as well continue his tradition of working up a sweat every time he crosses our threshold). By good fortune, he brought along his chop saw, and we set to work on Friday night making eight-inch extensions for the 30 L-section legs.
Dad and I figured out the engineering aspects of the operation: I would rent half a dozen screw jacks (capable of raising 20 tons each over a maximum of eight inches, and more commonly employed for lifting houses). These jacks would be placed under critical spots, including the joints between open-grid benchwork sections (see the August 2001 topic for a discussion of the layout’s construction). Several 4x4 timbers would span the gaps from the top of the jacks (12 inches off the floor) to the bottom of the benchwork (about 42 inches off the floor). Pierre Oliver, mastermind and construction foreman of the original benchwork, sent his blessings from St. Thomas and assured me that my scheme would work.
On Saturday morning, three of us set to work. The jacks were positioned, and Greg and I cut the 4x4 timbers to length while Roger unfastened all the screws holding the benchwork to the wall. With the timbers positioned and the pile of assembled leg extensions nearby, the three of us each manned two jacks. We began with 1/2 turns (resulting in lifts of about 3/8 inch at a time) and listened to the benchwork creak and groan. Along the way, we discovered several hidden screws anchoring the benchwork to the wall (hidden by risers). Lesson: always assume you are going to disassemble your layout, and construct it accordingly! Once the benchwork was sailing freely skyward, we increased the lift to a full turn (3/4 inch) at a time. In the tradition of moving houses to make way for the St. Lawrence Seaway project in the late 1950s, I am happy to report that structures, vehicles, trees and details stayed intact. I drew the line at rolling stock and locomotives, however, and these were moved a safe distance away.
We raised the benchwork in two sections, the first employing the jacks (this was the greater, built-up portion of the layout). The second lift was done "au manuale" (Roger’s term). As we reached the desired eight-inch height (the limit of the jacks), we re-anchored the benchwork to the wall and slipped the leg extensions underneath (these were attached with short lengths of 2x2 acting as splices inside the L-sections). The task was completed in three hours, and I spent a couple of additional hours tidying up and re-attaching some risers and roadbed which had been released to ease the lift.
Well, am I happy? Yes. Walking into the room now, the scenes are at eye level, and suddenly I am thankful for detailing the underbodies of my rolling stock. Steam locomotives look a lot more impressive looking at them from the ground rather than from above. I lose sight of trains through the scenery, and the layout seems larger. Ducking under the benchwork to get into the staging area is no longer a daunting task. I have created about 90 cubic feet of additional storage space. Employing a step stool, I have determined that I will have no problem in continuing to handlay track if I so desire. As for comfortable reaching, I don’t want anyone reaching over the layout anyway! Manual uncoupling will still not be a problem with a rail height between 56 and 57 inches, except on some tracks, where Kadee magnets will be employed. I can’t wait to begin operating this layout and looking at scenes and trains from ground level!
Total cost for the job, exclusive of volunteer labour, was about $100. My thanks go to Dad and Pierre Oliver for their thought and advice, to Roger Winchester and Greg Stubbings for their toil (providing a new definition of "labour day weekend"), and my wife Mary-Jo and two-year-old son Spencer for staying clear of the operation for a few hours!
Ian Wilson
September 3, 2002
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