Growing Whittingly

Extending an existing layout that wasn't designed to be extended isn't easy, especially when it is a portable layout and it is fully scenic. So, I have been thinking about how best to do this for some time, but eventually it is time to take the plunge. It starts with removal of the existing low-height backscene. While this was screwed in place from the rear, the scenery had stuck to the backscene in places, and with trees and structures in the way it needed careful separation. 

The new 5mm ply backscene is longer, higher, and intended to be semi-structural in keeping the extended layout straight. That means it drops down to meet the cross-members of the extension, but, it had to sit onto the original board as the original backscene had. 

The new cross-member was attached to the end of the layout to support the deck extension, but being 44x12mm and the deck being 5mm ply, but the existing board being 55mm deep, a spacer was needed. Strips of the old 6mm MDF backscene were perfect, hence the blue. I also remembered to drill holes through the ends for wiring to be extended. 

The extension deck was then fitted with the outer cross-member from 44x24mm timber and another strip of MDF. The cross-members are also screwed to the backscene, and later, to the fascia, keeping the extension rigid. A similar process was followed for the right-hand end. 

Like the backscene board, the front facia is used to keep the board straight, and is cut from 5mm ply but with the top edge profiled to the shape of the scenery. I also cut an opening for a control panel, which was difficult to find space for without the extension. A second piece of ply was cut with a slightly smaller hole to fit behind the opening, this provides something to mount the recessed panel to as well as strengthening the fascia around the opening once glued in place.

A detail shot of the right-hand end shows the control panel opening in the fascia, the end panel fitted with 12x12mm strip wood to join in to the backscene, bracing around the top of the backscene board and end board, and the opening for the tracks. 

A view from the underside shows how the extensions have been added to the original board, and how the fascia (right) joins all together with spacer blocks to the original board's front piece (which is recessed). You can also see the cut-outs for magnets to be fitted below the track. 

The lighting pelmet is simply two pieces of ply at right angles, with timber bracing and strips at the end. The ends sit on the end board top-edge brace, which holds the end board, backscene board, and front "wing" piece together. A small piece of wood attached to this provides a mount for the lighting pelmet, with a captive nut a finger-tight bolt at each end is all that's needed to hold it in place. 

Note there are two bolt holes, allowing the pelmet to be fixed overhanging the front of the layout by a couple of inches to improve lighting at the front of the layout. Alternatively, it can be fixed further in to save width. 

So the small diorama now sits within a larger, "cameo" style baseboard. With an extra 6" at the left end and 8" at the right (the extra makes space for the control panel) it has grown from 2' 6" to about 3' 8" long - almost 50% bigger!

Next, I need to build a fiddle yard. And work out how I will add a backscene.