A strange title but my woodworking skills are such that wood is unfortunately not crafted with skillful hands into something that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I have to coerce, force and batter wood into something that resembles, with a fleeting glance, what my mind has created as a beautiful project that would add class to any self respecting home.
Something that I have not talked about on this blog before is what I will whimsically call 'My Last Great Project'. Not that I don't plan to be around for a while yet but given my rate of progress on matters it will take an age to get this finished. So what is this great project? Well nothing more than a large roundy style 00 gauge layout. Roughly 12 foot by 5 foot it will be unashamedly a place on which I can watch my accumulated over the years collection of engines and rolling stock finally run on a decent length of track (cue the theme to Born Free with visions of locomotives free to stretch themselves on a lengthy track and get back to their natural habitat). No prototype, no historic accuracy, no timetable operation, no worries about the Flying Scotsman running next to a Class 66, but it will be fun and that to me is my own desire for this project.
Whilst it sounds like it will be more like a Hornby Trakmat layout, it will, hopefully, be a little more detailed. First thing though is the baseboard. It will not be a flat sheet of ply or chipboard but it will be an open top one to allow for below track level scenery. Material is ply for lightness with soft wood corner strengtheners. In addition it will be built in four sections. Two 6 foot by 2.5 feet and two 5 foot by 3 foot but with rounded ends. That will allow it to be separated into manageable boards if it needs to be moved. Not that I am expecting to take it to exhibitions (if you recall those events pre Covid!) but I have to be realistic in that I am not going to be here for ever and if the layout can easily be dismantled it is probably far easier to dispose of and might make it more attractive to a buyer if it were to be sold. Much as it is a sobering thought you do get to a stage in life where you need to be sensible and take account of a World without your presence! Anyway, moving on from these dark thoughts, the baseboard is under construction at WMD HQ in what I laughingly call my garage or Room of Gloom! It really needs a further clear out but that can wait for the moment with this more pressing project taking precedence.
The photo below shows progress after about a week. Doesn't look much after that time but I am taking my time and trying to think things out before committing saw to wood but even then there are still things I would do differently but hey ho! If you try to get perfection you sometimes will never finish it. So, as long as it is basically flat, solid and enables me to move onto stage two that will do! Here is what I have so far.
The one thing I will highlight is that trying to get decent timber at the moment is difficult. I eventually managed to get some ply at Wickes but to be honest it is not the straightest of materials and has need some coercion to be straight where needed. This is where being a Wood Butcher does come in handy though - Now where's that lump hammer?????
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