Isle of Stoner Railway Blog - Progress at Underhill

[Tigger]

John,
Nice to meet you, nice layout and thanks for letting me photograph your legs !
I hasten to add the layout legs !
Bob Berry

When we were building Buccabury I seem to remember almost getting into trouble by stating I was going to wander around an exhibition studying legs... ;D

[berryr99]

I put the legs on Blaenau North this afternoon but they are a bit wobbly - obviously not at good as John's. Maybe I should have used 2 A frames instead of 2 folding H frames.

Bob

[B.Meldon]

When it comes to layout support legs I have always found that diagonals are the key to stability.
It is possible to use some quite thin wood if it is correctly braced with diagonal supports forming a triangle frame.
Meanderbahn is not a light weight layout yet the legs are made from relatively thin wood. I have never taken a photo of the legs but in this shot of the control panel you can see the approximate size and layout of the wood. The diagonal support to the right of the panel is only about 2cm square and thinned at the top where it fits onto the frame. The main legs are made from 4cm x 2cm (aprox) planed wood with a lower cross member with corner bracing. It is all glued and screwed together:



It is light weight but effective and with hinges at the top the legs fold up in to the support frame for transit.
The only bolts that need to be inserted and tightened are the four from the diagonals into the support frame, and these have wing nuts. The fixing screws  at the other end of the diagonals are just lose enough so they can move and do not need to be re-tightened each time the layout is assembled. When you look at it is appears to be too flimsy to hold the layout but it is not, and after more than 20 years use it has also stood the test of time as well.
Jack Carter knew what he was doing when it came to layout construction, but then with over 50 years practice before he started Meanderbahn that

[Tigger]

The system I eventually built for Buccabury has been very useful, light, stable, adjustable and easy to transport.  I'll dig out some photos.

[Hugh Norwood]

Should we create a new topic on layout legs????

[DeadHorse]

Should we create a new topic on layout legs????

That should run for a bit, eh?  ::)

[Graeme Dunbar]

The topic certainly "has legs". In the best Victorian tradition they should be covered. ;D

[Isle of Stoner]

I agree, I forgot the crucial drawings pins. At the AGM no sensiblities need be offended. ::)

John W