I am back with foam core and Kato

 So I am back in harness and buzzing with ideas. I have been down to Hobbycraft to pick up four sheets of 5mm foam core - they always have a deal 4 sheets for £10 - which I use for making lightweight railway boards. I also dashed down to our storage room (at StorageMart - bit of a dig as my son-in-law-manages  the local branch). I retrieved all my track and my ECos DCC controller.

I have spent a couple of days working on a layout design. I have hovered between keeping the Kato track or going to Peco. Financially, there isn't much in it so long as I don't go the route I have always done in the past and used the DCC Concepts point motors. Finally, I decided that I would stay with Kato Unitrack.

First step was to make the boards. The tops are firstly supported by a double layer of foam core making it 10mm. Of course, the lengthwise strength of the boards is much greater than they are side ways.

I have built the base in two halves so the railway can be leant against the bookcase next to my desk when not in use. The two halves, when put together, are held by a couple of clips made, yet again, out of 5mm foam core.

Finally, with the board built, it sits nicely on the dining room table. 

This won't be its normal home. I am expecting to clear the front of my desk as this will support the boards completely. Next job is to lay some track. I have just placed an order with N Scale American Trains for the track that I don't have. Hopefully, that will come in the next couple of days and then I can get on with building the layout properly. Once I have the basic track laid, I will be able to build the storage road board. This will be 1000mm long and about 110mm wide and have a couple of yards of Peco track on it. Mixing Peco with Kato is not difficult. The reason for this is that I have about 4 yards of Peco already so that will save some of the expense.

This is the first plan. However, you know what Generals say about a battle plan? No battle plan ever get survives first contact with the enemy. Hence, I don't expect the following plan to end up the final version.