11 Design considerations 4 - benchwork

In this post I want to talk about design considerations that are influenced by benchwork.

Design considerations as influenced by - benchwork

Due to the fact that the proposed home layout will be located in the second bedroom of my appartment and the fact that there are no build in storage closets as well as the fact that in the past years things got seriously messy as far as storing things go, the room has to do double duty as storage room.

That means that benchwork has to be build in such a way that it is possible to do so. Various ways are possible here. However, the need for storage coupled to a lack of woodworking skills and no real interest in acquiring them, lead me to choose the Ikea Ivar storage system as the preferred choice for sub benchwork. The 'real' benchwork will be on top of the planks and because of that can be lighter as it has to support less weight.

Long ago German modeller Rolf Knipper came up with the idea of using an Ikea Ivar system and he described it in MIBA Spezial 73 from july 2007.

Building everything in segments and have some of those segments conform to the module standards of my Fremo group americaN makes it relatively easy to transport them. I plan to build at least Albia in such a way that it can be set up, with extra segments having a standard endplate, as an americaN module.

The Fremo americaN norm can be found here:

- general introduction introduction page in English (note most pages are in German)

- standard and recommendations as well as documents pertaining to the mode of operation of our modular model railroad

Lately a group of America-N modellers have caught the lets model modern industrial parks bug and they came up a with a module standard they call Shelf-and-Tabletop or American ST. More info, in German, can be found here:

home page

I particularly like the lower height for the modules. Less height means less weight when I want to bring a module to a meeting. Since I don't have a driver's license I have to drag the modules around on public transport. That's not a big problem as long as you keep things lightweight and relatively small. The lighter I can make the modules, the easier that becomes. The trick is doing it without sacrificing strength while also protecting the vulnerable scenery on top. I think ST managed to come up with a good working system that can also be employed at home. I particularly think about all the stretches of track outside points of interest when I want to apply this system to my home layout.

Marc and Claus show on their blogs what is possible with the system. Peter and Elmar are also doing fantastic work but don't have a blog. Michael has traditionally documented our meets and you can see some of Elmar's work here under Florida branch. And more American ST modules here.

Additional advantage of modelling in segments that can also be used as modules is that you can do all the dirty work with water, gypsum, glue etcetera in a place that is better equipped for such things. I my case that would generally be the balcony as it is rather big at 4,5 by 5 meters.

To recapitulate: segments build ST style (but with separate backdrops most likely) that can be, where necessary, extended with extra segments to conform to the Fremo America-N standard and they rest on top / in an Ikea Ivar storage system that will do double duty with general storage below the model railroad.

5 Switching in a small yard - America-N module Yard Extension - MP 324.6 Albia

Bernd from Fremo AmericaN uploaded a video of switching on a small modulae layout. It has the feeling of what I want to accomplish with a model of Albia as Albia has about the same number of tracks.

Abia had 2 mainlines, one on each side of the depot. On one side there was a double ended track serving a freight house. A team track was nearby. On the other side were a siding and 3 yard tracks. As well as some freight customers and tracks and turntable used for servicing and turning the locomotives ad gas electric motorcars.

M&StL AFE 21-99 CNWHS collection

Albia should fit on a standard width AmericaN module, which is 40 cm wide at the endplates. It will also fit inside the 50 cm deep Ikea Ivar system I would like to use for my home layout. It has 43 cm between the vertical parts of the legs.

2 Distractions

I have to put the design of the home layout on ice for a bit due to lack of funds. I plan on using Ikea's Ivar storage system as benchwork as I need to store stuff under the modelrailroad. I also want the layout to be easily covered to protect it and I want good lighting.

I'm one of those people who needs to see things in the flesh modelrailroad wise before things sink in as I still have problems visualising N scale. Got some information from my American sources and it seems I have to do some serious thinking as not even a 50 cm deep Ivar is deep enough to contain 4 (of 8) sorting tracks, 2 (of 4) arrival / departure tracks, siding, main and more freight tracks than I thought there were in the South Yard of Oskaloosa Iowa. Not to mention the trackage taken over after the CBQ left town in 1934.

I also need to think about the way I want the storage of trains handled. Current thinking is surround staging on the upper deck featuring Albia Iowa and Hickory Hill down to the Des Moines River at Bridgeport / Eddyville with active interchange by Wabash in Albia and CBQ in Maxon.
The lower deck will  contain South Yard at Oskaloosa down to the Des Moines River at Eddyville. Staging here could be done on a deck below that as the line to Peoria would need to curve into the room and thus a small helix could be used.

Lately I've been thinking about using an elevator to go from one deck to another as there is not enough length available to go from one deck to another unless I go to a helix that blocks too much of the small room (which is 360x205 cm) and I don't fancy a twice around through the same scene to gain height or even more.

But all the research is an enjoyable thing so that's no great problem. I do need to think of a way to present it here. If only to make better sense of the information and to see where there are still holes in the information. Would also help in presenting it in this blog. 

Meanwhile, a German friend offered to help me with the design of the home layout as well as the reconstruction of some Fremo americaN modules I want to reuse. Theme for that is a section of track just south of Interstate 80 in Grinnell Iowa called G&M Junction and a broad curve just south of it. The M in G&M stands for Montezuma and is a nice place to model also, particularly since the Rock Island had a slightly larger station right next to it but coming from the south wereas the G&M (later Iowa Central then M&StL) came from the northwest via a small place called Ewart.

And then there is Story City Iowa. Another end of the line station on a M&StL branch. This line had its junction at Minerva Junction just northwest of the division point of Marshalltown Iowa and went in a northwesterly direction. The line was build by the Iowa Central & Northwestern, an Iowa Central subsidiary.

I have enough plywood lying around to do Montezuma or Story City. The latter I might do as it is simpler to build and above all easier to transport by train, all straight modules. The Story City line has been reasonably docmented and the line will be a subject for the next layout of a well known M&StL modeller in the USA.

This shows the situation at G&M junction in 1937. The curve is just south of it *with the two groups of trees at the east side and will include the road crossing the railway. Source is http://www.historicaerials.com/

Anyway, that's it for this time.