Building A Module - The Bits & Pieces

What is "Module Railroading"?
If you belong to a "module railroad club", "module railroading" is a series of table-like modules built by the club members to standards that allow the modules to be connected together to form a very large layout.  If you're an individual, "module railroading" means your layout is on a series of table-like modules so that when you move, your railroad moves with you instead of being cut up with the "Sawzall".

Whether it's one module or a series of modules, the layout is portable, built in sections, can be joined to other sections, and is standardized in terms of width and length, electrical and track connections.  

We're going to take some pieces of wood on the left side of the photo below, glue and screw them together, then paint the wood so that it looks like the frame in the middle.  We'll add a Styrofoam deck so that we end up with the module on the right.  The photos below show these stages of construction for the same module.

We'll next add some wires so we can run the trains.  We're going to use DCC to run our trains so we'll add a 6-wire flat telephone cable to control the trains.  Towards the end, we'll show you how to make the legs so that our modules can stand on their own feet.  Finally, we'll take some pieces of plywood and show you how we can box a pair of modules so we can transport them in the trunk or the back seat of our car.  

The key word in module construction is "light" as in "not heavy".  Our modules will be ultra-light.  Here's a photo of the first modules I built - HO-scale "Bancroft & Irondale" - 12 feet of "module railroading" in two 6-foot modules.   When I built them, I wanted to ensure they were light so I could truck them up and down my basement stairs. 

The Types of Wood
Modules are usually built from two types of wood - plywood and dimensional lumber.  I don't build my modules from plywood.  I prefer to build my modules with 1"x 4"  dimensional pine lumber (the actual size is 3/4"x 3 1/2") simply because pine is much lighter than plywood and is easier to work with.  Plus I don't have to buy a whole sheet of plywood and then worry about cutting the plywood into 4" strips.    

Pine comes in two grades - "knotty pine" (not expensive) and "select pine" (more expensive).  When selecting lumber, I take my time to go through the "knotty pine" first to try and find some good pieces.  If I can't find what I'm looking for, then I go through the "select pine".  

We're going to build two 4-foot modules.  Here's the bits and pieces we're going to need to make one module.  Double them up to make two modules.  

A 4-foot Module - The Bits & Pieces
To make one module, we'll need:  
2 pieces - 3/4"x 3 1/2"x 4' - Side Members
2 pieces - 3/4"x 3 1/2"x 22 1/2" - End Plates
1 piece - 3/4"x 1 1/2"x 22 1/2" - Middle Cross Member
4 pieces - triangular Corner Gussets

We're going to have some pieces of 3/4"x 1 1/2" lumber left over.  I cut these into 4" pieces.  When we install our DCC telco jacks/ UP5 panels, or whatever other components we use to plug our throttles in, we'll need to protect the wires and circuitry from damage.  We'll use these pieces as covers.

In the photo below, I've included an extra End Plate so I can match it to my next module if I want to use bolts (instead of clamps) to clamp the two modules together (more on this later). 

If you're building a 6-foot module, the pieces are the same except the side members are 72" instead of 48".

And since I'm building a 2-module set, I double up the bits-and-pieces in the parts list above.

Up next - "Triangular Corner Gussets".