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Progress of late has been swift and I’ve almost completed all of the foam benchwork ‘ including the elevations for roads and highways. It took more time to remove the old glue leftover from the false start on the previous incarnation of the WGR then it did to actually construct the new risers!

I read a post by another modeler detailing the he too was going to attempt to use foam exclusively as benchwork material, but was having difficulty making perpendicular cuts using a knife. He went on to explain how he finally discovered that his jig saw was a far better alternative. Using his level as a fence, he guided the saw offsetting the level from the cut line the distance from the saw blade to the edge of the saw foot. Apparently the result was a ‘butter smooth’ perfectly square cut. I’m eager to try this, however as I’ve already finished the majority of the benchwork, and in my household ‘noise’ is a big issue, I’ll leave it up to others to try this technique and decide how it works.

A challenge I needed to address with the foam risers was the gaps in the curves. Woodland Scenics sells a foam-putty intended for gap filling, and using something similar such as drywall compound had crossed my mind. One of the drawbacks of compound is that it really doesn’t stick to foam. I had used it on the NES for gap filling and it worked well, however I learned that I could easily peel it away from the foam, which didn’t reassure me that I really wanted to depend on it for keeping my track secure.

I opted to drape glue-soaked paper towels around the top and sides of the risers and it has worked out well. I slathered the foam with some 2:1 glue/water and then applied the strips of paper towel – brushing everything as smooth as possible as I worked. It took little time to cover all of the risers and the results are rock-solid. The paper towel fused the risers into one continuous run, and the gaps are effectively filled. While white glue won’t permanently fuse to foam, wrapping the paper towel around the sides should result in a secure bond.

Keeping with my ambition to construct the majority of the WGR with foam, I have been experimenting with a few different construction techniques in an effort to create foam risers much like those offered by Woodland Scenics. Although my first efforts have been removed due to a change in track plan, the technique I used was very straightforward and fast – allowing me to construct all of my initial bench work in a few evenings.

Step One: Transfer the track plan onto the baseboard, and mark the elevation endpoints. In this example the track is crossing over itself so the elevation endpoints account for a ‘bridge’ and the track below it.

Step Two: Draw a line following the inside curve of the area, offsetting the original centerline by 1″. The 1″ offset allows for the foam (in this case 2″) to follow this new smaller circumference as a guide, so that once installed the risers foam can be easily cantered over the original plan. With this new guide drawn, measure the total length between elevation endpoints using a piece of string.

Step Three: Transfer the length of the string on a new sheet of foam and mark each end with the starting and ending elevations – these elevations should be drawn perpendicular to the riser length – in this case 0″ and 2″. Connecting the two points will create a long wedge that represents the grade between the connecting points.

Step Four: Using a sharp utility knife, and a thick straightedge (such as a board or a level) make light cuts by continuously draw the knife through the foam along this line, keeping the knife against the straightedge to ensure the cut is both strait and square.

Step Five: Cut the ‘wedge’ into 2″ long segments

Step Six: Using foam-safe glue such as PL300, affix the wedges along the edge of the inner line – ensuring that each corner touches the next (unlike the illustration), otherwise the resulting grade will be to long.

Finally, once the glue has completely dried, any imperfections can be removed by lightly sanding the tops of the risers using a sanding block or rasp.

There you have it – a fast and dirty tutorial on how I created my original grades. Now I just need to get to work on the new plan!

After having spent some time building the NES, looking at other layouts, and reading about construction techniques, I was convinced that it was possible to build a layout that was almost completely made of foam. Conventional wisdom dictates that layouts be built to museum quality standard ‘ with heavy duty wood construction ‘ but often times that is a necessity of building a layout that is, well, heavy duty. I decided that if I were to attempt to build the WGR using foam exclusively, such construction techniques would be unnecessary as the layout itself wasn’t heavy duty.

A trip to the local DIY store offered a rather sobering perspective on foam, as extruded foam ‘ the modelers foam of choice ‘ was also quite pricey, costing well over $ 25.00 for each 2″ thick 2′x8′ sheet. Needing three sheets of foam for the project, I considered scrapping the whole foam idea in favour of plywood as its cost would be a 1/3rd that of the extruded foam. Just as I was about to commit to some ¼” birch plywood, I noticed a new foam product called Plastispan HD expanded foam. Apparently this newer product is considered mid-grade ‘ better then the standard white foam, but not quite as good as the extruded pink/blue stuff. It is considerably harder then the white bead foam, and much less crumbly. I threw caution to the wind and decided to give it a shot.

The WGR is 34″x72″, which would have fit on a door, but wanting to stick to my foam commitment, I decided to construct the baseboard out of 1″x2″ pine with support stringers every 16″. I glued and nailed a simple frame together and then attached the sheets of foam using PL300 adhesive, and let the entire assembly dry for a few days.

Once dry, I started transferring the trackplan onto the baseboard. Using a stick for a compass, and some photocopies of turnouts, I marked, traced and plotted the basic track arrangement. I wasn’t surprised to find that despite best intentions, the trackplan wasn’t going to be a perfect fit, as my turnouts needed more space then estimated. By reversing the turnout arrangement on one section of the wye, and eliminating one of the hidden staging tracks I was able to make everything fit.

For risers, I opted to use foam ‘ I’ve been looking at the Woodland Scenics foam risers and deiced that it would be straightforward to construct something similar ‘ the advantage being that the cost would be greatly reduced, and I would be able to create custom grades. To make the risers, I measured the length of the curve/strait section of track I was working on and transferred the length on to the foam. I then marked the heights that the grade needed to rise over that distance on the foam, and cut the foam into a large wedge. I scored and snapped the foam every inch or so and glued the riser segments to the baseboard ensuring the inside edge was butted tight against one another. Work went quickly, and in the course of three hours I managed to construct all of the risers seen here.

My mind is already buzzing trying to figure out how to scenic all of these grades. Many will be hidden, but other will need some creative camouflage is order to maintain some believability. That being said, the foam experience thus far has been very positive! Looking forward to the next stages!