What is the right thickness for a baseboard?

Baseboards are made up of three elements. Starting at the bottom and working up, there are

• the supports (legs),
• on top of the supports sits the framing (baseboard frame)
• on the very top of all that is the top surface (board on which you will be laying your tracks, building and hills).

How thick each element should depend on what it needs to support.

The supports (legs) on your baseboard need to be strong enough to support the layout. As long they meet that criteria, they can be made from anything you wish, from home-made legs to an old piece of furniture, even a trestle table will serve well to support a layout. The height of the supports (and therefore the eventual layout) should be considered at this stage and questions should be asked such as - what height would you like to view the layout from? will the height of the layout have any operational advantages or disadvantages? and how will the layout's height affect access? The last one sounds a bit like overkill, but trust us, you are going to spend many hours bent over and under your layout whilst tinkering and building so it's best to get it right now and save many backaches later!

The framing needs to keep the layout stiff and support the top board enough so that it doesn't sag or bow because this will derail trains. The recommended dimensions of wood used to create the framing is a minimum of 50mm by 25mm (commonly called "2x1"). However, what is more important, is that you don't space out the sections of your framework too much as this will reduce its rigidity.

Providing you have built a nice rigid frame that sits on sturdy legs, the top board can be made from a much thinner and softer material. About 9mm is a good thickness for a top board, this will be accommodating to track pins and the numerous holes that are going to have to be drilled into it during the construction of the layout but at the same time not be too heavy. A lot of modellers choose ply or chipboard for their top surface, insulation-board is also very popular as it can be easily sculptured and takes track pins a lot easier.

So remember, construct a rigid frame that sits on sturdy legs, this should be topped with a board that is going to be strong but sympathetic to what you need to attach to it (and through it), do all this and you won't go far wrong.