A new exhibition layout stand?

[Ian Holmes]

My Brother-in-law, (who is not a railway modeller) received a Christmas present this year, that I immediately saw the potential of.

What was it?

You'll have to read the blog to find out

http://iansmicrolayouts.blogspot.com/2023/12/its-bit-late-for-christmas-presents-now.html

 

Ian

[TheQ]

That looks familiar, a friend has something almost identical, well 3 of, for the purposes of her model railway.

[CloggyDog]

I've adopted a simpler, less bulky approach for displaying my micro layouts at exhibitions. Not original by any means, Iain Rice mentioned the basic method in his excellent Cameo Layouts book. 

 

Most venues have tables long enough for most micros (or multiple tables). But yes, they can be on the lower side.

 

I made a simple and cheap set of folding layout stands from 4mm ply and some small (1in/25mm) butt hinges.

 

These slot into simple battens licated on the underside of the board and hold the stand in a V shape for stability. On a single board, theres one near each end. On multi-board layouts one board will have 2 stands, the others piggy-back off that and have only a single stand. 

 

The stands are hidden, along with all the other usual detritus, with a suitable 'skirt' velcroed arpund the lower edge of the board. 

 

My stands are about 14in/35cm, on a standard table that brings rail height from floor to around 4ft. The stand height also means rail height aligns with the Tim Horn display stand I use as a fiddlestick support. The stands are common to all my Lack micros. There is a lower (7in/18cm) set which were the original ones I made. 

 

However... Most venues also have chairs in abundant supply, soI usually sit to operate and have a couple of extra chairs along the table for viewers to sit and watch the layouts at a nice viewing height. Why stand all day/weekend when you can sit? 

[Andy Hayter]

Got something similar when Lidl had a set of 3 for a good price.  2 sets and the current project is off the ground - with a modelling table to spare!