Bent wood fiddle yard

Even on a pizza box model railway, hiding the trains away for part of the circuit seems like a good idea. I fancied a convex curved wooden section on one corner that the train could disappear into. All I had to do was make it.

From my boat building work, I knew that bending wood was simple enough, just soak it in water and hold in the bend you want while it dries, but wasn't sure how well it would work on plywood thick enough to be self-supporting. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, a cut a bit of 6mm ply and left it in the sink for an hour.

Next, the wood was clamped up as shown in the photo. Two clamps were advanced by squeezing the handles to keep the bend constant along the length of the sheet. 24 hours in the sun and it worked ! I had a carefully warped bit of plywood, a bit like the stuff you get from the DIY shed. As it turned out the bend was too sharp but easily eased with a bit of hand presure.

Anyway, holes were cut for the entrance and exit. These had to extend to the edges as the track is very close to the sides of the baseboard. The result left my ply as a giant T-shape but I hacked away some scenery and fitted it anyway, blending the top of the hill into the wood.

Having built it, I'm not sure I like it though. Maybe it will grown on me.