Valence 1

Early on I decided my railroad would be a shadowbox style presentation. I liked the shadowbox effect when used on museum dioramas and I thought that it would really draw your eye to the model railroad scene. It also makes hiding the layout lighting much easier too!

I'm 6' tall (72"). The room is 87" high floor to ceiling. With the lower level L-Girder set at 34 inches (zero elevation), the 4'x 8' backdrop panel leaves approximately 7" of wall visible. Each module is 24" deep, and the average operator will be about 30" or more away from the wall. Measuring downward from the ceiling module  the 7" of visible wall generally disappears from view at 15 1/2". I set the valence height at 15 3/4" which would allow 3 panels to be cut from one 4'x 8' luan panel.

Each panel was constructed with 1"x 3" lumber. The top horizontal was a 1"x 3" L-girder. The bottom horizontal was a single 1"x 3". Each end and one center vertical (at the 4' line) was cut to size and all pieces were biscuit cut for additional strength. Construction began with the top L-girder glued and screwed with 3/4" wood screws. The three verticals were glued into the top. The bottom horizontal 1"x 3" was then glued to the luan and the verticals. The entire panel was then clamped and allowed to dry. When dry, the panel was flipped over and the verticals and the bottom horizontal were screwed to the panel with 3/4" screws.

The ceiling was chalk line snapped at 24 3/8" (24" plus 2 panel thickness). It was then mounted to the ceiling with 1/4" lag screws. The valence was braced with 1"x 3" at each end and at each panel connection. 4" mending plates were used to align the panel bottoms.

The upper track level is 60" from the floor. That means the "view window" is about 12". That 12" or so at 30" shows about 20" of backdrop height.

The screw holes in the valence will be spackled with wood putty and sanded. It will be painted flat black.