VINYL ROOF FLASHING AS A BACK DROP FOR YOUR LAYOUT

There are many different methods to fabricate back drops for permanent model railroads. I decided to use Vinyl Roof Flashing for the back drop on the "New" JJJ&E after doing an exhaustive amount on research on the subject. I chose Vinyl Roof Flashing for several reasons. First of all, the Vinyl Roof Flashing is available in many sizes. I chose a Flashing that comes in 50 foot rolls with a width of 24 inches. This was ideal for the "New" JJJ&E. The 50 foot length guarantees me that there will be no seams on the back drop at all. This is a problem with most other back drops as most of the back drops on the commercial market don't come in 50 foot rolls. As a result of this shortcoming you must knit together the individual pieces of the back drop resulting in "seams".

Secondly, the Vinyl Roof Flashing is easy to work with. I used a Formica cement to glue the Vinyl Roof Flashing to the wall with the dull side of the Flashing facing the layout. The Formica cement creates a unique bond with the Vinyl Roof Flashing and the wall resulting in a permanent back drop for your layout.

Below are several photo's of the Vinyl Roof Flashing after it was cemented to the walls of my train room. I used a wood molding to "frame" the Flashing. The molding will be painted the color of the train room walls. This will make the molding "disappear" when you look at the back drop and give a finished look to the back drop. (See Photo's 1-4)

The Vinyl Roof Flashing easily bends to conform the corners of any room. There is no crease in the Flashing as you bend to make it fit into a corner of a room. The room corner is ninety degrees and the Flashing bends in a circular manner.

The three layers of pink foam were permanently glued together with Liquid Nails. The bricks and particle board acts as weights until the Liquid Nails has set up. (approximately 72 hours)

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The Vinyl Roof Flashing readily accepts paint. I used two coats of a flat latex paint that I had specially mixed at Lowe's to finish the back drop. I used a smooth roller to paint the back drop. It doesn't get any easier than that. (See Photo's 5-8)

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If you're going to use a back drop on a permanent layout, try Vinyl Roof Flashing. You'll be pleasantly surprised with the results. Vinyl Roof Flashing is available in all sizes at most Home Depot and Lowe's stores.

Photo's  9 and 10 show some of the buildings on the "New" JJJ&E temporarily in position with the Vinyl Roof Flashing back drop in the back ground.

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Stay cool and run steam.......