Trains O Scale Benchwork – Part 1
After you’ve had your train for a while, it may become evident that leaving it on the floor or on top of your dining room table isn’t the best idea. So Trains O Scale, in the spirit of domestic harmony, suggests that you find a more practical solution, one that will make you and your spouse happy.
What is Benchwork?
No… I’m not talking about pumping iron here. I’m talking about the foundation, the support structure that your model railroad empire will be running on.
If you are happy with just running your train around the Christmas tree or if you only like to put it up occasionally, then you are good to go. But if you want to have a permanent way to display your model railroad layouts then you are going to need some sort of structure to put it on.
There are two choices, you can either buy it or build it. Let’s start with buying simply because it’s less intimidating.
Buying Benchwork
There are some enthusiasts who brag that their first train layout was only a piece of plywood sitting on two sawhorses. Well, this is certainly a cheap enough solution and I’m all about saving money. However it’s just not sturdy enough.
You could use an old kitchen or dining room table that you are replacing or find one at a garage sale. You might also get lucky and be able to pick up an inexpensive used ping pong table or even get a used pool table cheaply and just cover it with plywood.
What About Kits?
If your carpentry skills are lacking you may want to think about a kit.
These are modular wooden kits that are all predrilled and precut (think IKEA). Just follow the instructions and you’ll be able to save yourself a lot of time. You may still need to buy and add plywood and other materials for the platform as some kits are simply the supporting framework.
The great thing about a kit is that you can take it apart again. This comes in real handy if you want to move it to another area of your home or if you decide to move.
Building Your Own
My… my… my… aren’t we brave?
I’m just kidding. This is the preferred method for the serious hobbyist. This way you will be able to build the perfect train table to house your perfect train layout, and when you think about it the structure of a table is really pretty simple.
So what does a table have? It has four legs, at least, braces of some sort and a top. That’s all. So, are you brimming with confidence at this point? Great, let’s dig a little deeper.
The first thing you need to decide is the table’s shape. Is it going to be rectangular (most common), square, round, oval or another shape? My trains O Scale layout was actually “L” shaped to fit flush against a corner wall in my old basement. Of course, trying to reach over to that corner to make some changes was a real pain, but I digress.
Next, what size do you want your table to be? Don’t just think about the present but also think about possible future expansion. At the same time don’t go overboard and try to build a bigger table than you have room for (this happens a lot).
If you’re just starting out and don’t want to go too crazy with all this, another possibility is to use the hollow wooden doors you find in many homes. Now I’m not telling you to start taking off all the doors in your place, but they do make a solid table top.
They’re usually 30” x 80”, more or less. If you want something bigger you can join two of these doors together, side-by-side, and have a table that is actually larger overall than a 4’ x 8’ piece of plywood. Just add legs and your work is nearly done.
Now that you’ve thought about it for a little while, what you will need to do next is to start preparing the area for your benchwork. Clear out anything you don’t want around and do any painting or fixing up before you start building.
You may eventually need an extra pair of hands to hold things in place as you put things together. My trains O Scale benchwork (which is long gone) was completed with the help of my children… a bribe works wonders.