Building A Model Railroad Table

Model railroader is the world s largest magazine on model trains and model railroad layouts.
Building a model railroad table. Instructions cut all of the lumber for your platform and shelf frames to length. Simply cut the two 2x4s. Here is a sample of benchwork you could build at home. This method allows you to do much of the construction at your workbench and then connect the modules end to end or side by side.
You can use a sheet of plywood a counter top an old table and dresser. Apply layers of crumpled newspaper to areas between the foam layers to add natural landscape shapes and tape down with masking tape. Another method of building a model railroad is to design it as modular dominoes. The end sills and cross members need to be cut 47 long to allow for the thickness of the side sills.
For the structure of the table i started with the idea of a torsion box which is a structure with a t. Model railroad benchwork doesn t need to be fancy but it should be sturdy. Benchwork for a small layout jim hediger of model railroader magazine developed this train table and we highly recommend it. The domino idea came from david barrow whose model railroad is the ho scale cat mountain and santa fe.
We have made a train table for calvin s ho model train. Lay cork rail bed in place along the track line temporarily with masking tape followed by the track line with a few rail nails. We feature beginner and advanced help on all model railroading scales including layout track plans model railroad product reviews model train news and model railroad forums. Two 8 foot 1x4s make the front and back sides of each.
The national model railroad association recommends building the train table at least 42 inches high and 48 inches is not too tall for a model railroad. A miter or chop saw works best for this but you can. View these videos to get ideas fore bench work project. Repeat to create four legs.
Model train table design can be almost anything to be used as a surface to place your model train set and build scenery on it. This train table provides solid benchwork for building a small model railroad. A basic freestanding table is the first layout for many if not most model railroaders.