New Ideas in Benchwork

[CNE Runner]

I am in the process of constructing a new layout; but need to give you some background as to why. My almost completed current layout was to be moved from its present location in our garage (it is of a fold up design) to what was our guestroom. I carefully measured the guestroom window and determined the layout would pass through on the diagonal. Unfortunately, I measured on the inside and didn't take into account the screen 'molding' on the outside. The result is that the layout is approximately 2" too large. So it is back to the drawing board.

After careful consideration, I decided to plan a variation on the Whatsup Dock Co. offering in the layout section of the Model Railroader website (the layout was featured in the March 2009 issue of MR).

I have built probably 8 or 9 layouts in my modeling career. Some were well thought out...others left much to be desired. I am conversant in the L-girder, and tabletop designs and can rely on these experiences again. I am wondering if there is anything new in the hobby? In other words, are you all still using 1x4" pine or are there other materials that are lighter and less intrusive (otherwise one has to be very careful where the cross braces are located). Because I do not want to damage the walls of the room the layout will be 'L' shaped and free standing. Please keep in mind I am concerned about benchwork only...the surface material is not an issue.


Your replies are appreciated,
Ray

[Jim Banner]

Some work has been done on building bench work with metal studs.  Advantage is that the studs are straight and stay that way.  And unlike wood, they do not expand and contract with moisture.  Any expansion/contraction that they have is due to changes in temperature and is similar in magnitude to the thermal expansion/contraction of rail.  The down side is the slight extra cost and the need to pop rivet, screw or bolt the pieces together.

I have not used this method but would consider it.  I have used tin studs to make bridges in large scale.  Two 2 x 4 studs nestled inside another to form a closed box will support a multi-engined large scale train on spans up to 8 feet.  Two 2 x 6 studs back to back makes a nice through girder bridge in large scale and will support more than 200 pounds centered between supports 4 feet apart.

Foam or plywood table tops, chicken wire, etc. can easily be attached with drywall screws or various glues or wired in place.  If you like foam with some support under it, consider 1/2" drywall or 1/2" plywood as the support.  (Ray, I know the surface is not an issue for you but it might be for other readers.)

I too try to avoid permanently damaging walls but I still attach layouts to them.  With this in mind, I have finished or helped finish several train rooms in painted drywall.  This makes it easy to paint the walls a "sky blue" and over spray with thinned white, adding more and more white down to the horizon line.  Adding clouds/mountains/trees etc. does no damage as long as the paint is thin, for example, artists' acrylics.  Only after the walls are painted do I add a ledger board, typically 2 x 4 screwed on with one #8 x 3" wood screw per stud.  When it is time to move on, the layout can be dismantled, the screw holes Spackled and sanded, and the whole room repainted.  Just a few hours work and nobody could ever tell there was once a layout in the room.  This works with drywall but not with wood paneling.  One model railroad buddy solved the wood paneling problem by studding a new wall in front of his paneling and covering those studs with drywall.  Twenty years later, he took down his layout, removed the drywall and studs and had the original paneling back, in immaculate conditions.  Needless to say, he had not nailed the studs to the paneling, just to framing on the floor and at the ceiling.

Jim

[CNE Runner]

Jim - I have also been wondering about the uses of steel studs. It would seem to me that they would be lighter than a 1x4" frame. I came upon an interesting 'paper' on the Internet wherein the writer maintains that we build benchwork as if someone was going to walk on the upper surface...in other words, we build them too strong and too heavy. He further states that the touted L-girder construction method is largely overkill. The ever clever Carl Arendt suggests using sandwiched light plywood that easily supports a cantilevered shelf layout of 24" wide.

Cantilevering the layout eliminates layout support legs and frees up the underside of the benchwork for maintenance or other uses...also easier to vacuum under the pike. The negative side of cantilevering is that I would have to use the walls for support...something I am rapidly realizing I will have to do...whether I like it or not.

Yes, I think your idea of supporting the benchwork from the walls via screws is a good one. As always I thank you for your assistance.

Ray

[pdlethbridge]

All my previous layouts have used the 1 x 4 and 1 x 2 made into L girders. It was overkill but it worked and never gave me any trouble. My current layout is just 1 x 2's framing on 2' x 4' plywood and homasote. I use 2 x 2's for legs. It has supported my weight but I won't make a habit of it. This, too me, is still overkill but it works and is easy to work with.

[glennk28]

I think that the good old "L-Girder" construction is as good as any.  That being said--I am using an open grid with plywood top--and the framing is 2x3 Doug Fir--mainly because I had a lot of 2x6 left over from the building package.  I am screwing it to the wall studs, since when the time comes to remove the layout, I will have been "removed" already. 

For layouts that must be moved--I have used hollow-core doors.  Often you can get damaged doors from apartment managers--there is always someone who gets a bit rough knocking on doors.  gj

[jward]

if i were using regular track, i'd seriously consider the use of the woodland scenics foam risers, over a plywood top. but since i an handlaying everything, i am sticking with tried and true pine. i will post photos at a later date of my layout under construction.

steel studs sound interesting, but i can see where there might be problems. true the coefficient of expansion is similar to that of rail, but you'd still need a wooden top. i wonder how you would keep plywood screwed to metal studs from warping, many of us do not have the resources to build the layout in a perfectly climate controlled room with insulated walls and carpeted floor the way they show in the magazines.

[Jim Banner]

Jeffery,
I worked for many years in a building where the partition walls were made of 3/4" plywood screwed to metal studs.  Walls, even ones 20' long, had no problems.  However, if the layout were being built in a garage or attic with no heat or air conditioning, or if a lot of wet scenery were laid down at once, I suspect there could be problems.  In that case, 1/2" drywall would be a better choice.

Ray,
I like layouts built strong enough to walk on because sooner of later I always seem to end up doing just that.  At least I do with "permanent" layouts. 

For portables, I like light weight construction and am presently working on an 0_N30 layout with 1-1/2" of foam bonded to 1/8" Baltic Birch plywood.  The foam serves as a compression member while the plywood below it serves as a tension member.  The group I model with has a large scale portable layout that uses similar construction.  It consists of 50 tables, mostly 2' x 4', made of 1-1/2" foam with 1/8" hardboard on the bottom and 1/8" or more of sawdust and glue mixture on the top.  The top layer is both the finished scenery and a hard compression layer.  The large scale layout has a rim of 3/4" plywood around each table to add strength and provide attachment for legs.  With the 0_N30, I am going to try a 1/2" cedar rim and no top member, to further reduce the weight.

Jim   

[pdlethbridge]

The reason I went light on my construction is 2 fold. One, because of my stroke, I had to make the sections as light and strong as possible. I can only really work with one hand. Two, I didn't need it that solid as everything is reachable and is still reachable. I kept the table height to 32 inches and everything is within easy reach. All wiring feeds to the middle where the bus wires run in the center isle. The only problem I might have is replacing or re wiring the back 2 left turnouts

[buzz]

Hi pdlethbridge
The benchwork I build is a cross between the US L girder and UK open grid
systems.
But I replaced the wooden L girders with 50mm X 50mm X 3mm aluminium
angle and all cross timbers are 2 X1's
By the time the table frame is together the resulting structure is strong enough to hold  my weight, a thing I am particular about I figure if it cannot take my weight it isn't strong enough.
The use of aluminium as the main bearers takes quite a bit of weight out.
and meant I can man handle the frame into place on my own.
I am not sure I like the idea of hanging one side of a layout off a wall
I have always made "a movable layout" not to be confused with a
transportable layout.
I mean easy when I move house as apposed to an exhibition each year.
regards John

[jonathan]

My wife is considering letting me move my layout from the garage to the basement family room.  It will be considerably smaller, a 5' X 12'. 

Has anybody ever considered putting their benchwork on wheels?  As I get older the thought of climbing up on my layout sounds less appealing.  The layout will have to go against a wall with a corner.

The advantage of wheels would be allowing me to pull the bench work back when laying track, adding scenery elements, etc.  I'm toying with the idea.  Disadvantage would be all the weight supported by four legs with wheels.  Anybody else ever tried it?

Regards,

Jonathan

[James Thomas]

About 25 years ago I built a 5' x 12' G scale railroad in a bedroom.  I had six legs with casters so that I could pull the whole railroad out from the wall to work in the back.  It worked very well.

-JRT

[ebtnut]

One other method that seems to work well is to make the kind of wooden I-beams than are now used in home-building for floor joists instead of 2 x 10's.  The builders usually use a beam that consists of top and bottom 2 x 4's with 8 or 10 inch wide by 1/2" plywood webs.  This can be adapted to model RR benchwork with 1 x 2 stringers that are slotted and 1/4" x 3" plywood webs glued into the stringer slots.  This does require access to a table saw and a dado blade, but it makes a for a light, strong, framing.  If weight is a really big issue, you can get a small hole saw and cut holes in the web to further reduce weight, like they do in aircraft. 

I also endorse attaching to the walls, if practicable.  As noted, taking out the screws and some spackle and paint fixes things right up. 

[Woody Elmore]

I have seen modules that have PVC pipe for legs. At the last train meet I attended one modular group had their modules resting on light stands - the kind that would be used by professional photographers. Great idea for a model but maybe very expensive for home use.

THe advantage of using PVC pipe for legs and other supports is that it is relatively cheap and easy to work with.

[CNE Runner]

Wow...keep those ideas coming! A couple of things struck me as I read through the latest round of posts: 1) there are alternate ways of constructing benchwork - using modern materials and procedures, 2) attachment to the wall(s) may be desireable for stability; but would make rear-of-layout maintenance more difficult, 3) the idea of mounting the whole thing on lockable wheels is very unique and worthy of further thought.

I am going to check with Lowe's to see what the charge would be to longitudinally cut a 4'x 8' piece of 3/8 or 1/2 plywood (probably birch due to its strength) into 3" strips. The strips could be glued together (I doubt you would need more than a couple in one unit) to form material for the basic benchwork. Unfortunately Lowe's charges for each cut...resulting in the modeler paying for 15 cuts (yes, the math is correct). I'll get back to the group with my findings.

Ray

[Jim Banner]

jonathan,
The group I model with has a layout at our local museum.  The main part, on public display, is 4 feet wide and 25 feet long.  it is a single table on eight legs, each with a caster.  The casters allow us to move the layout back from the glass that separates it from the public.

The rest of the layout is a 24" shelf along the back wall of the layout room plus two liftout bridges, one at each end, connecting the shelf and the table.  A back drop behind the table hides the back part of the layout from people looking through the 25 foot long window.

Our movable table is a grid of 1 x 4's held square with sheets of plywood underneath.  The layout itself is set on risers screwed to the grid with the tracks on 3/4" lumber and plywood roadbed and the scenery is plaster over chicken wire on risers on 1 foot centers.  The layout is surrounded by 3/4" plywood 12" deep to give the required stiffness.  We regularly walk on this layout to change the overhead bulbs that illuminate it.  It works for us.

A friend used a modification of our framing system to build a corner layout that is about 6' x 12'.   One end of his layout is up against a couch, which is also on casters.  To move the layout out from the corner, he turns the couch 90^o and move the layout diagonally out from its corner.  It works for him.

Jim