Plywood

[Cody J]

I have been calling all the hardware stores in the Ohio Valley for the past half hour or so looking for a 9x5 piece of plywood to go on top of my ping-pong table to start my model train layout, well the biggest they make is 4x8!!!

Sorry, I just had to say that.
Sorry for wasting your time, it's just so frustrating that nobody, even Lowe's carries it. Well, you can special order it but that's 60 bucks down the drain.

[rich1998]

the male species know that 4 X 8 foot plywood is normal size. That size is mentioned in a lot of mrr articles on layouts.

lex

[Nathan]

Try a true 'lumber' dealer.  They quite often have it in 4' 5" x 5' size for building folding ping-pong tables.

[Cody J]

That's what my mom suggested, and I tried 2 locations of 84 Lumber and neither have them. I have another idea but I'm at my grandmas now (no school) and will be home later tonight so I can measure it.

thanks

[jward]

what i would suggest is buying that 4x8 sheet, plus a 4x4 panel. cut the panel into 1 foot wide strips (they will do this for you at lowes) and use the strips around the outside of the 4x8 to get your extra foot of width. the excess plywood can be used to splice everything together.

[Cody J]

thanks jeff

[NarrowMinded]

Dont forget to seal both sides of the plywood before you start. will help prevet warping problems in the future.

2¢

NM

[Jim Banner]

The last time I toured a plywood mill, about 6 decades ago, they were producing 8' x 16' sheets, almost all of which were immediately cut into 4 x 8's.  But larger sheets were available on special order.  I suspect they still are.

More to the point, if you need plywood the size of the top of a ping pong table, why not just buy a ping pong table?  I suspect you could find a used one for less than what the plywood top is worth.  I just checked our local Kijiji (do you have that in the USA?) and found one complete with legs, net, balls and paddles for $29.  If you don't want the net, balls and paddles, put them on Kijiji for $5 and reduce the cost of your plywood to $24.

Jim

[Cody J]

Thanks Jim but I have a ping pong table and the model railroad needs to be portable so that's why I need a base.

[jerryl]

I think Jim meant that you could use the used ping pong table for the base. we know you already have a ping pong table.
  If you want the layout to be portable I would make it on 2 sheets, much easier to move.  jerry

[CNE Runner]

I realize that you have your heart set on a 5'x 9' train table...but Kalmbach books has a resource that may meet your needs. It is a downloadable book on numerous 4'x 8' layouts and looks interesting: http://www.kalmbachstore.com/mrpdf048.html

You could use a 4'x 8' piece of plywood on the ping-pong table - which would allow a little bit of table for: leaning (BIG problem with visitors), tools, extra rolling stock waiting 'off stage', your power pack.

Another option would be to use the extra space for scenery. I envision using pieces(s) of scrap plywood to fill in the 1'x [whatever] space (left over from a regular piece of plywood on the ping-pong table base). This area would contain only structures (easily removed) and scenery (which could be removed along with the piece of plywood filler. This would preserve the 'mobility' of your intended layout.

As you have surmised, from my earlier post, placing your train board directly on another surface will cause you heartaches in the future...but this course of action will (hopefully) be a learning experience. What are you going to do with the track feed wires? How about the switch machine wires? They all take up space. Running them underneath the plywood train table will probably make it unstable. I sincerely hope you have thought this through.

Ray

[Cody J]

For my switch wires and so on I willl have a piece of Styrofoam on top of the wood and make holes in the styroofam and run the wires from the switch machine to the outside and run them olong the edge

[pipefitter]

When I was a kid (50's) my Dad set the Lionel trains up on a ping pong table every Christmas. We had a 9' X 5' piece of 1/4" thick plywood which was backed with an open grid of 3/4" X 3/4" framing and this frame backed board was layed on top of the table. Wires for lights, switches and accessories ran through holes in the framing then up through holes in the 1/4" board. (Of course, this doesn't answer your question re: where to get a 9' X 5' board today).

Robert

[Jhanecker2]

Trains rock : Have you figured out the weight of a 9' x 5' piece of plywood with layout & how you are going to manuever this through doorways , steps  and hallways. Most modular sets are much smaller . John II

[Cody J]

I just need to move it for a month during Christmas because my family uses that table for wrapping.