Rebuilding a Pre/post war layout

[Anonymous]

I have just torn down my 12 x 16 layout to enable us to fix the room up. When that is done I would like to build a new train tables. I am thinking of 3 30 inch by 8 foot and a work bench the same size as the basic room layout. Then I would add what I need to complete. I am looking for some simple construction examples for the tables including sound proofing. I would make each modular to be able to move later.

HELP
I can not find any plan for simple table construction. Can you point some out. do have all the CTT magazines since 1993.

Thanks
Tom
[e-mail]

[lionelsoni]

My layout legs are homemade from 1 1/2-inch schedule-40 PVC pipe, which actually has an outside diameter of 1.9 inches. There is a 1/2 x 2-inch bolt through the pipe and through the eye of a 1/2 x 1/4 x whatever-inch eyebolt. The bolt has two nuts on it, inside the pipe, to hold it in place and to center the eyebolt. The tail of the eyebolt goes through a 1/4-inch hole in the plywood and is held on with a washer and nut on top of the layout. When you tighten up the nut, the connection becomes perfectly rigid.

My legs are too long (44.5 inches) for the diameter of the pipe I used. The table would sway just from the flexing of the legs if it were not braced against the walls. For a freestanding layout of that height, I would use larger pipe, although the size I used would be fine for a lower layout.

If I should ever get more into scenery, I would put a bush or something over the nuts to hide them.

As I have modified and replaced modules of my layout, I have evolved from putting the legs within the module boundaries to putting them right at the joints, so that each leg supports part of two modules. This uses fewer legs and helps in assembly and disassembly, in that one end of the module rests on a couple of legs already in place while I stick a couple more on the other end, then go back and tighten up the first ones.

[Anonymous]

If you're working with Lionel O you should go to 36" width to accommodate the curved track.
For modularity and cheapness, I used a 4x8 and a 2x2 plywood sheets to make three tables: 3x3, 3x4, 3x5. Cut a 3x4 off of the big piece, leaving a 4x5. Cut a 3x5 off, leaving 1x5. Cut this into 1x2 and 1x3. Put the 1x2 next to the 2x2 and the 1x3 across the top of both to get a 3x3 tabletop. Home Depot will do all the cutting when you buy their lumber, it's far more accurate than what I can do at home with a power saw.
For bracing I used 1x3 cut to size, 2 each: 3', 4', 5', then many of length 3' minus (1+1/4) to fit between these as cross members. For the 3x3 table, put the xmember under the seam where the 1x2 and the 2x2 are side by side.
For legs, they have 3' rail posts of 2x2, a dozen will give you 4 legs for each table. That puts the height at 3' plus the width of the plywood sheets. I built to 30" height for ease of reaching across the tables, HD cut the posts to 29+5/8".
While I nailed the tabletop sheets to the braces, I bolted the legs to the braces. Use a good drill bit or the cedar posts will laugh at your drill.
2 of these sets of tables will provide 72 sq ft to build on.[:p]

[Dave Farquhar]

The way my father taught me to build a table (and the way his father taught his) was to build a frame of 2x4s. Take two that are 8 feet long, and two cut to about 3'9" long (a 2x4 is actually about 1.5 inches wide), and screw them together to make a box. Now screw another one or two 3'9" 2x4s inside the box for bracing. Screw legs made from 2x4s into the corners, and two more in the middle for extra support.

Flip it over, put a piece of 4x8 plywood (3/4" is best; 1/2" is about as thin as I would go) on top, screw it down, and you've got a table. I'm told that using 2x4s for everything is overkill, but I can walk on my tables when the need arises. (I'm 5'9", 150 pounds--a bit below average.) A friend and I knocked out two of these tables in a couple of hours when I first started my layout.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

I do a lot of home construction building and I too made my table out of 2x4's 24" OC with 1/2" OSB for the top and lapped 2x4's for legs. All is glued and screwed. It is strong, doesn't twist flex or wiggle. It's on casters so moving it is easy also. Like Dave said it may be overkill, but it is a strong foundation. In an eathquake or tornado I'll get under the train table
Jim[:D][:D]